Pte
John Henry Harrison
Informations sur naissance
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Année de naissance: 1896 |
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Lieu de naissance: Manchester, Lancashire, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni |
Informations générales
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Profession: Teinturier de coton |
Informations service militaire
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Pays: Angleterre, Royaume-Uni |
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Force armée: British Expeditionary Force |
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Rang: Private |
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Numéro de service: 46843 |
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Incorporation date: 19/02/1916 |
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Incorporation nom de lieu: Ardwick, Manchester, Lancashire, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni |
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Unités: — Manchester Regiment, 23rd Bn. (Dernière unité connue) |
Informations sur décès
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Date de décès: 22/10/1917 |
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Lieu de décès: Houthulst Forest, Belgique |
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Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Âge: 21 |
Mémorial
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Tyne Cot Memorial Panneau: 122 |
Distinctions et médailles 2
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British War Medal Médaille — 30/05/1922 |
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Victory Medal Médaille — 30/05/1922 |
Points d'intérêt 3
| #1 | Lieu de naissance | ||
| #2 | Lieu d'enrôlement | ||
| #3 | Lieu du décès (approximatif) |
Mon histoire
I’m glad to let you know we’ve completed the file of your relative, Private John Henry Harrison. We’ve included your relative, into our digital Passchendaele Archives. In doing so we did research on the circumstances in which Private John Henry Harrison, of the Manchester Regiment 23rd Battalion, was killed in action. In the following text you’ll read more about the attack on the 22nd of October 1917 on Houthulst Forest, during which Private John Henry Harrison fell:
Private John Henry Harrison served in the Manchester Regiment 23rd Battalion part of the 104th Brigade of the 35th Division.
On the 22nd of October the 35th Division attacked Houthulst Forrest with two Brigades. The 105th Brigade on the left and the 104th on the right flank of the divisional front. The 104th Brigade advanced with the 23rd Manchesters and the 17th Lancashire Fusiliers. The 20th Lancashire Fusiliers were in support and the 17th Royal Scots were in reserve.
The objectives of the 23rd Manchesters were the Six Road junction, one thousand yards West of Schaap-Balie at V.1.b.7.7, to a position some two hundred yards West. The frontage for the 104th Brigade ran from Aden House, where the 23rd Manchesters were in the forward positions, to the Columbo House – Marechal farm Road.
The attack started at 5.45 am, zero hour. The 35th Division’s artillery put down a creeping barrage at a rate of 100 yards every eight minutes, behind which the troops advanced. The 23rd Manchesters left their line running from Aden house (V.1.c.35.25) to Angle Point (U.6.a.6.4). They advanced with the 17th Lancashires Fusiliers on their left and the 34th Division on their right.
The first 400 yards were covered with few casualties. But once the 23rd crossed their first objective, a small rise in the landscape (running from V1 central to the road junction at V1.a.50.15), they faced heavy German resistance (V.1.b.2.2.). The Battalion encountered heavy German Machine gun and rifle fire.
The advance of the 18th Lancashire Fusiliers, who had attacked in close support of the 17th Lancashire Fusiliers, lost its direction and they weren’t able to capture the huts along a country road (V.1.a.3.2.), left of the 23rd Manchesters. The attack of the 16th Royal Scots on the right of the 23rd Manchesters had also failed. The 23rd Manchesters became isolated and were soon fired upon from the German machinegun positions from the railway and the huts. On top of the unrelenting machinegun fire in their flanks the isolated men were fired upon by Germans to their rear who had been missed in the mopping up at first objective. There was also heavy machinegun fire coming from the direction of Six Roads and Colbert cross roads in front of the 23rd Manchesters.
Nearly all the officers, N.C.O’s and men of the 23rd Manchesters were killed or wounded. Some small groups of men managed to battle forward to their final objectives. These men became separated from the main body of the attack and they were all killed or taken prisoner.
Only about 50 men of the whole 23rd Manchesters survived the unforgiving German crossfire. The few men who remained in the field were unable to make any further progress and withdrew to the original line. Where they were relieved by two companies of the 20th Lancashire Fusiliers.
The whole attack had been a complete disaster. One officer of the Battalion went missing, eight officers were killed and five officers were wounded. Fifty-five other ranks went missing, twenty men were killed and 155 men were wounded. Private John Henry Harrison was one of the twenty men who were killed in action on the 22nd of October 1917 in the attack on Houthulst Forrest.
Private John Henry Harrison served in the Manchester Regiment 23rd Battalion part of the 104th Brigade of the 35th Division.
On the 22nd of October the 35th Division attacked Houthulst Forrest with two Brigades. The 105th Brigade on the left and the 104th on the right flank of the divisional front. The 104th Brigade advanced with the 23rd Manchesters and the 17th Lancashire Fusiliers. The 20th Lancashire Fusiliers were in support and the 17th Royal Scots were in reserve.
The objectives of the 23rd Manchesters were the Six Road junction, one thousand yards West of Schaap-Balie at V.1.b.7.7, to a position some two hundred yards West. The frontage for the 104th Brigade ran from Aden House, where the 23rd Manchesters were in the forward positions, to the Columbo House – Marechal farm Road.
The attack started at 5.45 am, zero hour. The 35th Division’s artillery put down a creeping barrage at a rate of 100 yards every eight minutes, behind which the troops advanced. The 23rd Manchesters left their line running from Aden house (V.1.c.35.25) to Angle Point (U.6.a.6.4). They advanced with the 17th Lancashires Fusiliers on their left and the 34th Division on their right.
The first 400 yards were covered with few casualties. But once the 23rd crossed their first objective, a small rise in the landscape (running from V1 central to the road junction at V1.a.50.15), they faced heavy German resistance (V.1.b.2.2.). The Battalion encountered heavy German Machine gun and rifle fire.
The advance of the 18th Lancashire Fusiliers, who had attacked in close support of the 17th Lancashire Fusiliers, lost its direction and they weren’t able to capture the huts along a country road (V.1.a.3.2.), left of the 23rd Manchesters. The attack of the 16th Royal Scots on the right of the 23rd Manchesters had also failed. The 23rd Manchesters became isolated and were soon fired upon from the German machinegun positions from the railway and the huts. On top of the unrelenting machinegun fire in their flanks the isolated men were fired upon by Germans to their rear who had been missed in the mopping up at first objective. There was also heavy machinegun fire coming from the direction of Six Roads and Colbert cross roads in front of the 23rd Manchesters.
Nearly all the officers, N.C.O’s and men of the 23rd Manchesters were killed or wounded. Some small groups of men managed to battle forward to their final objectives. These men became separated from the main body of the attack and they were all killed or taken prisoner.
Only about 50 men of the whole 23rd Manchesters survived the unforgiving German crossfire. The few men who remained in the field were unable to make any further progress and withdrew to the original line. Where they were relieved by two companies of the 20th Lancashire Fusiliers.
The whole attack had been a complete disaster. One officer of the Battalion went missing, eight officers were killed and five officers were wounded. Fifty-five other ranks went missing, twenty men were killed and 155 men were wounded. Private John Henry Harrison was one of the twenty men who were killed in action on the 22nd of October 1917 in the attack on Houthulst Forrest.
Sources 3
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23 Battalion Manchester Regiment, (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2484/5 ). https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14303 Autre référence |
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McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 120-123. Sources utilisées |
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Stedman M., Manchester Pals 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd + 23rd Battalions of Manchester Regiment: A History of the Two Manchester Brigades, (London, Leo Cooper, 1994), pg. 183-188. Sources utilisées |
Complément d’informations 3
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/838708 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=a3415782-8a5e-4020-8713-44c4de3e2bb0 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/5123381 |