Lieutenant Colonel John HASELDEN MC and Bar
Intelligence Corps

Date of birth: 10th August 1903
Date of death: 14th September 1942

Killed in action aged 39
Commemorated on the El Alamein Memorial Column 85
He was born at Ramleh near Alexandria in Egypt on the 10th of August 1903 the elder son of Henry Ernest and Maria Ester Angela (nee Cazzani) Haselden.

He was educated at the Junior King's School and at the King's School Canterbury from January 1916 to June 1918.

He went to work for Anderson, Clayton and Company; Houston based cotton traders where he became joint managing partner of their Upper Egypt Agency at El Minya near Alexandria, where he was their cotton purchaser and ran a factory producing linseed oil. He was an expert in Arabic and Balkan languages (his early life was spent in Egypt) as well as being a fluent French and Italian speaker.

He was married in Alexandria in 1931 to Nadia Ida Marie (nee Szymonski-Lubicz) and they had a son, Gerald Ernest born on the 15th of April 1932. Sadly his wife died in a car accident on the 2nd of March 1936 and in April their son was sent to England to live with his aunt.

When hostilities with Italy broke out he was posted to the Libyan Arab Force and on the 13th of July 1940 he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps, working with a branch of the General Staff Middle East which dealt with raiding forces and prisoner of war rescues.

He then became Western Desert Liaison Officer with the Eighth Army. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 13th of October 1940 and to temporary Captain on the same date. His job was to gather intelligence from the local Arab population. He spent much of his time behind the lines disguised as either an Arab of an Italian and operating under the name of "Hasel".

He was usually dropped behind the lines by the Long Range Desert Group whose Intelligence Officer, Bill Kennedy-Shaw described him thus:-

"Haselden was the outstanding personality of the dozen odd men who worked with the tribes in Cyrenaica behind the Axis lines. Untiring, strong, courageous, never without some new scheme for outwitting the enemy, yet with a slow and easy-going way of setting about a job which was far more successful with the Arabs than the usual European insistence on precision and punctuality which they neither like nor understand."

One night in October 1941 he parachuted out of a Wellington bomber and landed in the desert. He buried his parachute and having dyed his skin a darker hue and dressed as a Senussi, he set off on foot for the town of Bedda Littoria.
It was in this town that General Erwin Rommel was rumoured to have his headquarters and Haselden's mission was to confirm this. Posing as a trader in ostrich feathers, he spent several weeks watching a white washed building in the town which appeared to be a large German command post.

Over the next few weeks he observed a large number of officers and despatch riders coming and going along with several sightings of Rommel himself who was protected by heavily armed guards. He radioed his findings to British Intelligence in Cairo

He was awarded the Military Cross the same month and the citation reads:-

"Captain Haselden was landed from a submarine behind the enemy's lines on Oct. 10th 1941 to reconnoiter for a possible operation in conjunction with local Arabs. In order to decrease the risk to the boat crew, this officer swam ashore in the dark and, after reconnoitering, signaled that it was safe for the boat to come ashore. He remained in enemy territory until picked up by one of our patrols at a given rendezvous on 19 October. During this period, in which he was in constant danger of being arrested and shot, he collected valuable information both regarding the local Arabs and the movement of enemy troops. The success of the reconnaissance was largely due to the high degree of courage, determination and clear-thinking possessed by this officer".

On the 14th of November 1941 he and five others were dropped by the Long Range Desert Group. While the rest of his party laid up in the desert, he took one Arab soldier with him and made his way to the beach. In the evening, at 6.30pm he used a torch to flash out to sea, guiding two teams of commandos ashore.

Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Keyes led one party of 24 officers and men and Colonel Robert Laycock with another party of 26 men for an attack on Rommel's headquarters code named Operation Flipper.
Due to heavy seas, Laycock's party was reduced to himself and seven men. On the 15th, while the main party made their way to Rommel's Headquarters, Haselden and his party made their way in driving rain the 20 miles to the El Fridia to Slonta Road to attack communications.

The attack was unsuccessful as Rommel rarely used the building which the group attacked. They withdrew with heavy casualties both in men captured and killed. Keyes was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his part in the mission. Haselden and his men completed the demolition of a number of installations as made their way back to British lines.

For his part in the operation John Haselden was awarded a bar to his Military Cross which was announced in the London Gazette of the 18th of February 1943. The recommendation read: -

"Captain Haselden was dropped by the Long range Desert Group in the area of Slonta prior to the raid carried out by a detachment of the Middle East Commandos on General Rommel's H.Q. at Sidi Rafa. Capt. Haselden was dressed in British battle dress but wearing a djard and Arab head-dress walked a distance of nearly 100 miles through the heart of the enemy territory in order to make certain reconnaissances prior to the landing of the detachment. After ascertaining the situation regarding enemy and friendly Arab forces in the area he made his way to the selected beach and there awaited our landing which he guided in by pre-arranged signals. Having passed on vital information about the enemy which was immediately transmitted to the Royal Navy to Cairo and having explained the situation ashore to our raiding party and guided us towards our objective, Capt. Haselden again made his way through miles of enemy territory to his appointed rendezvous with the Long Range Desert Group. On his journey back he succeeded in disrupting vital enemy communication. I consider that Capt. Haselden's fearless action is worthy of the highest praise. Such success was achieved in the operation was solely due to information which Capt. Haselden had gained during his reconnaissance. I cannot recommend too highly Captain Haselden's outstanding endurance, his cool and calculated bravery, and his unswerving devotion to duty."

He was promoted to Acting Major on the 31st of January 1942. He was promoted to Major on the 6th of September 1942 and to temporary Lieutenant Colonel on the same date.

In September 1942 he was detailed to take a lead role for a commando raid on Tobruk, codenamed Operation Agreement.

He was placed in command of Commando Group Force B who were to strike Tobruk from the land side via Kufra Oasis. The plan was that the commandos would pose as British POWs travelling in trucks under the guard of men of the Palestinian Jewish 51st Commando who were dressed as German guards. They were to bluff their way past the German defences and attack the coastal guns at Mersa Umm es Sciausc to the east of the harbour. They would be joined by Commando Group Force C which would land from the sea.

They set out from Cairo on the 6th of September and travelled by a roundabout route arriving 90 miles from their target on the 10th. At 2am on the night of the 14th they set out in four trucks which had been marked with Africa Korps markings and they attracted little attention as they passed the other traffic. Four miles from the target they parted with their guides from the Long Range Desert Group and disabled one of the trucks continuing on in three with thirty men to a truck. They passed a number of enemy convoys and encampments on their journey into Tobruk. When they came to turn off the main road they found that the road they were supposed to take was blocked by a fence. Instead they found an alternative track and after 15 minutes they were forced to silence an enemy sentry who challenged them there. 500 meters on, they debussed and changed into full combat kit near to the administrative buildings for the batteries they were to silence.

At 10.30pm the RAF began bombing to soften up the target area. Haselden and others attacked the first objective which was a small villa, killing or driving off the Italian platoon holding it. They then knocked out several machine gun positions, a wireless station and negotiated a number of mine fields by which time they were taking casualties. At 2am they signaled Force C but only 2 of the 16 Motor Torpedo Boats were able to land reinforcements as the enemy fire was, by now, very heavy. Despite the lack of reinforcements the group managed to knock out four anti aircraft guns by rolling grenades down the barrels. As it was now getting light the commandoes found themselves in a desperate position. With no reinforcement forthcoming from the sea and with ammunition running low Haselden ordered the men to destroy the coastal guns and to attempt to break out with every man for himself. They climbed onboard two of the trucks with Haselden in the lead truck. With the enemy forces now very close he decided to try to hold the enemy so that his men could escape.
He led a charge with five men following him against the encroaching Italian forces but was killed by a hand grenade.

Only six of his party made it back to British lines.

For his part in this action he was awarded the bar to his earlier Military Cross on the 18th of February 1943:-

"For gallant and distinguished service in the Middle East during the period May to October 1942."

He also was mentioned in despatches on the 20th of June 1946 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field" which appeared in the London Gazette of the 18th of June 1946.
 

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