Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

When the war broke out, George Harris was a prisoner in Parramatta Gaol, serving a life sentence for attempted murder.
It was not known where he was born, though he gave his birthdate as 26 May 1882. He stated that he could never remember his parents. His earliest recollection was when, at the age of three, he was handed over to some people in Sydney to be cared for. By the time he was twelve he was on the Sobraon (a reformatory ship for wayward boys). After leaving that at about sixteen, he soon got into trouble, and was in and out of gaol until he became twenty-one.
He went to live in the house of a prostitute in Surry Hills where he bought a basket, and went hawking. The work was very hard, but he made a living at it for some time.
In 1905 a woman was assaulted and robbed of her handbag. Harris was arrested, and he stated that the woman wrongly identified him as the offender. Although he had alibis, he was convicted of the crime and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. He was deeply affected as he strongly believed and argued that he had never committed the crime.
Harris was reported to be so depressed that he became quite unhinged in prison. He was continuously in trouble, and after some time in Parramatta gaol he, having secretly kept a knife in his possession, stabbed the governor of the gaol as went through the workshops on an inspection. He was overpowered by other warders and charged with attempted murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death. On the governor recovering, his sentence was turned into one of penal servitude for life.
Just after the war broke out, the NSW Attorney-General (Mr. David Robert Hall) visited the Parramatta gaol. He was informed by an official there that Harris was the worst man in the gaol. He had already served sixteen years, and during that time had made many unprovoked attacks on his fellow prisoners and officials.
Harris asked permission to see the Minister, and when that was granted told a sad story of an early injustice which had led him on to committing one crime after another. Mr. Hall was impressed with the story, but more impressed with the appearance of the man himself. Hall conducted his own little investigation of Harris’s story which very much showed that the story was true. Mr. Hall felt he was a keen judge of men, and he came to believe that this man, if given a chance, would make good. This chance was awarded. During 1916, at the machinations of Mr. Hall, Harris was released.
He said, when Mr, Hall told him of his coming liberty, that the first thing he would do would be to enlist. Not long after his release he went to Brisbane and enlisted on 18 November 1916.
Harris put in a request for last leave to Sydney soon after, for five days, the form exists in his service file. He stated “I wish to see all my friends, as I wish to go to England for training, as soon as possible. It will be my last farewell.”
Harris joined the Machine Gun reinforcements. He stated "I wanted to join the Suicide Club, as they call it," he said, "because, you see, I have no relatives to mourn if I am knocked out."
Harris joined the 24th Machine Gun Company in France on 3 February 1918. He was killed in action on 8 August 1918. He fell on what was called “the black day of the German Army.”
Mr. Hall received the following letter from Harris' company commander.
“12th Australian M.G. Company, France, December 7, 1918. D. R. Hall, Esq., Sydney.—Sir—I have just read in the November issue of Anzac 'Bulletin' a very interesting account of the life of 634, Private George Harris. This man joined the 24th M.G. Company early in 1918. I was then second in command of the company, and had every opportunity of judging the various qualities of every man in the unit. Harris was greatly liked by all the men of his company and greatly esteemed by his officers on account of his great bravery. He took a prominent part in the company's work in the line during the days in March and April, when things looked very black indeed, and up to August 8, when he was killed, he was in the front line with his section officers on every occasion that the company was in the line. He was killed while carrying ammunition to the guns, and is buried in a little cemetery at Cerisy-Gailly, on the banks of the Somme. I was present when he was buried, and a decent cross marks the spot where he lies. Harris was one of the most straightforward men I ever met, and one of the best soldiers I have seen in the A.I.F. during four years' service. I think it fitting that those who befriended this man in his hour of need should know how much good there was in him, and that he died like the hero he undoubtedly was.
Yours truly, H.A. Sheridan, Captain."
Sheridan was a Gallipoli veteran, a trooper with the Light Horse, and had risen through the ranks to become a highly regarded Lieutenant then Captain in the Australian Machine Gun Corps.
Hall wrote that apart from such interest as existed in his own household, there was only one other house in the world where anyone thought of Harris. A young man who had served a sentence in the same prison had known him. After his release, he said to his sister, "I know a fellow in Parramatta Gaol who has no friends. What do you say if we send him a dinner?” The sister took the meal and met Harris. From that time the special dinners permitted at Christmas, Easter Sunday, and King's Birthday were never again forgotten by her.

Stephen Brooks