14290550 Bombardier James HARRISON, 7 H.A.A. Bty. Royal Artillery

Hi. I’m new here! Just starting to trace my grandfather’s military history, 14290550, James Harrison, Any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks, Dave.

 

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

The definitive way forward is to apply to UK MOD for a copy of his service records via this link -

Request records of deceased service personnel

Steve

 

Thanks for the reply Owen. I’ll check with my father and come back to you

 

Welcome to the forum, for information:
BOMBARDIER JAMES HARRISON 14290550
7 H.A.A. Bty. Royal Artillery
Died 08 January 1946
Buried or commemorated at BROOKWOOD 1939-1945 MEMORIAL Panel 2. Column 3.

Bombardier James Harrison | War Casualty Details 2146475 | CWGC

Bearing in mind the date of death the casualty lists, although providing no details, record him as 'Died' rather than 'killed in action' or 'died as a result of wounds'.

Note that in this case you do not need a death certificate to apply for his service records, just download the certificate from the CWGC.

 

Welcome aboard Dave. There is plenty of knowledge and expertise here.

We always recommend applying for the Service Record. It is the definitive account of his service. Yes, it can take time and regularly has good and disappointing responses. A very short note (copied from Clive): you will need his date of birth and death cert available here for £7 https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ Link for service records
Select the service - Apply for a deceased person's military record - GOV.UK

It is vital you add his full name, Date of Birth, Service Number and if known their unit. Members can check their resources and do some online research. Others may be looking now and in the future for them; we regularly have people join who have found a post or thread about a relative.

It might be worth checking if there is a local newspaper article about him. Most public libraries have access to the British Newspaper Archive when in the library, not online.

He has appeared here before, in a 2020 post (by an ex-member) and that states:

.

It helps to add a ‘tag’ when you create a thread, only you can do this. It is for the formation / corps involved or a theme like intelligence. Searching tags can identify threads, otherwise it takes a bit longer.

Some help via PM next; which is a now four pg. PDF. Also available on: WW2 Soldier Research - Tips and Links for New Researchers (update) Plus: How to Start a new Thread / Edit Post / Upload Image

 

Hi,

Following on from Tony’s helpful post above here are details of 7 H A A Battery - part of 5 H A A Regiment.

5 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45

As Bdr Harrison is listed on the Brookwood Memorial it’s an educated guess that he died at sea and was given a burial st sea. Again supposition without seeing his record but perhaps he was a repatriated Far East POW en route to UK.

As per my first post his service record will tell all.

Steve

 

Died in UK?

 

Something is not right here. 7 HAA Battery and 5 HAA Regiment were both captured in Hong Kong in 1941 and placed in suspended animation. 5 HAA Regiment was not resurrected until 1946 after Bdr Harrison's death. The Service No. 14290550 also precludes Bdr Harrison being part of this 7 HAA Battery or a FEPOW from Hong Kong.
Either 7 HAA Battery were resurrected and attached to another Regiment (which I cannot find) or CWGC have made an error with the unit.
As always need Service Records.

Tim

 

Could this be him, it suggests a known grave but could be just a memorial? Why is he on Brookwood Memorial? His casualty card states place of birth as Farnsworth (can't t trace) but cemetery is Farnworth.
James Harrison (unknown-1946) - Find a Grave Memorial

I assume this is his death registration so a certificate would be available:
Name James Harrison
Death Age 42
Birth Date abt 1904
Registration Date Q1 1946
Registration Quarter Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration district Manchester
Inferred County Lancashire
Volume 8d
Page 536

 

Many thanks everyone for your responses. They’re extremely helpful.

These are wonderful. I’m assuming the first is some kind of military documentation regarding his death. What do the numbers signify? 3000/44/400 and 400….

Am I right in assuming the £1212 was some form of payment made to his wife? (my Grandmother)

 

The numbers are just War Office codes. The money is the value of his estate that would have been distributed by his Administrators to the beneficiaries.

 

Hi Tony, yep, that’s him, I have the death certificate and he’s buried in Farnworth cemetery, I was there when my grandmother was buried alongside him in 1999. We’ve always wondered why he appears on the Brookwood Memorial, I emailed several years ago, but heard nothing back.
A possible theory my father has is that his mother, Jame’s wife, always held the war office responsible for his death, stating he wasn’t healthy enough to fight…..

She very probably refused any form of communication with them after his death, and maybe this led to an administrative error ‍♂️

 

My fathers just sent this over to me, not sure if it’s of any use.

James Harrison is top row, 3rd from the left…

 

Hi. I’ve just received my grandfathers military records and he enlisted in Sep 1942 into the 44 PTW.

Would anyone know where this was based?
He was admitted to a hospital in Chester in May 1943 for several weeks, maybe somewhere around there?

Many thanks,

Dave

 

Hi all, Records arrived yesterday, 3 week wait which was a lot faster than I anticipated!

 

Dave,

Are you aware of this Google text?

It provides a link to this site, but then nothing is there and a search found the original text, which does not help alas: https://montecassinosociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Stan-Pearson.pdf

There is a large Historic England report (249 pgs) that covers all the UK and list military sites. No 44 PTW though! Which makes me wonder if the number is valid. I did try 49, NT too. See: https://historicengland.org.uk/rese...taryCommandandControlOrganisationVol5Appendix

 

Many thanks for your reply David, very interesting.

44 PTW is mentioned on several documents, very strange….