Pte. George Harris 195309

Pte. George Harris

93^rd Canadian Infantry Battalion/ 52^nd Battalion

Regimental Number 195309

 George Harris was born on April 10, 1897 in London, England and likely immigrated to Canada as a Home Child. He enlisted with the 93^rd Peterborough Infantry Battalion on November 16, 1915 in that city.  On his enlistment papers George listed his current address as “Care of S. McDonald of R.R.1 Warsaw, Ontario”. 

He was working as a farm labourer at the time and declared no previous military service.  He listed his next of kin as his sister: Mrs. Joseph Cook of 68 Corfield St. Buildings, Bethnal Green, London, England.  George was 18 years, 7 months old and stood 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed 114 pounds. He had a dark complexion, Brown eyes and black hair.  He was a member of the Church of England.  The medical examiner also noted that her bore a scar above his right eye and four small moles on his back.  He was declared fit for military service and joined the 93^rd Battalion in their training in the city of Peterborough during the winter of 1916, until they moved to Barriefield Camp Kingston in May.

George sailed out of Halifax with his battalion on July 25^th 1916 and arrived in Liverpool, England ten days later.  He was sent to Otterpool Camp for training and to await re-assignment to another battalion as the 93^rd was broken up.  ON the 4^th of October 1916, he was sent, along with a small group of former “93^rd men” to the 52^nd “New Ontario” Battalion.  Harris arrived in France and joined the 52^nd, which was originally composed of men from the Thunder Bay area, in the trenches on October 21^st.  Harris would have seen a steep learning curve as he was immediately thrown into the Battle of the Somme and the attack on Courcellette.  Harris survived unscathed from this horrible battle and would spend the winter of 1917 holding the line.

On February 2^nd, Harris reported to the Canadian Field Ambulance with nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys and was a severe enough case to be evacuated to the 1^st West General Hospital in Hastings a week later.  He stayed here close to a month before being transferred to the Manitoba Regiment Depot on April 10^th to await reassignment to France. 

Harris never made it back to the front; he instead entered the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Epsom, England on April 21 again suffering from nephritis.  He complained of dull aching pains in his back and kidneys as well as frequent headaches.  He also exhibited signs of nervousness such as trembling hands.  The medical officer described him as undernourished, pale and weak and as having a one-inch scar on his lower jaw as a result of shrapnel. His condition was described as a result of extreme exposure during his five months in the trenches. He was certified as medically unfit for further military service and granted special authority to return to Canada.  Pte. Harris sailed from Liverpool for Canada on the S.S. Carmania on the 26^th of August 1917. 

Upon arriving in Canada, Harris reported to Kingston where he continued to revolve in and out of Queen’s Military Hospital for treatment for chronic Nephritis for the next four months, when on  January 21^st  1918, he was formally discharged from military service.