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Harman, John Pennington

Date of birth:
July 20th, 1914 (Beckenham/Kent, Great Britain)
Date of death:
April 9th, 1944 (Kohima/Assam, India)
Buried on:
Commonwealth War Cemetery Kohima
Plot: 8. Row: E. Grave: 3.
Service number:
295822
Nationality:
British (1801-present, Kingdom)

Biography

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Lance-Corporal
Unit:
4th Battalion Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 161st Indian Infantry Brigade, 5th Indian Infantry Division, British Indian Army
Awarded on:
March 26th, 1945
"At Kohima, Assam, on 8th April 1944, Lance Corporal Harman was commanding a section of a forward platoon. The enemy had established a machine-gun post within 50 yards of his position which became a serious menace to the remainder of his company. Unable to bring the fire of his section on to the post, Lance Corporal Harman went forward by himself and annihilated the post, returning with the enemy machine-gun.
The next morning, having first recovered a forward position, he again charged an enemy post alone, shooting four and bayonetting one, thereby wiping out the post. As he returned Lance Corporal Harman received an burst of machine-gun fire in his side and died shortly after reaching our lines. Lance Corporal Harman’s heroic action and supreme devotion to duty were largely responsible for the decisive way in which all attacks were driven off by his company."

Lance-Corporal Harden’s Victoria Cross is publicly displayed at The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum in Maidstone, Great Britain.
Victoria Cross (VC)

Sources