HARRISON, Thomas Sidney
| Service Numbers: | 862, 4414 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 6th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Walton-on-Thames England, 1885 |
| Home Town: | Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 6 May 1917 |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 862, 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 862, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 6 May 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 4414, 6th Field Company Engineers, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4414 awm_unit: 6th Field Company, Australian Engineers awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-05-06 |
Thomas Sydney HARRISON
Born in England, Harrison migrated to Australia in 1910. A carpenter from Geelong in civilian life, Pte. Harrison (service no 862) embarked with D company, 21st Battalion, from Melbourne aboard HMAT Ulysses (A38) on 10 May 1915. During his service Harrison received a new service number, 4414. He transferred to the 5th and 8th Field Company Engineers at Gallipoli. A keen amateur photographer, Harrison took photographs in Egypt and on Gallipoli.
In September 1916 on the Western Front, he transferred to the 6th Field Company Engineers and was promoted to Lance Corporal. On 6 May L Cpl Harrison was killed in action in France, aged 32. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial France.
He was buried with another carpenter from the 6th Field Company Engineers, Eugene Joseph Wall, from Petersburg South Australia. The location of their grave site was never located.
Submitted 9 June 2018 by Phil Murdoch
Biography contributed by Phil Murdoch
Thomas Sydney Harrison was the son of John and Louisa Jane Harrison of Sherwood Lodge, Sidney Rd, Walton-on-Thames England. He was not married and his occupation was a Carpenter. After emigrating to Geelong, Australia in 1910, he joined the AIF in 1915, and saw action at Gallipoli, Egypt and finally France. A collection of photos he took in Gallipoli and Egypt can be found under Collections at the awm.gov.au site. He was wounded in France in 1916, and may have returned to England to recover (as per his portrait photo). Hopefully he saw his family one more time before being killed on 6/5/17. The link that I have with Thomas is that my great uncle Eugene Joseph Wall was killed at the same time at Bullecourt and they share a grave together. Eugene was also a carpenter by trade and served as an Engineer in the 6th Field Company Engineers. They were both killed during the 2nd Battle for Bullecourt on 6/5/17.
Unfortunately the grave site was lost and they lie where they were originally buried. Records for both state that they were buried 3 3/4 miles N.E. of Albert, which is now the site of the Poziere's WW1 cemetery. I can only assume they are buried there in an unmarked grave.
Biography contributed by Phil Murdoch
The following details re the fate of Thomas were found on his great nephew's website - Michael Harrison Stert Streer Abingdom UK - A letter from a Sapper Hobbs described the cirumstances of his death - "Dear Sir,
As poor old Tom was a cobber of mine I have taken the liberty of making myself the recipient of your letter and also the parcel which was passed around to the boys of the section. No doubt you have been informed of Tom's sad end. I was one of the party that was out that night. We were on our way back to camp at the time and a high explosive shell caught Tom and killed him instantaneously. After a few hours sleep I made a cross and we buried Tom the same night. Up to within a few minutes of his death I was with him. He went one way with four other chaps and I said to him that I would go to the right with the other chaps. The two photos (memorial cross) I am sending by this letter. Well I must close with best wishes. Yours Sincerely Sapper B Hobbs.
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