HARRIS, William Henry
| Service Number: | 3815 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 October 1915, Place of Enlistment, Holsworthy, New South Wales. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 12 July 1880 |
| Home Town: | Auburn Vale, Inverell, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Shunter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France , 23 July 1916, aged 36 years |
| Cemetery: |
Serre Road Cemetery No.2 Beaumont Hamel, France Section X1X, Row E, Grave No 9. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3815, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Place of Enlistment, Holsworthy, New South Wales. | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3815, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3815, 2nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Sydney |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
William Henry HARRIS (Service Number 3815) was born on 12 July 1880 at Balmain. He was employed by the NSW Tramways on 18th March 1901 as a conductor,. He had had a previous period of employment in the Traffic Branch of the Railways. By 1902 he had become an electric tram driver. In 1904 he resigned. He was employed, as a porter in the Murrurundi District in 1909. By 1911 he had become a 3rd class shunter, and then a 2nd class shunter and a guard. In April 1915 he was demoted to 2nd class shunter. He appealed this decision. He was partly successful in that the demotion was for a limited time of three months. He appealed this second decision to the Commissioner, but this was not successful and he did not regain his job as a guard until July 1915.
On 8th October 1915 he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces. On 1st October he had once again been demoted to shunter so perhaps this was a factor in his decision to enlist. He certainly lost no time in pursuing his new career as he enlisted at Holdsworthy on the day that he was granted leave. He was allotted to the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion. At this time he was married to Dinah Christina.
Submitted 30 August 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by John Oakes
William Henry HARRIS (Service Number 3815) was born on 12 July 1880 at Balmain. He was employed by the NSW Tramways on 18th March 1901 as a conductor,. He had had a previous period of employment in the Traffic Branch of the Railways. By 1902 he had become an electric tram driver. In 1904 he resigned. He was employed, as a porter in the Murrurundi District in 1909. By 1911 he had become a 3rd class shunter, and then a 2nd class shunter and a guard. In April 1915 he was demoted to 2nd class shunter. He appealed this decision. He was partly successful in that the demotion was for a limited time of three months. He appealed this second decision to the Commissioner, but this was not successful and he did not regain his job as a guard until July 1915.
On 8th October 1915 he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces. On 1st October he had once again been demoted to shunter so perhaps this was a factor in his decision to enlist. He certainly lost no time in pursuing his new career as he enlisted at Holdsworthy on the day that he was granted leave. He was allotted to the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion. At this time he was married to Dinah Christina.
He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Medic’ on 30th December 1915. After further training in Egypt he embarked from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force in France, passing through Marseilles on 4th April 1916, and joining the 2nd Battalion on 25th May. He was killed in action on 23rd July 1916 during the Battle of Pozières.
‘He was in C Coy, medium complexion, age 38 train guard on Rlys in N.S.W. He was killed July 23rd 1916. I was just alongside him and he was blown up by a shell and his body never recovered.’ (Pte R. Morgan A.A.M.A att to 2nd Battn.)
Morgan’s observation that the body was not recovered was not quite true. It was located, perhaps as late as 1928. In June of that year the military authorities wrote to Harris widow, informing her that:
‘…during the course of exhumation work in the vicinity of Pozières the Imperial war Graves Commission was successful in recovering the remains of this soldier which have since been interred with every measure of care and reverence in Plot 19, Row “E”, Grave 9 of Serre Road Cemetery No. 2 situated in Beaumont Hamel, France…..’
A few weeks later they wrote again, forwarding
‘identity disc and metal boomerang which were recovered at the time. These mementoes though now considerably impaired by long exposure will doubtless be valued on account of their former intimate association with the late soldier.’
Dinah was awarded £2 per fortnight pension, and her children Charles William, and Marion Isobel received pensions of £1 and 15/- respectively.
- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
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