Hello All,
I have been researching the short and important life of Henry David Harrison. I welcome all input from people who can add to the summary of my findings and can confirm or question the facts.
The 31st of July 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of one of the bloodiest battles in WW1 - Passchendaele - The 3rd Battle of Ypres. Half a million Allied and German soldiers were killed, wounded, or went missing in three months of fighting. Many drowned in the thick mud caused by weeks of relentless rain.
I believe this is the battle that claimed the life of my Uncle Henry David Harrison. (I believe the family he was known as David by his family.) He and his comrades made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live in freedom. He died just one day before his 19th birthday. David's service number is 11336, 2nd Regt., South African Infantry.
The notice of his death appeared in the Natal Witness as below,
HARRISON. – In memory of my dear son, Henry David HARRISON, killed in action in France on 20th September 1917.
Afar from home and dear ones,
God called him home. It was God's will.
But in our heart he liveth still.
To Mother his memory is as dear today as the day he went away.
Inserted by his loving Mother. 5117
I know the Witness notice says he died in France, but this needs to be corrected. Firstly, Ypres is less than 25 km from the French border. Second, the fighting in the area at the time of his death was concentrated around Ypres – battles of The Somme and Delvile Wood had taken place in 1916 about 160 kms south of Ypres. Thirdly, communications between the front and Pietermaritzburg were sketchy. Passchendaele took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders.
My wife, Ros, and I toured the battlefields around Ypres in 2017. We visited David's grave in Tyne Cot Cemetry. It is easy to find his grave because in this huge graveyard numbering 11,965 graves 8,369 are unnamed. David's is named.
David was a private in
The South African military contribution to the war effort
The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were formed after the passing of the South Africa Defence Act in June 1912. The Permanent Force was established in the following year. Five army regiments, known as the South African Mounted Rifles (SAMR), were organised and given police and military duties. The expansion of the Army was taken a step further with the creation of the Active Citizen Force (ACF), the Coast Garrison Force and the Rifle Associations in July 1913.
Over 146,000 men served in South African units during the war, fighting on three principal fronts. The first engagement was to enter and capture German South-West Africa, a venture that required the raising of an expeditionary force of 67,000 men. An infantry brigade and various other units moved to France (see below), and the wide-ranging conflict in East Africa kept many more men occupied throughout the war. In addition, it is estimated that about 3,000 South Africans joined the Royal Flying Corps. Total South African casualties during the war reached 18,600 with more than 6,600 losing their lives.
The South African Brigade and other units
South Africa raised a Brigade of four infantry battalions for the Western Front, in addition to 5 batteries of Heavy Artillery, a Field Ambulance, a Royal Engineers Signal Company and a General Hospital. This was a substantial undertaking, given the other demands on the Union, and the fact that these units once on active service would require 15% replacements per month. I believe David was sent to Europe as part of one of these substantial replacements and drafted into the 2nd Regiment.
The infantry battalions were raised with men from the four provinces of the Union: the 1st Regiment troops were from the Cape; the 2nd Regiment from Natal and the Orange Free State; the 3rd Regiment was from Transvaal and Rhodesia. The 4th Regiment was rather different: it was the South African Scottish, raised from the Transvaal Scottish and the Cape Town Highlanders, and wearing the Athol Murray tartan.
Tony Harrison
Somerset
England
