Eric Harrison (British Army officer)

Career

Harrison was born in Belgaum, India; his father, Major WC Warde Harrison, was an officer in the British Indian Army. Harrison was educated at Cheltenham College before entering Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. While at Woolwich he played competitive rugby union for the army and for Kent and was selected by the Barbarians. From Woolwich he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant in January 1914, after which he was invited to play football for Southend United F.C.. He took up hurdling and was soon selected to compete for England in the 120 metres hurdles against Scotland and Ireland. At the outbreak of the First World War Harrison was posted first to Harwich, manning anti-aircraft guns, and then to France, where he was involved in intense fighting around Hooge. He was promoted to Lieutenant in June 1915, and awarded the Military Cross later that year "for gallantry and initiative at Givenchy, on 10 March 1915, when he rushed up his gun under heavy shell fire and close-range rifle fire, and destroyed a hostile machine gun". He went on to fight at the Battle of Loos. He was promoted to temporary captain in November 1916, a promotion which was made permanent a year later. In 1918 he was promoted to brevet major, making him the youngest officer in the army to hold the rank at the time, and given command of an infantry school before appointment as a general staff officer first grade. By the end of the First World War, Harrison was attached to the 58th (London) Division and had been mentioned in dispatches four times.

Following the end of the war, Harrison resumed his sports careers. He was selected for the "Mother Country" rugby team (forerunner to the British and Irish Lions) in 1919, and played for the army against Oxford University in 1920. Harrison's rugby career ended prematurely due to injury, after which he refocused on hurdling; he was selected for the 1920 Summer Olympics but was prohibited from competing due to heart problems. He was appointed master of the Royal Artillery Harriers and then selected for staff college. He went on to compete at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, and reached a semi-final in the 110 metres hurdles. After the Olympics, Harrison attended Staff College, Camberley from 1925 to 1926 and was appointed adjutant to Lahore District, India, from 1928 to 1932. There he became master of the Lahore Hunt and took up big game shooting and racquets, in which he won the doubles event at the All India Championships. He returned to England in 1932, when he was promoted to permanent major. In 1934, Harrison was appointed a battery commander at Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire. Here he began painting, and eventually had three of his works hung at the Salon in Paris. Later that year, he was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel and given command of the Oxford University Officer Training Corps (OTC) and lectured at the university on military history until he relinquished the post in 1938; he also became master of the South Oxfordshire Hunt.

In 1939, Harrison briefly served in Mandatory Palestine, commanding an infantry battalion at the end of the Arab Revolt under Major-General Bernard Montgomery, who remarked that, "having loosed 'Dreadnought Harrison' on the task of killing rebels [...] he needed no urging in this respect". With the outbreak of the Second World War, Harrison was appointed Commander, Royal Artillery (CRA) with 12th (Territorial) Division, based at Sevenoaks in Kent; his promotion to lieutenant colonel was made permanent, and he was promoted to full colonel in September of that year, with the acting rank of brigadier. Shortly afterwards, he became Brigadier, Royal Artillery Northern Ireland before being posted to Tunisia, where he served as Commander, Corps of Royal Artillery (CCRA) in IX Corps, under Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks. After the end of the North Africa campaign, Harrison was promoted to major general and served in Dwight D. Eisenhower's Allied Force Headquarters as Major General, Royal Artillery (MGRA); he was mentioned in despatches for his service during the Allied invasion of Sicily and continued in the post until 1943, when he returned to Britain to become General Officer Commanding Sussex and Surrey District. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in September 1943, and Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1945. Harrison was appointed aide-de-camp to King George VI in 1945, and retired from the army in 1946, having been granted the honorary permanent rank of major general.

Retirement

In retirement, Harrison lived in Cornwall. He became master of the North Cornwall Hounds and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall in 1955 and then High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1958. He also served as a justice of the peace, and chairman of St Lawrence's mental hospital in Bodmin. In spare time, he grew rhododendrons and bred Labrador Retrievers, and fished for trout. He also published three books, including an autobiography, Gunners, Game & Gardens. His wife, Roza (née Stevenson), died in 1967. Harrison himself died in Amesbury, Wiltshire, on 20 December 1987 at the age of 94.

Legacy

The National Portrait Gallery holds five photographic portraits of Harrison, three by Walter Stoneman from 1945 and two by Bassano Ltd from 1947.