Harrison, Septimus

SOLDIER DETAILS:

Septimus Harrison
Private 4th Battalion 11092
June 16, 1915
Vimy Memorial
Resided in Moffat ON (Guelph-Milton)
Maple Leaf Legacy Project

Aberfoyle Cenotaph
Photo M. Pirie

Aberfoyle Cenotaph Names
Photo M. Pirie

Private Harrison is listed on the Aberfoyle Cenotaph. He is shown as a "Lance Corporal".

As with many of the Milton Soldiers, Private Harrison has no known grave. He is remembered on the Vimy Memorial at Pas-de-Calais France.

Other Links:

	CEFSG Matrix Unit Information 4th Infantry Battalion
	Library and Archives Canada War Diary for June 1915
	Nicholson Chapter 4 and Map 2

For detailed information on the 4th Infantry Battalion, please refer to their unit history: W. L. Gibson. Records of the Fourth Canadian Infantry Battalion in the Great War, 1914-1918 (Toronto, 1924).

SOLDIER SUMMARY:

Private Septimus Harrison is not listed on the Milton Cenotaphs but he clearly was a "Milton Soldier", his wife Mary resided in Milton and he served with the 20th Halton Rifles guarding the armouries. Newspaper reports of his death refer to him as one of two Milton boys (Harrison and Williams) who were killed on June 16, 1915 in an artillery bombardment. Three other Milton boys (Anderson, Paterson and Bradley - who wrote the letter) survived.

Private Harrison attested on September 22, 1916 at 36 years of age. He had previously served in the British Royal Artillery, where it is reported he was sentenced at Courts-Martial to prison, where he spent 9 of the 12 months.

In June of 1915 the 1st Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was mid-way between Ypres and Arras in the area of Festubert and Givenchy (Nicholson Sketch 15). On June 15th the Canadian's were at Givenchy and the 4th Battalion (1st Division, 1st Brigade) was just north of La Bassee Canal (Nicholson Sketch 16). Septimus was in "E" Company.

The unit War Diary reports there was a heavy bombardment by the enemy against the Canadians on June 15, 1915, followed by relative quiet on the 16th. Perhaps Private Harrison was killed on the 15th, as that is when the giant mine was exploded at "Duck's Bill" and heavy bombardments followed by both sides. There are no particulars given in Private Harrison's service record and no casualty lists in the war diary.

The soldier pages contain information that is available from a number of resources. The following hyperlinks are active where the information is available:

	Soldier Name: Veteran Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial
	Soldier Number: Library and Archives Canada, Attestation Papers
	Cemetery: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Debt of Honour Register
	Remembrance: Maple Leaf Legacy Project, Remembrance of Canada's War Dead

The summary of the service is taken from the soldier's service records, if they were available from Library and Archives Canada. A complete copy of the service record is available in electronic and paper format in the Alex Cooke Memorial Archives at the Milton Historical Society. Using that summary, combined with the key references, a summary of the events leading up to the death of the soldier has been prepared. The research information available is as noted on the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group web site Matrix Project as well as in the Library and Archives Canada On-Line War Diaries.

A summary of all the soldiers is contained on the Web Blog "Great War Soldiers of Milton, Ontario CANADA". Please also be sure to purchase your own copy of "Milton Remembers World War I - The Men and Women We Never Knew" by John Challinor II and Jim Dills, edited by Ken Lamb.