caption serviceyears branch commands death_date death_place birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date rank image article_title name
australian wanigela , new guinea in october 1942 . harcourt is and the officer wearing the beret us officers conduct an orders group at 1914 -- 1927 1940 -- 1946 british army australian army 2/6th independent company 20 december 1970 hobart , tasmania , australia westcliff-on-sea , essex , england united kingdom united kingdom australia australia distinguished of the british empire military cross mentioned in despatches -lrb- service 3 -rrb- silver star -lrb- united states -rrb- order of order st. vladimir -lrb- russia -rrb- order of saint stanislaus -lrb- & poland -rrb- légion d'honneur -lrb- france -rrb- croix de guerre bar -lrb- france -rrb- officer of the order first world war 13 february 1895 major awm new guinea october 1942.jpg 027400 australian and us officers o-group wanigela , harry harcourt
 harry gladwyn harcourt
harry harcourt

harry gladwyn harcourt , dso & bar , obe , mc -lrb- 13 february 1895 -- 20 december 1970 -rrb- was an officer in the british army and later the australian army who commanded an australian commando unit during the second world war .
harcourt 's military career began in 1914 when he was commissioned into the british army .
during the first world war he served on the western front , commanding a machine gun unit .
he gained promotion quickly , advancing to the rank of major by the end of the war .
he also received a number of notable decorations .
later , harcourt served during the russian civil war before emigrating to australia in 1929 .
following this , he worked as a public servant in tasmania before the outbreak of the second world war when he joined the australian army and subsequently went on to serve in the australian commandos , taking part in the fighting in new guinea and borneo .
following the end of the war , harcourt retired from the military and returned to working for the tasmanian government .
he died in 1970 at the age of 75 .
