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16/06/1895 - 14/09/1918

Place of birth: Clapham, London
Last known address in Bromley: 5 Park Road

Military information

Regiment/Service: London Regiment
Battalion/Ship: 2nd/20th Bn
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Number: 4731
Awards: Military Cross

Family information

Parents: John Sidney & Mary Henrietta Ellen (nee Sargent)
Parents' occupation: Bank clerk
Siblings: Muriel Mary, Ellen Doris

Census information

1901
Address: 77 Crescent Lane, Clapham
1911
Address: 5 Park Road
Occupation: Civil service clerk

Extra details

Harry was the youngest of John and Mary Ellen's three children. He was baptised at Christ Church, Clapham on 28th July 1895. He was initially educated at Clapham Preparatory School, when his parents moved to Bromley c1905 he moved to Bromley High School for Boys and then to St Dunstan's College from January 1909 to July 1910. His first employment was in the office of the Surveyor of Taxes at Bromley, where he worked as a clerk. He then followed his father by becoming a clerk at Lloyds Bank. He was also a member of the Church of England Temperance Society .

He enlisted in the l6th London Regiment on 14th September 1915 and accompanied the Queen's Westminster's draft to France on 22nd June 1916. Whilst serving with the unit on the Somme, he was wounded on 10th September I916 and invalided home. After convalescing he went to an officer cadet unit and was then commissioned into the 20th London Regiment on 27th June 1917. He joined the 2/20th Battalion in France on 5th July 1918 and although in France for only six weeks, he was appointed Signalling Officer of the unit and was awarded the Military Cross. The citation appeared in the London Gazette of 11th January 1919: "For gallant conduct on 3O August when, as Battalion Signalling Officer, he showed great courage and initiative in establishing and maintaining for 3 days communication with front companies, along a line of 2500 feet, which was persistently shelled. He laid the line without orders, and personally superintended the work under severe fire."

Thank you to St Dunstan's for their assistance.