Harry Harcourt

Harry Gladwyn Harcourt
Australian and US officers conduct an orders group at Wanigela, New Guinea in October 1942. Harcourt is the officer wearing the beret
Born13 February 1895[1]
Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England[2]
Died20 December 1970(1970-12-20) (aged 75)[3]
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia[4]
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Australia
Service/branchBritish Army
Australian Army
Years of service1914–1927[4]
1940–1946[1][5]
RankMajor[1]
Commands2/6th Independent Company[6]
Battles/wars
AwardsDistinguished Service Order & Bar
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Military Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (3)
Silver Star (United States)
Order of St. Vladimir (Russia)
Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russia)
Légion d'honneur (France)
Croix de Guerre (France)[7]

Harry Gladwyn Harcourt, DSO & Bar, OBE, MC[1][Note 1] (13 February 1895 – 20 December 1970) was an officer in the British Army and later the Australian Army who commanded an Australian commando unit during the Second World War.

Harcourt's military career began in 1914 when he was commissioned into the British Army. During the First World War he served on the Western Front, commanding a machine gun unit. He gained promotion quickly, advancing to the rank of major by the end of the war. He also received a number of notable decorations. Later, Harcourt served during the Russian Civil War before emigrating to Australia in 1929. Following this, he worked as a public servant in Tasmania before the outbreak of the Second World War when he joined the Australian Army and subsequently went on to serve in the Australian commandos, taking part in the fighting in New Guinea and Borneo.

Following the end of the war, Harcourt retired from the military and returned to working for the Tasmanian government. He died in 1970 at the age of 75.

  1. ^ a b c d "Major Harry Gladwyn Harcourt, OBE, DSO and Bar, MC". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bottrell42 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference service was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trigellis02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trigellis0205 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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