TANNER, Harry Victor
| Service Number: | W26774 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 January 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 4 April 1892 |
| Home Town: | Albany, Albany, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Hamilton Hill, Fremantle, Western Australia, 11 October 1979, aged 87 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 27 Jan 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W26774 | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Dec 1948: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W26774 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Harry Victor Tanner (Service No:W26774) served in the ACMF with 5th and 29th Garrison Battalions and 26 Works Coy from 27 January 1942 to 30 June 1947. Private Tanner then served in the Interim Army with Western Command Ammunition Depot from 1 July 1947 to 20 December 1948.
Harry was born in Geelong, Victoria in 1892, youngest of ten children of Stephen Tanner (b1850 in Somerset, England) and Emily Stowar (b1848 in Somerset, England). Stephen immigrated with his parents and siblings in 1855, arriving in Geelong on board the Amelia Hay, and Emily arrived at Hobsons Bay in 1867 on board the Atlanta. Stephen (a Labourer) and Emily (a Domestic Servant) married in 1872 in Geelong, and settled at Lara via Geelong, where they raised their family and Stephen worked as a Contractor (road building and gravel carting) and a Farmer. In 1887 at Lara, Stephen accidentally killed their fifth child, seven year old Leonard, when he threw a brick at a cat - Leonard was hit in the head. In the 1890s Stephen and Emily were amongst the earliest pioneers to the Western Australian Goldfields, where Stephen was Miner at Coolgardie. By 1903 the family had settled in Albany, where Stephen was a Farmer - their home was totally destroyed by fire in 1919.
Harry started work as a Farm Hand in Albany in 1909, and in 1910 in Perth married his first wife Maryann Helena Eliza Chapman (b1889 in Albany, Western Australia). Through the 1920s Harry and Maryann settled at Redmond via Albany, where they raised their family and Harry was a Farmer. In the 1930s Harry was a Farmer at Porongerup and Maryann was a Boardinghouse Keeper in Albany - they were divorced in 1941. Harry remarried in Perth in 1945 to Harriet Greenhaigh (nee Yates; b1889 in Lancashire, England) - Harriet had immigrated with her husband and children in 1923, arriving in Melbourne, Victoria on board the Bendigo. Harriet's husband died in Perth in 1943. Following his Discharge from the Army in 1948, Harry and Harriet lived in Perth, where Harry worked as a Storeman before moving to Northam in the early 1950s. Harry worked as a Night Watchman in Northam until retirement and, following Harriet's death in 1970, Harry moved to Kwinana, where he died in 1979.
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