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Captain John Kennedy JACOMB-HOOD (EC/2258)
3rd Battalion 1st King George Vs Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) Date of birth: 18th March 1920 Date of death: 29th May 1944 Died of wounds aged 24 Buried at Imphal War Cemetery Plot I Row F Grave 16
John Kennedy Jacomb-Hood was born at Midhurst in Sussex on the 18th of March 1920 the younger twin son of the Reverend Francis Edward Shaw Jacomb-Hood MA, Rector of Slaugham, and Margaret Irene (nee Chilver) Jacomb-Hood, of Slaugham Rectory, Haywards Heath in Sussex. He was educated at Lancing College where he was in Olds House from January 1934 to July 1937. On leaving school he joined the firm of R.A. Lister of Dursley, manufacturers of agricultural machinery, and also joined the Gloucestershire Hussars. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Indian Army on the 9th of November 1940 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 9th of May 1942. He was later posted to the 3rd Battalion, 1st King George V’s Own Gurkha Rifles and served as their Adjutant. He served on the North West Frontier from 1940 to 1943. On the 18th of May 1944 the battalion relieved a battalion of the Maharattas on a position known as Hill 4057 on the Ukhrul Road at Kameng in Burma. At 1pm on the afternoon of the 26th of May 1944 the commander of the 17th Indian Division asked for the loan of a battalion to help deal with an enemy-held feature known as Red Hill, which was threatening his Headquarters on the Bishenpur Road to the south-west of Imphal and the task fell to the 3rd Battalion, 1st King George V’s Own Gurkha Rifles. They started to carry their kit down the hill but had to halt before long due to the torrential rain and sheltered under their ground sheets until morning when they continued their move. By 4pm on the 27th of May most of the kit was still up the hill and John Jacomb-Hood made the decision that the men should move to the new position and wait there for the kit to follow. At 7pm he led his men across paddy fields to a deserted village where they formed a defensive box and the men settled down for the night at 11pm. That night Red Hill was attacked by two companies of the 1st Battalion, 4th Gurkha Rifles but by dawn it had become clear that the assault had been a failure. At 2pm on the afternoon of the 28th of May the 3rd Battalion, 1st King George V’s Own Gurkha Rifles began moving forward to mount a fresh attack. At 3.10pm a supporting artillery barrage opened up and at 3.32pm the Gurkhas fixed bayonets and went forward up the southern side of the hill amid the crackle of small arms fire. By 4.15pm Red Hill had been taken and they turned their attention to their next objection, the first feature known as "Pimple I". Shortly after the advance began word came back that their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mervyn Hunt Wingfield, had been shot through the head and killed by an enemy sniper and that John Jacomb-Hood had been seriously wounded. At 4.20pm the men of B Company could be seen heavily engaged at "Pimple I" and at 4.25pm D Company moved to attack the final objective of "Pimple II". A tank of the 7th Light Cavalry came up in support, knocking out two enemy bunkers, but was quickly grounded on the steep terrain and had to be abandoned. The loss of many officers in the early part of the attack caused the attack to falter and when the attack resumed, the Gurkhas’ Bren gun carriers became bogged down in the paddy fields. At this critical moment, Lieutenant John Murray, the intelligence officer, took command of the battalion, rallied his men and restored the situation. When ordered to withdraw, he disengaged the remnants of two companies, which were still involved in fierce close-quarter fighting at the "Pimples", without further loss. He was awarded an immediate Military Cross for his actions. Casualties for the battalion during this action were fifteen men killed or died of wounds with fifty five wounded and two men missing . John Jacomb-Hood was evacuated to the rear and died at a field hospital the following day. The next day an enemy prisoner was taken who reported that virtually his entire company had been killed during the fighting and later in the day a platoon of the 7th Battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment walked in to both positions without any opposition and captured seven more prisoners. His brother, Squadron Leader Anthony James Jacomb-Hood DFC OL 23 Squadron Royal Air Force, was killed on active service on the 21st of January 1954. He is commemorated on the war memorial at St Mary's Church, Slaugham.

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