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

[Craven-Harrison]

jds1949,

my understanding regarding the Australians was they were waiting for return to Australia and doing absolutely nothing but waiting for their ships, they were asked if they were interested and told of the risks and the money and many of them jumped at the chance.. They formed the majority of the 45th and 46th Royal Fusiliers.

They absolutely had to be discharged fron the AIF prior to joining

Ian

[jds1949]

Ian,

thanks for that - new to me - I shall bear it in mind when I check the records at Kew, which I hope will be later this week,

jds1949

[Redroger]

Not had my DNA done yet, but suspect I may have the same haplotype! I've always been keen on sticking my neck out, just for the hell of it!Though Albert could have well shortened his name to Bert, there is another  common possibility, I had an uncle Bert who was in the RHA as a regular in WW1, it took me a long while to figure out that his name was a shortened version of Herbert, and these are before we get into more exotic waters with Egbert etc.

[Craven-Harrison]

jds1949,

I've done some more reading on the Aussies and the original forces in N/Russia and know a bit more. The Australians reached Russia in June 1919 assisting the British in evacuating and were there until September. They were not there with the other forces Syrne and Elope. The Australian force was called the British North Russian Relief Force NRRF and these men joined this force as individuals and volunteers and got the big money. There were 200-300 of them. Apart from the 45th and 46 Royal Fusiliers they also were in the 201st Batt Machine Gun Corps

They were commanded by Brig Gen LW de V Sadleir-Jackson. I'm thinking that because of the dates that if AEH did join the Russian War, he would have joined the original British Syren or Elope units, but I'm not dismissing the NRRF Australian unit either

Hope this helps

Ian

[Craven-Harrison]

Dear Roger,

Ok on the DNA and your thoughts on a similar Haplogroup Q, My British Harrison ancestors came from the Craven area of West Yorkshire for as far back as the records can go. The Q DNA is unusual for Britian (very unusual) it comes from Scandinavian origins, given that Yorkshire was inhabited by Scandinavian Vikings, it's more than likely that these folk are responsible for the origins of my family.

The Bert issue is interesting and I hadn't thought about the Herbert's and Egbert's etc. Too many options and too many possibilities....!

I was searching the Australian Archives last night, I haven't done this for a year or so. In that time there has been some changes to the way they present their information and it appears that some more data has emerged. I have located another DVA file for an AE Harrison located in Western Australia, this document has never been seen or identified previously. I have historically trawled these records for years without success. We certainly know that Nora had significant dealings with the DVA, Australian Government and Military, so there should be more, I'm hoping this might be the missing files

I will order this to be digitised today and see where it takes us.

Ian

[Craven-Harrison]

I've been checking the Australian archives today, amongst other searches, I spent some time looking at the history of a Soldier TJ Robson who was cut loose from the AIF in England, the same way as AEH and at about the same time.

The Australian Government lost him in England and subsequently discharged him in England as a consequence of being illegally absent. He had been dismissed from the AIF prior to this. He had also been at Perham Down, and been AWL many times.

He subsequently got back to Australia by his own means, but didn't return to his wife. He was apprehended and then escaped custody again. Lost somewhere in Australia

Importantly again,  there is a distinction between Dismissed and Discharged, I am now aware that there were two important registers located at AIF headquarters London, an "Illegal Absentee List" and a "Discharge Register."  The trick will be to establish their existence and location now.

Regarding the AEH DVA Pension file mentioned previously and located at the Australian National Archives today. This file is not open and will take some time to be released, previous experience tells me a couple of months before an outcome of any sort. I ordered it to be digitised today

Ian

[Craven-Harrison]

I mentioned that I had located some new records at the Australian National Archives, specifically a Western Australian DVA file referring to an AE Harrison.

I have ordered this record and whilst waiting I thought that I should check all my  Civilian BDM's and Military personnel regarding the existence of an AE Harrison in Western Australia.

Western Australia in the 1920's was a great place to disappear if you wanted to live a life of anonymity, I had previously looked at this state in some depth for this reason . These recent WA military files located at the NAA weren’t available when I did this original research.

A quick check of my original work against this new DVA file revealed two WW1 Soldiers from WA -

- 1458 Spr Albert Edward Harrison 51st Batt 21 years of age a Groom, from Perth KIA 30/03/1918

- 2999 Pte, Alfred Ernest Harrison 10th Light-Horse, WA Prospector, 37 years of age RTA 29/04/1919

Given that Albert Edward was killed in 1918, there is a good chance that the file that I have ordered belongs to Alfred Ernest Harrison the Prospector from WA

A good chance of another dead end , albeit it looked pretty good initially

Ian

[Redroger]

Waiting with anticipation for JDS findings at Kew regarding Russia. I would not be surprised either if AEH found his way back to Australia, and is the guy who fought the Japenese in the early 1940s, with or without a trip to Russia in between.

[Craven-Harrison]

Hi Roger,

I'm also interested to hear of Js's findings at the NA, my book on the same subject hasn't arrived as yet, the suppliers website gobbled up my order, a few more days to go now.

Who is the fellow who fought the Japanese in 1940's?  Have you turned up something new? AEH would be (c) 60 years of age.....? he had plenty of nephew's and sons fighting in WW2.

I'm going over and over UK medal cards again, using searches such as 201 machine gun, Russia, birth dates, 45th and 46th Fusiliers and many more alternate names, unfortunately without any tangible result at this stage.

I'll make a formal application to the MOD in the next couple of days, I've been building the material necessary for the application, including identification etc

I established that there was a "British Mission To Russia Roll" which contained all the Officers and Soldiers names who fought in Russia. I have tried to Google it and also find it at the NA without result at this stage.

I've been pondering what would be required for a non British Citizen to establish credentials necessary to live and work in Britain. I can remember that even as late the 1980's in Australia you could open a bank account under any name, without ID and work without formal employee income reporting very easily.

I'd be very interested to establish what would be required to establish a life in the UK in the 1920 -30's  such as Naturalization, Taxation, Voting rights, Drivers License, and the possibility of Deedpol use and any other ideas.

Cheers

Ian