JACK HARRISON VC MC

[Guest]

Good afternoon everyone,

This is my first posting though I have visited this forum many times before and have learnt a great deal about the Great War viewing the comments made on here.

I work in the Interpretation department of the Royal Armouries in Leeds and as my background is in acting rather than history, I am hoping that you knowledgable people may be able to help me dig up some revelations about a particular soldier who will be the focus of a new interpretation at the museum.

2nd LIEUTENANT JACK ( JOHN ) HARRISON of the 11th Battalion East Yorks.

Jack was killed on the 3rd May 1917 at Oppy Wood and later awarded the Victoria Cross. He is the only professional rugby league player to be awarded the VC which is displayed at the Regimental museum in York. Unfortunately, when I visited, the only information I could find about him was his commendation for the VC and very little else.

Does anybody have or know anything else about Jack?

Any information, however small would be invaluable to me in putting together an interpretation/presentation in his honour. The piece I am writing will be on the timetable of events at the Royal Armouries from February onwards.

Many thanks

[IanA]

Hi Royalarm,

Even though you have been loitering for a while, welcome!!

He was born 2.11.1890 at Drypool, Sculcoates, Hull. He also held the M.C.

The above info gleaned from

www.eviltaxman.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vchinfo.htm

Have you tried the 1901 census?

Good luck,

Ian

[Guest]

Hi Royalarm,

Even though you have been loitering for a while, welcome!!

He was born 2.11.1890 at Drypool, Sculcoates, Hull. He also held the M.C.

The above info gleaned from

www.eviltaxman.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vchinfo.htm

Have you tried the 1901 census?

Good luck,

Ian

Thanyou for that Ian,

(And my mistake JACK HARRISON was in the 11th Battalion . . .NOT the 10th)

[WhiteWolf]

this could be your man on the 1901 England Census

Name: John Harrison

Age: 10

Estimated birth year: abt 1891

Relation: Son

Father's name: John

Mother's name: Charlotte

Gender: Male

Where born: Hull, Yorkshire, England

Civil parish: Sculcoates

Ecclesiastical parish: St Andrew

Town: Kingston Upon Hull

County/Island: Yorkshire

Country: England

Rest of the family

Name Age

Beatrice Harrison 17

Charlotte Harrison 39

Charlotte E Harrison 13

Elma Harrison 1

Elsie Harrison 5

John Harrison 40

John Harrison 10

Lilian Harrison 15

Hope this is the right guy

Andy

[eviltaxman]

Royalarm,

His VC was Gazetted (in the London Gazette) issue number 30130, page 5866 on 14 June 1917. He was also in the 4th Supplement to LG30126 of 12 June 1917.

Les

ps. thanks for the plug Ian

[joseph]

Royal Arm,

Welcome to the Forum

2nd Lt John Harrison VC MC.

Prior to Enlisting in the 11th Battalion on 4th November 1915 he was a teacher at Lime Street, Boys School, Hull. Previously teaching at Estcourt Street Senior School Hull and attended the York Training College.

On the 3rd May 1920 a memorial Tablet was unveiled at Lime Street School by Colonel Commandant B.G. Price CB, CMG, DSO.

Colonel Price, addressing the boys, told them they had got the most extraordinary privilege that few schools had, of doing their daily task in a room which had a tablet on the wall in memory of one of their teachers who had earned the highest distinction the King could give to any subject. Bravery was also shown almost daily in civil life amongst all classes, and these same men when they passed into the Army did valiant deeds Yet the deeds which earn the Victoria Cross were in a way no greater than the brave deeds performed by many Civilians; but in deeds of bravery in the field a man leading his company or platoon was able to set a great example. In the terrible fights and battles during the Great War there was an extraordinary temptation amongst all men, even the bravest, to avoid either getting themselves or their men into impossible positions. He was sure Lieutenant Harrison did not search for glory or a reputation. He found himself in the ordinary course of duty in " No Man's Land," surrounded by smoke and flame, and horrid noise, the cries of dying men, the constant whizz of bullets and shrapnel, and weird lights and sounds, and the thing that carried him forward, was that he was doing -his duty, and meant to see the thing through.

MC in the LG 17/04/1917

For Conspicuous Gallantry and devotion to duty. He handled his platoon with great courage and skill, reached his objective under the most trying conditions, and captured a prisoner. He set a splendid example throughout.

Regards Charles

[Guest]

Many thanks to everyone who posted replies, this is a fantastic forum and a great resource for information.

Lt. John Harrison was a remarkable man and lost his life single handedly charging a machine gun post when numerous attempts to take it had failed.

He is remembered at Hull Rugby League Club's KC Stadium with a memorial dedicated to him and he is still, some 90 years on, the club's record holder for most tries in a season ( 52 ) 1913 - 1914 season.

07-11-2003

Rugby League hero honoured

Ninety years after he died for his country, Jack Harrison, a Rugby League hero and legend in the City of Hull, is to be immortalised at the Kingston Communications Stadium.

It was in the First World War Harrison proved his true bravery. He was Britain's only rugby player to be awarded the Victoria Cross after he gave his life trying to single-handedly destroy a machine-gun post.

On Tuesday 11th November, with members of ex-servicemen’s associations in attendance, Jack Harrison will be honoured with the dedication of a bronze memorial at the Kingston Communications Stadium. The Statue will be erected opposite the main West Stand reception of the building

The service will take place ahead of the official unveiling, which will be on Saturday 15th November at the Great Britain v Australia 2nd Ashes test match at the Stadium.

JACK HARRISON

Jack Harrison was born in 1890 in Hull and played his first match for Hull FC in 1912.

In the 1913/14 season he set a record for try scoring with 52 – a record which still stands to this day!

When the First World War started later that year, Jack joined the Hull Brigade of East Yorkshire Regiment and as a second lieutenant was posted to the Somme.

He received the Military Cross In 1917, but it was in the battle of Oppy Wood that he made the ultimate sacrifice, for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for "conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice in attack".