On 12 October 1914 Frederick Harrison enlisted in WWI; the first member of his family to do so. Two of his brothers – Richard and Thomas – would follow his example, as would his 44 year old father, Frederick Harrison snr.
Frederick was born in Lucknow on 13 March 1892, the second of five children of Frederick and Annie Eliza Harrison. Frederick snr was employed at Wentworth Mine and young Frederick followed his father’s example and became a miner.
Frederick embarked for overseas service on 11 February 1915, a private in the 1st Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement. He served on the Gallipoli Peninsula until 6 August 1915 when he sustained a gunshot wound to the chest during the Battle of Lone Pine.
Private Harrison was taken to St Elmo Hospital in Malta, but two weeks later was transferred to County of London War Hospital in Epsom, England.
On 7 November 1915 Frederick embarked for his return to Australia, arriving in Sydney on Christmas Day. He was discharged from the Australian Imperial force on 27 March 1916.
On 30 December 1916 Frederick married Doris Roach Murray at St Michael’s Church in Wollongong. The couple had three children: Frederick Francis, born in Balgownie in 1917; Phyllis, born in Glen Innes in 1922 and Norman, who was born in Narrandera. The family later settled in Sydney.
In 1949, as his health failed, Frederick moved to Dalby in Queensland to live with his son Frederick Francis. He died in Dalby Hospital on 27 June 1949, aged 58 years. Representatives of the Returned Sailor’s Soldier’s Airmen’s Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA). attended his funeral, and as a mark of respect his casket was draped in the Union Jack.
Frederick Harrison is commemorated on the Shadforth Public School honour roll, the St Peter’s Anglican Church Mosman World War I Honour Roll and the East Face of the Mosman War Memorial.
Frederick’s father and brother Richard survived the war; Thomas Harrison was killed in action in France in July 1918.
