John Pennington Harman
Lance-Corporal, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
- Register No.
- 532 (Alf's numbering, from The Register of the Victoria Cross, 1997)
- Rank
- Lance-Corporal (register: Lance Corporal) all Lance-Corporals →
- Unit
- Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment all Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment VCs →
- Date of action
- 8–9 April 1944 on this day → all of 1944 →
- Conflict / campaign
- Second World War
- London Gazette
- 22nd June 1944 on this day → all of 1944 →
- Born
- 20th July, 1914 at Beckenham, Kent
- Died
- 9th April 1944 at Kohima, Assam, India. (killed in action)
- Award
- Posthumous all posthumous VCs →
- Memorial / grave
- at Kohima War Cemetery, India and on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel
Digest of citation
On 8th/9th April, 1944 at Kohima, India, Lance-Corporal Harman was commanding his section of a forward platoon where the enemy had established a machine-gun post within 50 yards of his company and were becoming a menace. As it was not possible to bring fire on to the enemy post the Lance-Corporal went forward by himself and threw a grenade into the position, annihilating it. Early next morning, having ordered covering fire from his Bren gun he went alone, with fixed bayonet and charged a party of Japanese who were digging in, shooting four and bayoneting one. On returning to his position he was fatally wounded
From Alf Askin's research notes
Reproduced as Alf wrote it, c. 2000–2005. Spelling and abbreviations are his own.
HARMAN, John Pennington. (reg No. 532).
Lance-Corporal. Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.
London Gazetted on 22nd June 1944.
Born on 20th July, 1914 at Beckenham, Kent.
Died on 9th April 1944 at Kohima, Assam, India. (killed in action) .
Memorial on grave at Kohima War Cemetery, India and on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.
Digest of Citation reads: On 8th/9th April, 1944 at Kohima, India, Lance-Corporal Harman was commanding his section of a forward platoon where the enemy had established a machine-gun post within 50 yards of his company and were becoming a menace. As it was not possible to bring fire on to the enemy post the Lance-Corporal went forward by himself and threw a grenade into the position, annihilating it. Early next morning, having ordered covering fire from his Bren gun he went alone, with fixed bayonet and charged a party of Japanese who were digging in, shooting four and bayoneting one. On returning to his position he was fatally wounded.
Visit the grave or memorial
Alf recorded the memorial as: at Kohima War Cemetery, India and on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel
Map links open a search for the place name Alf recorded; please check opening times and exact locations before travelling. Many VC graves have since been restored by the Victoria Cross Trust.
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