delta Posted 9 July , 2008 Share Posted 9 July , 2008 Have recently idenfited that Bill harkness, one of the Uk's greatest rose growers, was also one of the first tank crews. He was transferred to the Labour Corps, probably as a result of illness. Sadly I can't locate his service record. Does his new number give a clue Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 9 July , 2008 Share Posted 9 July , 2008 Men were usually posted to the Labour Corps as a result of physical downgrading,being no longer fit for frontline service,but fit enough for other duties within the LC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 9 July , 2008 Share Posted 9 July , 2008 Ivor Lee might be able to help. Presumably a relation (brother?) of Jack Harkness, another famous rose grower? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Lee Posted 10 July , 2008 Share Posted 10 July , 2008 Stephen The transfer was probably between October and December 1917. There are numbers below his that did not transfer until December and numbers higher than his that transferred in late October. Ivor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 10 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 10 July , 2008 HB - he was transferred after getting pleurisy Ivor many thanks for the confirmation - I thought it would be about that time given that he did get a "new" tankee number but I was unsure Charles - yes his brother; I am in contact with the family to get more details Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew pugh Posted 10 July , 2008 Share Posted 10 July , 2008 Hi Steven. Harkness rose growers are still going and are based in Hitchin Herts. Regards Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 10 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 10 July , 2008 Andy - indeed they are and are still a family firm. Peter Harkness, who is one of the partners, is helping me with the search - he descirbes himself as Bill's cousin once removed. He says: "Bill himself never referred to his war service in my hearing. He was a man of few words - or maybe our age difference of 41 years was too big a bridge in those days. The family story has it that Bill enlisted in 1915 and found himself in France as a Private in the Cavalry before joining 'C' company - one of the four original companies of the Tank Corps - on the principle, he said, that it was better to ride than walk. One day he was standing on a board and smoking a cigarette while washing a tank down with petrol; the resulting whoosh of flame nearly cost him more than a stripe. Subsequent bouts of pleurisy and pneumonia led to his being invalided to Devon, where he helped man a Government Depot of Agricultural Horses to enable the local farmers to plough up their permanent pastures and go arable. Bill was modest to the point of being self-effacing, but a very determined and methodical perfectionist in achieving his chosen goals - hence his haul of 22 National Rose Championships out of 26 entries during his years in charge of the nursery. " Hopefully he will come up trumps with a photo S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew pugh Posted 10 July , 2008 Share Posted 10 July , 2008 Hi Steven. I pass the nursery in Hitchin every time i visit my mother who lives in Luton,I wonder if he ever trained at Canada Farm near Thetford, which is quite near to where I live Mildenhall.I think this is where most of the tank units were formed before going to the front. Regards Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 10 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 10 July , 2008 I think its pretty certain he was at Elveden - sadly I can;t find his service record (yet) but every other member of company did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 10 July , 2008 Share Posted 10 July , 2008 One of their fairly recently introduced plants is "Remembrance" - extensively used by CWGC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 10 July , 2008 Share Posted 10 July , 2008 Stephen - good luck with your research. I'd be interested to know if Jack served in the Great War. My late grandmother was a good friend of Jack's. She lived not far from Hitchin. When she died in 1976 Jack named one of his latest creations after her: a shrub rose called Marjorie Fair. (see here) In 1916 she was engaged to Captain Francis Dodgson, 8 Yorks. He was killed on 10 July 1916 (see this thread). In 1991 I went to the Somme for the first time and found his grave in Serre No. 2. In 1992 I went back with my father and we went to the CWGC at Beaurains where we got talking to Norman Christie. The subject of the Marjorie Fair rose came up and my father asked if it might be possible to have one planted on Dodgson's grave. Mr Christie said that he was sure that it could be arranged as Harkness were the suppliers of roses to the GWGC. On returning home my father contacted Harkness where one of the sons (Peter?) said that it would be no problem and that they would put a Marjorie Fair with special instructions in the next shipment to the CWGC in France. This they did (at no charge I might add in memory of Jack's friendship with my grandmother). In the summer of 1993 we went back again and the rose was blooming happily by Dodgson's grave. It made a great picture. (The rose survived for a couple of years before it was presumably killed by a hard winter.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 11 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 11 July , 2008 I am truly amazed by this Forum's links.... I will pass the info to Peter and see what happens S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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