JAMES, Harry Michael
| Service Number: | QX15311 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 February 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Infantry Training Battalions |
| Born: | Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, 2 April 1906 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Cancer Prostate and Bladder, Griffith, New South Wales, Australia, 1 July 1973, aged 67 years |
| Cemetery: |
Griffith Cemetery, New South Wales |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 26 Feb 1941: | Involvement QX15311 | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Feb 1941: | Enlisted | |
| 26 Feb 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX15311, Infantry Training Battalions | |
| 9 May 1942: | Discharged | |
| 9 May 1942: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX15311, Infantry Training Battalions |
Life of Harry James
This is not a happy story!
Harry James, born in 1906 in Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, spent some of his young life in a Bodmin, Cornwall "workhouse" with his mother and siblings after his father's early death.
He married in England in the 1920s, but deserted his wife and two children, and made his way to Australia.
He enlisted in the Australian Army in 1941, and spent most of the war in barracks at Enoggera, Brisbane, actively avoiding any active service.
He met my mother, a professional pianist, when he was performing magic tricks at a serviceman's entertainment event in Brisbane. After marriage, and immediately after my slightly younger brother was born, he deserted us as well, 15 months and one months old. We survived, thankfully due to loving grandparents.
He further blotted his copybook by claiming a third of my mother's estate (she had no will) after she died in a suicide-related fire also killing my grandparents in 1966. This was after never contributing one cent to our upkeep since his desertion.
He married bigamously for a second time in Sydney in 1949, and died in Griffith, NSW in 1973.
After spending 22 years of my life believing he was killed in the war, I met him once for 5 minutes. His ONLY words to me: How soon will the estates be settled, and when will I get my money?
I have contacted the daughter of my half-sister in Scotland, but she will not introduce me to her because of the hurt that Harry imposed on her family as well.
Harry James may have been a serviceman in World War II, but there can be no worthwhile dedication to him in the eyes of my brother or I.
Submitted 24 April 2016 by Bruce James
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