Harding served in the
Second World War, initially as
commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, in which capacity he served in
Waziristan and was
mentioned in despatches, before joining the staff of
Middle East Command in October 1940 and then becoming a
brigadier General Staff (BGS) of the
Western Desert Force (WDF) in December. He was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services in that role. When Lieutenant Generals
Richard O'Connor and
Philip Neame were captured in April 1941, Harding took temporary command of the WDF, in which capacity he took the decision to hold
Tobruk. He was promoted to the substantive rank of
colonel on 9 August 1941 (with seniority backdated to 1 January 1941) and was later awarded the
Distinguished Service Order (DSO). , pictured here in August 1942 as Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, surveys the battlefront from an open car. To his right is Major General John Harding with his hand raised. Harding went on to be appointed BGS of
XIII Corps (the new name adopted by the Western Desert Force ) in August 1941. Ηe was mentioned in dispatches in early 1942 and awarded a
Bar to his DSO in February 1942. He was promoted to acting major-general on 26 January 1942 and became Deputy Director of Military Training
Middle East Command, in which capacity he was again mentioned in despatches in the summer of 1942. He was appointed
General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the
7th Armoured Division in September 1942. He led the division in the
Second Battle of El Alamein in October–November. He led his forward headquarters from a tank and then a jeep and, during the pursuit of the
Axis forces to
Tripoli, was subsequently wounded by shell splinters in January 1943. He was awarded a second Bar to his DSO for his conduct in late January 1943. At the same time, his rank of major-general was made temporary. and Lieutenant General Sir John Harding, inspect one of the German
Panther tank turrets which formed part of the
Gothic Line defences, September 1944. Harding returned to the United Kingdom and, despite having lost three fingers from his left hand, recovered relatively quickly. On 10 November 1943 he was promoted to
acting lieutenant general and assumed command of
VIII Corps, which was to take part in the
invasion of Normandy. Soon afterwards, however, he was posted to the
Italian Front in January 1944 to become
chief of staff to
General Sir Harold Alexander, then commanding the
15th Army Group (later designated the
Allied Armies in Italy (AAI) before reverting to 15th Army Group in December 1944). He was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 16 June 1944 for his service in Italy, and promoted to the substantive rank of
major general on 13 July 1944. He played a large part in the planning for
Operation Diadem, the fourth
Battle of Monte Cassino that led to the capture of
Rome and the destruction of a large portion of the Axis forces and the subsequent fighting on the
Gothic Line. He went on to take command of XIII Corps in Italy in March 1945, leading it through the
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, arriving in
Trieste just after the German surrender in May and the
end of World War II in Europe. He was also awarded the
Legion of Merit in the Degree of Commander by U.S. President
Harry S. Truman for his conduct during the war, on 14 May 1948. ==Post-war career==