Brigadier John Harding, the chief of staff of XIII Corps, as the Western Desert Force was renamed on 1 January 1941, had been a student at Staff College, Camberley along with Mackay's chief of staff, Colonel Frank Berryman, at a time when O'Connor had been an instructor there.
Brigadegeneral John Harding, stabschefen i 13. korps, som Western Desert Force blev omdøbt til den 1. januar 1941, havde studeret på Staff College, Camberley sammen med Mackays stabschef, oberst Frank Berryman, på et tidspunkt hvor O'Connor havde været instruktør på skolen.