SOLDIER RESEARCH
Soldier’s Name
John Auguste Emile Harris
Rank
Lance Corporal
Service
Number
Regiment/Unit
2251
Place of Birth
Camberwell, Sydney, NSW
Date of Birth
1899
Place of
Enlistment
Age at
Enlistment
Family Details
Liverpool
2nd Battalion
15
Alfred Harris (father)
Alphonsine Harris (mother)
Date of Death
6 August 1915
Place of Death
Lone Pine
Cemetery or
Memorial
Name
Grave or
Memorial
Number
Lone Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey
Special Memorial C.41
Australian War Memorial – Collections Database – H06501
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H06501
Lance Corporal John Harris
2251
2nd
Battalion
Australia was a young and inexperienced country, romanced by the idea of war, by the
adventure, the glory and honour they thought it entailed. Thus, at the outbreak of the First
World War, men of all ages and backgrounds flocked to enlist. It wasn’t just men who
wished to take part in this brave quest; the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll recognises
at least 58 boy soldiers or sailors who died while serving our country in the Great War.
These are 58 boys who never became men, who never became husbands, who never
became fathers.
One story grabbed my attention: Lance Corporal John Auguste Emile Harris who was just
15 years and 10 months old when he was killed in action at Lone Pine Gallipoli. When I
discovered his story, I was of a nearly identical age. This baffled me a little, because at 15
years and 8 months old, I was busy planning my future, thinking about graduating and
getting a job, growing up and one day having a family. I struggled to comprehend the fact
that John had willingly sacrificed not only his life, but his future.
Before the war, John attended Cleveland Street High School in Sydney and worked as a
clerk. He lived with his parents Alfred Thomas Harris and Alphonsine Anna Camille Nee
Prudthomme at 165 Denison Street, Waverly, and is believed to have attended the Church
of England.
He also had reached the rank of 2nd Lieutenant of the 28th infantry in the New South Wales
Senior Cadets. But John left all of this behind when he enlisted for the Australian Imperial
Force on 2 June 1915. John’s age was given as 18, Alfred Harris signed the parental
consent form for his son’s enlistment and a mere 2 weeks later, John embarked on the
HMAT A63 Karoola; final destination Gallipoli.
Arriving at Gallipoli a meagre 17 hours before the August Offensive began, John and his
great friend and perhaps mentor, 33 year-old 2nd Lieutenant Everard Digges La Touche,
had little time to accustom to trench life. Involved at the charge at Lone Pine, John Auguste
Emile Harris was last seen at 4:30pm on 6 August.
Speculation surrounds the date of John’s death, some official records recording it as 6
August while others recording it as the 8th. A logical explanation for the error is that the 2nd
battalion was relieved by the 7th battalion on the 8th, making it an appropriate time to do a
“head count” of sorts. It seems probable that John died on 6 August, and this is backed up
by witness accounts, and notes stating that he and Lieutenant La Touche died on the same
day. La Touche was mortally wounded on 6 August, but supposedly lived long enough to
order that John’s military service tags be removed, and mailed home to his father.
It is believed that John August Emile Harris only has a headstone because the return home
of his dogtags proved that he fell at Lone Pine. Red Cross Wounded and Missing files claim
John’s body was left where it fell and that he received no burial.
John’s story of sacrifice emphasises the importance of the continuation of the Anzac spirit
among young people from generation to generation.
SOURCES /BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ancestry.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2013. <http://search.ancestry.com/cgibin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_r_f2_s&gsfn=John+C&gsln=Harris&msbdy=1897&msbpn__ftp=Sydney%2C+New+South+Wales
%2C+Australia&msddy=&msdpn__ftp=&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=000&cp=0>.
"August Offensive." Australian War Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
<http://www.awm.gov.au/units/event_115.asp>.
Australian Imperial Force Nominal Rolls 6th Reinforcements. Digital image. Australian War
Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
<http://static.awm.gov.au/collection/images/large/RCDIG1067363/RCDIG1067363--280.JPG>.
"Boy Soldiers on the Roll of Honours for the First World War." Australian War Memorial. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2013. < http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/boysoldiers/first/>.
"First World War Embarkation Rolls - John Auguste Emile Harris." Australian War Memorial.
N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
<http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/nominal_rolls/first_world_war_embarkation/person/
R2069919/>.
"First World War Embarkation Rolls Introduction." Australian War Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 23
Dec. 2013.
<http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/nominal_rolls/first_world_war_embarkation/introduct
ion/>.
John Auguste Emile Harris. Rep. no. 1280110D. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Australian Red Cross Society
Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau Files. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.
<http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1038950--1-.PDF>.
John Auguste Emile Harris. Rep. no. 4764863. N.p.: n.p., n.d. National Archives of Australia Digital Copy of Military Records. Web. 29 Dec. 2013.
<http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=4764863>.
Jones, Faithe. "H." WWI Pictorial Honour Roll of New South Wales. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec.
2013. <http://ww1nsw.gravesecrets.net/h.html>.