254900 Pte.
William Henry Harris British Army East Kent Regiment from:Minster, Thanet, kent William Harris was born on 2nd December 1894 at Aldington, Kent. He signed up for active service with the Royal Garrison Artillery in February 1914 at an age of almost 20. He passed two educational examinations that month, giving him 3rd and then 2nd Class certificates. However, by March of that year, he had been signed off as "unlikely to become an efficient soldier" on grounds of health, he had been diagnosed with a hernia. This must have been a terrible blow to his morale, as he had a younger brother Edward Harris was serving in the same regiment. It's important to realise that, as a ploughman on a farm in Minster, Isle of Thanet, in Kent, his discharge was a legitimate ticket out of appalling hostilities in Europe. However, he did no more than travel down the road to Canterbury and, under the same name, signed up for service with the East Kent Regiment(The Buffs). His new regiment didn't ever seem to query, or even know about, his first 64 days of service. Research is still on-going into the detail of his service but we do know that he fought in a in a skirmish in the Somme (prior to the great Battle) and was posted as "missing believed lost". German information later announced to the Allies that he had been captured. He was eventually discharged to the UK and returned to his farm, a broken man, and, the family recalls, haunted by the privations of his time in captivity. He had become morose and caustic in what little conversation he offered. He battled on with his private demons, speaking little to his wife or children about his inner thoughts. He died in Ramsgate on 28th June 1946 aged 52. His younger brother had returned from the front in a little over two years, nerves shot to pieces, and died aged 22.
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