Richard Harrison
From The Orange Wiki
HARRISON, Richard
Service no: 1628/5383 [1]
Place of birth: Orange, 1887
Address: 43 Ben Boyd Road, Neutral Bay
Occupation: Labourer/Bread carter
Next of kin: Annie Eliza Harrison (mother), 43 Ben Boyd Road, Neutral Bay
Date of enlistment: 16 July 1915
Place of enlistment: Liverpool
Age at enlistment: 22
Fate: Discharged 3 January 1916. Re-enlisted 27 January 1916. Embarked HMAT A71 Nestor, Sydney, 31 March 1916. Taken on strength 13th Battalion, Serapeum, 18 May 1916. Embarked Alexandria to join British Expeditionary Force 7 June 1916. Disembarked Marseilles 14 June 1916. Marched in to 4th Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 22 June 1916. Joined 13th Battalion 28 August 1916. Admitted to 20th General Hospital, Camiers, with influenza 9 September 1916. Transferred to No 6 Convalescent Depot 12 September 1916. Rejoined unit 18 October 1916. Transferred to 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 11 April 1917. Rejoined unit 23 May 1917. Proceeded on leave to UK 4 March 1918. Rejoined unit 20 March 1918. Admitted to 4th Australian Field Ambulance with shot wounds to scalp and right hand 19 August 1918. Transferred to 6th General Hospital, Rouen, 21 August 1918. Transferred to War Hospital, Exeter, UK, 26 August 1918. Granted furlough 30 September 1918. Marched in to No 4 Command Depot, Hurdcott, 14 October 1918. Admitted to Group Clearing Hospital, Longbridge, Deverill with influenza 13 November 1918. Marched in to Overseas Training Brigade Longbridge, Deverill 17 November 1918. Embarked Orsova, England for return to Australia 8 January 1919. Disembarked Sydney 20 February 1919. Discharged from AIF due to medical unfitness 17 April 1919.
Date of death: 14 August 1938, aged 42
Buried: Northern Suburbs Cemetery, Church of England section
Richard Harrison enlisted in Liverpool on 16 July 1915, just five days after his father, Frederick Harrison 1864-1945. His older brother Frederick Harrison 1892-1949 had enlisted in October 1914; another brother, Thomas Harrison, would do so in February 1916.
Private Richard Harrison attended training camp for nearly six months before being discharged on 3 January 1916, being “unlikely to become an efficient soldier”.
Undeterred, Richard re-enlisted three weeks later, on 27 January 1916. He embarked from Sydney on 31 March 1916 and was taken on strength with the 13th Battalion at Serapeum, Egypt, on 18 May.
In June 1916 Private Harrison joined the British Expeditionary Force in France. In early September Richard was hospitalised with influenza. He rejoined his unit on 18 October 1916.
In August 1918 Richard was wounded in action, sustaining gunshot wounds to his scalp and right hand. He was admitted to the 6th General Hospital at Rouen but was transferred to the Exeter War Hospital in England the following week.
Following his recovery Private Harrison was granted two weeks’ furlough. He reported for duty on 14 October 1918 but was re-admitted to hospital in mid November, just as peace was declared.
Richard returned to Australia in February 1919 and was discharged from the AIF in April due to medical unfitness.
Richard died in Sydney on 14 August 1938, aged 42 years. He is buried in the Church of England section of Northern Suburbs Cemetery
Richard’s father and brother Frederick were both invalided home from the war; Thomas was killed in action in France in July 1918.
