HARRISON, John de Courcy
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | 2 June 1886, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Sep 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 10th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Feb 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, 10th Infantry Battalion |
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Born on 2 June 1886.
Served with the Royal Irish Regiment, in which he obtained a commission as Lieutenant on 5 September 1908.
After retiring from this regiment he proceeded to Australia, where at the outbreak of the Great War he was residing in New South Wales, somewhere in the outback pastoral country near Wilcannia on the River Darling.
In August 1914 he proceeded to Morphettville, and went into camp with the Imperial Reservists, and by special arrangement was permitted to accompany a quota of Imperial Reservists abroad, and upon disembarkation become available for duty with the AIF.
He was appointed a Lieutenant in the AIF on 21 September 1914, but pending embarkation with Reservists was not attached to any AIF unit.
He subsequently proceeded overseas, and arrived at Anzac about 15 May 1915, when he was attached to the 10th Battalion, and promoted to the temporary rank of Captain on 25 May 1915.
He remained with the Battalion until 23 August 1915 when he evacuated ill. He proceeded to Malta, and subsequently re-embarked for England, where he was admitted to hospital, and thus reverted to his substantive rank of Lieutenant.
He subsequently proceeded to France, and at the end of 1916 when Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel G E Redburg commanded the Battalion, he was attached to 1st Divisional Headquarters. Shortly after this he returned to the 10th Battalion, was placed in charge of a company, and promoted to temporary rank of Captain as and from 11 February 1917.
He was wounded during the Le Barque attack on 25 February 1917 and forced to evacuate, thereby again reverting to his substantive rank of Lieutenant. He was subsequently transferred to the 27th Battalion.
He was the second Imperial Reservist Officer attached to the 10th.
He was affectionately known to rank and file as “Shrapnel Jack” or “Telescope Jack”, owing to his ability to compress himself within an absolute minimum of space, should the occasion warrant.
In 1935 he was managing the late Sir Sidney Kidman's Ivanhoe Station, via Broken Hill.
Extract from “The Fighting 10th”, Adelaide, Webb & Son, 1936 by C.B.L. Lock; supplied courtesy of the 10th Bn AIF Association Committee, April 2015.
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