Hello all, Long time no speak, as some of you will know from older posts made by myself my great uncle was killed on 17th November 1942 whilst serving with Hartforce. Just to recap, on 16th November HartForce made contact with Kampfgruppe Witzig, withdrew and dug in at Djebel Abiod. Witzig then advanced and was then contacted by Hartforce on the 17th (the day my great uncle was killed). I am still no closer at finding out what happened to William on this day, family legend say he was a dispatch rider and went over a mine but who really knows, I feel the war diary maybe my last option but for the life of me I cannot locate it. Since the sad passing of my great uncle Eddie in 2011 (rasc North Africa/Italy) there is only one of Williams brothers left, my grandfather. As the years progress it would be nice to add some closure for him and tell him exactly what happened that day and possibly how his brother died. Any feedback would be great, from a long lost Donnie.
For info; Hartforce was 5th Northamptonshire. Battery low on my tablet, will see if I can dig anything up and post tommorow
Typing 'Djebel Abiod' in the britishnewspaperarchives found nothing for 1942. There are however 29 news articles from March 1943 and 1 in Apr 43. Found nothing at all using term Hartforce. What's your great uncles surname (Upton)? There's a diary for the 5th Northamptonshire Oct 1942-Jun 1943 National Archive Ref WO 175/517. Aren't RASC diaries really hard to come by (if at all)?
Hi all, My great uncles name was Horace Harold William Howes, he was 5th Northants. There are a number of threads on the forum about Hartforce. I understand it was a composite unit not only 5th Northants? The war diary entry for the 5th Northants for the day doesn't say anything. If you could find anything I would be grateful, don.
Donnie / Richard Hartforce was basically a small recce force in the front of an advance by 78th Div (36th Bde )in the form of Blade force with 17/21st lancers et al with the RWk's coming out of Tebarka adding to the strength of the Advance towards Medjez as far as I can see of those times....so Hartforce was bit too small to have much written about it - Blade force got the headlines Cheers
Thanks all, Some interesting avenues to pursue, do we know if Hartforce even pet an independent diary? Tom, It's a shame Hartforce didn't get more mention, they were involved in some very sharp actions. Don
Donnie there were many "forces' drawn up quickly to solve a particular problem and usually too small and from diverse units to bother writing about - we had two at the Gothic which died a death - Porterforce and Lustedforce- they were news for a whole day .... Cheers
Donnie There are a couple of mentions of "Hartforce" in the book "Baxttleaxe Division" by Ken Ford "In order to keep up the momentum of the drive for Tunis, Gen Anderson now switched his attention to the next objective, Bone 136 miles to the east. In response, Maj Gen Everlegh sent part of 36th Brigade to make a landing at Bone from the sea, and formed a mobile column, called Hart Force after its commander, Maj Vic Hart of the Northamptons, to close on the town by road. The force comprised "A" Company of 5th Northamptons plus its carrier platoon and a section of anti-tank guns, a squadron of armoured cars from 56th Recce Regiment, anti-aircraft guns and a section of sappers. All units of 11th Brigade contributed with vehicles to make the force a fully motorised column. Its orders were to join up with a commando that would be landing from the sea at Bone and then press on to cross the border with Tunisia at Tabarka. The route would take it along the coast road and through the locations of a number of French garrisons, but these were not thought to be hostile. At 05.00 hours on the 11th November the column assembled Maison Blanche airfield and moved east. The road surface was reasonable for traffic, but the mountainous sections required great care to negotiate the many bends, cuttings and tunnels. The journey took the column past Bougie and Djedjelli, dodging enemy planes and drive bombers, until it reached Bone just after the commandos had landed. From there Hart Force pressed on to the border, reaching Tabarka later that evening." more to follow...
Hartforce continued.. More from "Battleaxe Division" by Ken Ford "On 16th November 1942 the division made its first contact with the enemy. Hart Force had left all of its support vehicles at Tebarka and had gone forward as lorried infantry. It had passed through the junction at the tiny village of Djebel Aboid where the road split, one branch heading towards Mateur and Bizerta and one towards Beja, and was making some progress along the road to Mateur. The Royal West Kents were following up behind. A few miles further on the scout cars of the Reconnaissance Regiment came across some German vehicles. Maj Hart sent his carriers around the flanks to gauge the strength of the enemy and discovered he had come up against a force much larger than his own. News of the advancing enemy was relayed back to the Royal West Kents who had by that time come up to Djebel Aboid and Hart pulled his force back down the road into a quarry. All the transport was left there and the men moved out into the hills overlooking the road. The Germans continued their advance. Capt Farrow was with the transport when enemy tanks and lorried infantry came round the bend in the road. 'We were well camouflaged but Arabs pin-pointed our positions to the Germans. Very quickly our vehicles were burnt out by shells from the tanks. My batman, Private Lewis, was taken prisoner, but three drivers, the CSM and myself managed to extricate outselves. We dodged Arabs and German patrols for the next four or five days before we made it back to our lines' Maj Hart and the rest of the infantry force could not take on the hostile armoured column and therefore resorted to guerrilla warfare in the hills. Cut off by Germans, they decided to make themselves as big a nuisance to the enemy as possible. They harassed motor transport, laid anti-tank mines and ambushed an Italian commando inflicting heavy casualties before making their way back to join up with 36th Brigade a few days later. Their job completed, Maj Hart and his company moved across country to join their battalion of the Northamptons on 11th Brigade's more southerly route." Hope this has been of some use to you Donnie Lesley
And to end the tale ..Major Hart was killed on 28th November 1942.. HART, WILLIAM VICTOR Rank: Major Service No: 64774 Date of Death: 28/11/1942 Age: 30 Regiment/Service: 5th Bn. Northamptonshire Regiment Awards: M C, T D Grave Reference" IV. D. 13. Cemetery: MASSICAULT WAR CEMETERY
Lesley, Thank you very much for the information and certainly adds to the story, I think I will need to apply for Williams service record. As I said before, family legend said he was a despatch rider but I notice carrier platoon was attached to Hartforce so it might be likely he was amongst the platoon. Tom, thanks for all your help. I wasn't aware that there was so many "forces"... Regards, don.
Donnie's previous thread can be found here. http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/9451-5th-northants-reg-war-diary/
All I can add is taken from ; the mediterranean and the middle east vol Iv by I S O Playfair that states that Hartforce spotted tank and lorried infantry approching from Mateur on the 17th. and these were engaged by the foremost troops of 36th infantry brigade with appreciable losses on both sides. As Tom says it was a small force and doesn't get many mentions, if at all. I think it is only mentioned because it was the first contact by Torch ground forces with the enemy.
Cheers for the input mate, interesting info. I have someone looking through the Hunts Post newspaper for any mention of my uncle so fingers crossed. Don
From what others have said I think the unit may have been too small to have its own war diary (I can't find one). That said there maybe a few reports on the unit somewhere at Kew. I would check the 5 Bns War Diary to see if it's in there or ask Lee to have a look - he has a secret search engine
Just an update as i have recieved some information from a newspaper article. It would appear that he was listed as "Missing In Action" with news reaching his parents in Feb 1943. It doesnt mention Hart force at all but says he has been missing since November 1942. How did the CWGC come up with a date that he was KIA on? he is not listed in the Northants Reg war diary as missing on this day and it would seem no war diary exists for Hart Force. Does anyone have the 5th Northants war diary for November 1942 just so i can be sure that the 17th is the correct DOD ? All the best, Don.
Found this whilst conducting some research:- The story made national news and although its written the Major is anonymous, its clearly Major Hart.
Alas Donnie, the author of the opening post has not logged on since January 2018. Perhaps a PM would alert here?
