HARRIS, Edward

Edward Harris enlisted on 20 Auguast 1914. He was then just off twenty three years old, 5'3" tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was a butcher by trade, with no previous military experience. Nor did he have family, save for his sister, Miss K. Harris, who was at the Salvation Army Training College in Victoria Parade, East Melbourne.  After training, probably at Seymour, he was placed in the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade as a Gunner, and embarked from Melbourne on 20 October, 1914 on A9 HMAT Shropshire.

The Shropshire joined in a convoythatvassembled in St Georges Sound, off Albany, Western Australia, and set sail on ! November, 1914, after being joined by ships from New zealand.  On 18 November, thet arrived in Colombo, leaving on 25 November. On 26 November, they came in to Aden and from there travelled through the Suez Canal to Alexandria. Here, on 9 December, 1914, the 2nd Artillery Brigade was sent to camp at Mena, eight metres from the pyramids and commenced training the following day.

In mid-April, the artillery brigades spent a week on Lemnos, practising loading   and unloading gunns and artillery onto pontoons and slinging fully harnessed horses aboard ship. It must have been an exhilerating experience for a young man of twenty three.

From Lemnos, they went to Gallipoli. Because of the difficult terrain, guns were deployed singly, using the standard British 18 pounder, so called because that was the weight of the explosive shell it fired. Each gun and its ammunition was towed into place  by a team of six draught horses, led by a a detachment sergeant on his own horse and a driver on each pair of horses. The two wheeled ammunition limber was hooked up to the horses and the trail of the gun was hooked to the limber; each gun had two additional ammunition limbers. The scope of using such weapons on the Gallipoli Penninsula was very difficult and they had little effect on the outcome.

By August, Ted Harris was in hospital, discharged from duty due to a  double iguinal hernia. He was sent  to the Australian General Hospital in Heliopolos. he then seems to have been sent for treatment in England, probably in September and was placed in the Ad No 15 General Hospital, with catarrh and jaundice. On 19/10, he set sail back to Australia on the Karoola, disembarking in Melbourne on 4 December 1915, and was dishcarged from further service. on 18 August 1916. Soon after his return, a woman wrote to base Records askign for his address. She wrotes  I do not know the lad, but he was my son's mate at the front and I an anxious to find him. He has no people here, I understand - I would give him a house and nurse him.

His later life is difficult to follow, because his name was a common one. he took up work as a butcher once more and seems to have worked and lived in Malvern. Heseems to have a brother, Alf,  at 39 Lusconbe St., East Brunswick, but any other details of his life are unknown.