Help: Court Martialled & Missing in UK, Capt: Albert Edward Harrison AIF

[jds1949]

Dear Ian and Roger,

Not a lot to report I'm afraid.

I have now been through the Gradation lists which cover the period from August 1917 until 31st December 1919 and there was no officer with the name of A E Harrison commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the British Army between those dates. The A Harrison that Roger found was listed as follows:

"Harrison Andrew MC dob: 29th July 1889 - In Ranks for 8 years 37 days; Warrant Officer 2nd Class: 1 year 176 days; East Kent Regiment - commissioned 29th August 1917"   

The W A Harrison that I found previously has a medal card showing continuous service from August 1915 through to the end of the war [firstly as a lieutenant then as a captain].

So, I think that we can be sure that neither of those gentlemen fit the bill.

I then looked at the records of the first 5 Harrisons listed in WO 374 - pieces 31331 - 31335. All of them had at least the initial "A" in their names - but none of them were our man. They all had service which pre-dated the August 1917 court-martial, either in the ranks or the Territorials or as regular officers.

I did not have time to do any more I'm afraid - but I shall be available next week for another go - perhaps Roger can suggest a day?

I did have a quick chat with one of the desk staff about our man's medal card, she couldn't really shed much light on it, though she was interested in the story. The main expert wasn't on duty today, so perhaps next time he might be.

Now this is a complete stab in the dark, but as I looked at my downloaded copy of the medal card it seemed as if on the box marked "Corps" there had been at some point something else written underneath. Underneath the "Imp Force" there seems to be an irregular slightly curved wavy line which seems to be picked up with a mark between the the final "a" and "n" of Australian above. This is almost certainly me being fanciful - and I have no idea what significance, if any, it might have - just clutching at straws.

Over to you Roger,

jds1949

[Craven-Harrison]

Dear Roger,

the business of AEH being reunited with his old unit is explainable (I think)

He gets dismissed in late September, transported to AIF headquarters Westminster London in unknown circumstances 3 days later. Perham Down probably don't want any backlash in the official stats and Australia definitely wants him to be very embarrassed when he returns to Australia

This was the way of Australia, when a man returned to Australia in disgrace he was identified in the media for his deeds. (probably, not too good for a father and husband) so why come back to that???

I'm sure that returning to the 19th Battalion was just a formality and done to just dot the I's and get the stats right and the reputations right.

It's possible that The Hardening and Drafting Camp was partially English, the Commanding Officer was apparently English, so they would have wanted to cleanse this particular incident from their records.

The business of the MIC's and AIF entries isn't clear and the fact that only a handful of AIF soldiers are present on the indexes suggests some sort of arrangement, perhaps secondment. One thing is certain, the AEH MIC that we have, was constructed around the time of his court martial

Cheers


Ian

[Craven-Harrison]

Dear JDS1949,

you said:

checked 1917-1919 grad lists and no 2L/t Officer with AEH initials was present:

1: we might have addressed this previously, not sure, if he already had the education to be an Officer and had already earned a Commission in the AIF then why would he need to graduate or be on a graduation list?
2: Shouldn’t he just be absorbed or attached into a unit as a fully fledged Officer and avoid the formality of a graduation list?
3: The London Gazette does not agree with the Graduation lists, it would seem, I will have the entire LG Harrison list up on here soon

Ok on the Andrew Harrison of East Kent Rgmt, it was a chance given the dates as Roger said

Ok on the W A Harrison and continuous service from August 1915 through to the end of the war [firstly as a lieutenant then as a captain].

I agree, neither of these men will be contenders

You said:

I looked at WO 374 - pieces 31331 - 31335. All had the initial "A" - but none of them were our man. They all had service which pre-dated the August 1917 court-martial, either in the ranks or the Territorials or as regular officers.

Yep, I had seen or heard of these files previously and you have confirmed the original thoughts, AEH's grandson Brian was in England a couple of years ago and checked these few records, he came to the same conclusion as you.

Lets hope the main expert is present upon your next visit to Kew, perhaps he might shine some light on the AEH MIC

Yes, there is something written under the "Imp Force" words, in fact the whole box has had something rubbed out and the new words added over it. I've had this card for several years and never seen this before, do we know any forensic scientists?

Amazing!!!!!!!!?

After some time trying all sorts of graphics tricks, I can't make head or tail of the original words underneath. But I'll try and get an expert on it.

Regarding the WO 374 files, would I be right in saying that these files are for Territorial forces and Temporary Commissions?

Given that we believe that AEH entered the Permanent Army would this type of Officer's files be found in WO 339 and not the WO 374 ......?

I'll have a draft list of WO 275 MIC holdings, references, and some of the outcomes in PDF format up in the next couple of days. If you want the XL file to sort and manipulate then just drop me a line and I'll send it to you directly. 

Cheers for now

Ian

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[jds1949]

Dear Ian,

It's a Gradation list - not graduation - I think it lists all officers by date of commission - from whatever source - so that the seniority is clearly established and published. My understanding is that dates of commission are of importance to the military as they establish who is the senior officer should the situation arise when two officers of the same rank face a problem in the face of the enemy - the earlier commission date takes precedence. If you ever saw the film "Zulu" there was a scene between the Michael Caine and Stanley Baker characters on exactly that point.

As you say WO 374 deals with officers with temporary commissions - but my understanding was that AEH had a temporary commission - on page 4 of your document [Research Details] you quote the form of Commission sent to Nora "as a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Regular Forces of the British Army"

Now you may well be right in thinking that there may be a record in WO 339 and I shall have a look there next time.

I've taken note of your direct email address - which I suspect the mods will erase in the very near future

jds1949

[Redroger]

jds1949, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday? any one of those three is suitable to me next week. Please pm me. I missed the direct email, but will send Ian a pm.
Roger

[Craven-Harrison]

Dear Mod,

Apologies for the o/sight, a senior moment..!!

Cheers

Ian

[Craven-Harrison]

G'day jds1949,

"Gradation list - not graduation", well there's a subtlety that I hadn't spotted, I've broken out the flagellator and given myself 10, your right again!!.....!!! LOL

I've never heard of this list, I'm sure if AEH doesn't exist in this list then it's unlikely that he's using his real name. I understand the reason that a Gradation list should exist and if AEH does exist he should be on it.  Lets hope "A" for Albert might result in a better outcome

Regarding the note to Nora and particularly the comment,  "as a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Regular Forces of the British Army".
There is one other comment worth considering following on from the former comment "this refers to his first appointment to Commission and not to his subsequent rank"

I'm trying to read between the lines here, did they predict or expect that he was promoted from a T2L/t by the time the letter was received by Nora?? or did they really know more than the letter revealed? I've always looked for any rank as he could be anything I guess, and importantly in any TNA series.

I've attached the Nora "Form of Commission" covering letter

Cheers

Ian

[Craven-Harrison]

Given that we are searching for a fellow that is allusive at best, I thought I should explain a little more of his past and to what extent he was apparently prepared to confuse his prosecutors or elude his finders.

I have attached two documents that will show that he wasn't too bothered about accuracy, fact or detail during his Court Martial. The first document is from his GCM and was one of several pages describing his service in WW1 and other pertinent details. This page describes his education and military training and is nothing like the truth

The second is a letter written by AEH to a friend Captain Maloney about an incident that occurred at Wilmansrust South Africa during the Boer War. The letter was subsequently published in an Australian newspaper describing a first hand account by Albert

The two documents are linked in a mutually exclusive sort of way.

At the top of GCM document Qualifications,  you will notice Question No 9
“Entered the Army from”?

AEH answers this question “No previous Military experience except in Cadets”

This is an absolute fabrication, he had been in the Boer War and Militia prior to joining the AIF on 12/12/1914

Why would he lie about his service?

His Boer War unit the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles were a formidable mob of fighters but came in for some serious criticism from the British Commanding Officers following a night time raid on their camp by the Boers which was quite successful for the Boers.

I can only surmise that Albert didn’t want the court to know of his Boer War history because his old unit had been given such a bad reputation and he wasn’t up for the explanation or the attached stigma, perhaps some of the panel had been in the Boer War and knew of the incident. Albert was not in the camp on the night of the raid

I have taken the liberty of extracting some of the details of that incident from "Defending Victoria website"

The largest Boer-War Monument in Australia commemorates the service
---the Victorian 5th Contingent, Victorian Mounted Rifles.

The unit suffered the worst casualties of any Australian Contingent. Most
of these occurred in the disastrous action at Wilmansrust, Central Transvaal.
Falsely and foolishly accused of cowardice, three members of the unit later
were court-martialled and sentenced to death for refusing to serve under their
principal accuser British Major-General S. B. Beatson. Lord Kitchener had to intervene and commute the death sentences.
On the evening of 12 June 1901, the Left Wing of the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, E F G and H Squadrons, camped at Wilmansrust in South Africa's central Transvaal.
The encampment was surprised when rushed in the dark by the Boers at about 7.30 pm. Their first volley stampeded the horses in H Squadron lines through the camp. The Boers were dressed in captured khaki uniforms and turned up hats. It was impossible to tell friend from foe by the light of dying campfires.
Victorian casualties were heavy. Killed was regimental surgeon Herbert Palmer of Ballarat, and 18 NCOs and men. Five officers and 36 NCOs and men were wounded.
The Victorians were part of a combined column commanded by British Major-General S. B. Beatson, a stern disciplinarian. In the week after the Wilmansrust engagement, the column remained in the vicinity.

For some reason General Beatson was deeply, but unfairly, disturbed about the Wilmansrust action. Until then he had seemed keenly impressed with the Victorians. Now, all that had changed. The facts were very different, with Victorian mounted troops being generally acknowledged as formidable opponents to the Boer 'Commandos', and terrifying to them in some engagements.

The column returned to Middelburg depot later that week. There was by then a state of mutual contempt between the General and the Victorians.

A court of enquiry earlier had begun sittings three days after the disaster, at Uitgedacht. The Wilmansrust camp had been under the overall command of a British officer, Major CJN Morris, Royal Field Artillery. He had personally chosen the position of the picquets. In another extraordinary outburst British General Sir Bindon Blood mentioned the 'chicken-hearted behaviour of the officers and men generally of the Victorian Mounted Rifles on this occasion. We must remember that they were all a lot of recruits together, and that their behaviour was only what was to be expected in the circumstances'.   
 
Since it was acknowledged that the picquets were insufficent and wrongly placed (the responsibility of Major Morris who had personally selected their positions), the comments of Sir Bindon Blood and General Beatson before him were grave slurs on the Victorians. Major William McKnight, the CO of the 5VMR Left Wing at Wilmansrust, called General Beatson to account for his 'gross insults'. A belated apology by the General was curtly refused by McKnight. The Court of Enquiry, meanwhile, had censured British Artillery Major Morris.
 

[jds1949]

Dear Ian,

I think flagellation was a tad excessive - two days confined to barracks would have been sufficient.

Thanks for all the new documentation. I've got the decorators in for the next few days, but should be free towards the end of this coming week to meet up with Roger at Kew. I suspect that we will have to try and enlist one of the National Archive's specialists in WW1 for help with this one as I am fast running out of ideas. 

Will get back to you as soon as we have something to report,

jds1949