pjmburns
master brummie
Walter snr was in Birmingham as a boarder on the 1891 census before he married Elizabeth. His brother Robert is with him. Walter is listed as a baker. Think Mother was a Shaw.
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Walter Harrison Pte Documents Found
- Thread starter Phil Harborne
- Start date
Just found the following in the war diary of 14th battalion - exciting but frustrating as well.
yes janice its a shame the war diary only gets as far as saying walter was killed by ?? but if we go back on this thread phil says the letter sent informing his parents of his death states he was hit by a shell ...direct hit....smashing info janice and viv.
Phil Harborne
proper brummie kid
Hi All,
Sorry for the delay had a rather busy week at work and with the house.
ITV Central news came round this afternoon to do a little piece on it, and while they were round i happened to bump into my elderly neighbours who has shed some light on everything and found us a living relative.
Short story, Dora lived next door since the 1930s and died sadly 3 weeks before she was 100. She was married to George, who went by Frank as my neighbour knew him, and he knew them both very well. Dora and George have 1 daughter named Valerie, who has since married. Good news is she is still alive and my neighbour had contact details for them. We tried to contact them at the time but no answer, so will try again later. ITV are following it and hopefully we can hand the documents over to her for her half Uncle that i'm guessing she knew very little about.
I will keep you all updated, but many thanks for the help getting this far!
Sorry for the delay had a rather busy week at work and with the house.
ITV Central news came round this afternoon to do a little piece on it, and while they were round i happened to bump into my elderly neighbours who has shed some light on everything and found us a living relative.
Short story, Dora lived next door since the 1930s and died sadly 3 weeks before she was 100. She was married to George, who went by Frank as my neighbour knew him, and he knew them both very well. Dora and George have 1 daughter named Valerie, who has since married. Good news is she is still alive and my neighbour had contact details for them. We tried to contact them at the time but no answer, so will try again later. ITV are following it and hopefully we can hand the documents over to her for her half Uncle that i'm guessing she knew very little about.
I will keep you all updated, but many thanks for the help getting this far!
That's great news Phil. So good to hear the documents will be returned to a family member. Do keep us posted on the press interest. It's been an interesting journey for us all ! Viv.
Phil Harborne
proper brummie kid
Good news i am meeting her tomorrow to give her the documents, so happy ending. thanks all.
Well she mentioned on the phone that the people that used to live in my house, made a hole between the lofts and ended up robbing their Christmas decorations, so i guess they had these documents in the loft, robbed them without knowing and they ended up falling down the wall. Yes i was confused at first as my neighbour kept referring to him as Frank it was only that he remember when he died that we put 2 and 2 together.
Well she mentioned on the phone that the people that used to live in my house, made a hole between the lofts and ended up robbing their Christmas decorations, so i guess they had these documents in the loft, robbed them without knowing and they ended up falling down the wall. Yes i was confused at first as my neighbour kept referring to him as Frank it was only that he remember when he died that we put 2 and 2 together.
excellent news phil....as you know i contacted andy bevan from central news on your behalf last week and i am so glad that he agreed with me that your story was worth some air time ...not only for the story but to try and trace any of walters surviving rellies...he phoned me earlier to say he was calling on you today and asked if i would also say a few words but i declined...this is your story and you deserve the credit for saving the documents when you could just as easily have skipped them...as you may have read on this thread we did think that finding valerie maybe our best shot and as janice has said could you post the documents on this thread please to make it complete...so it was to do with the loft after all..
what a story and what an ending...walter will not be forgotten now
lyn
what a story and what an ending...walter will not be forgotten nowlyn
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Great Lyn. Could someone post a link please for us out of Brum ? Viv.
Phil Harborne
proper brummie kid
Hi,
Sorry for the delay.
So i met Valerie yesterday and all went really well. She was lovely and happy to see the documents. She did remember seeing the death letter when she was little but not the others. On top of that she almost had no info about her half brother, so it was nice to let her know some of the details you all got for me. She was very grateful. I have also sent her the link to this forum so she can view all the documents herself.
I have finally attached some pictures of the documents found, as well as a photo of myself and Val with the documents.
News wise i will let you know if the date changes. Viv if ITV online doesn't work once its gone out i will get a link to download it, i will be more than happy to share it with you.
I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone, especially Viv, Lyn and Janice for all the hard work in finding out all the info, although it was only short it has been a nice journey and I've learnt lots and will continue to read stories on these forums to find out more info.
Sorry for the delay.
So i met Valerie yesterday and all went really well. She was lovely and happy to see the documents. She did remember seeing the death letter when she was little but not the others. On top of that she almost had no info about her half brother, so it was nice to let her know some of the details you all got for me. She was very grateful. I have also sent her the link to this forum so she can view all the documents herself.
I have finally attached some pictures of the documents found, as well as a photo of myself and Val with the documents.
News wise i will let you know if the date changes. Viv if ITV online doesn't work once its gone out i will get a link to download it, i will be more than happy to share it with you.
I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone, especially Viv, Lyn and Janice for all the hard work in finding out all the info, although it was only short it has been a nice journey and I've learnt lots and will continue to read stories on these forums to find out more info.
Attachments
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thanks phil...dont worry about the couple of docs that are the wrong way round...viv will most likely turn them around...the sad thing is that lt clement who send the notice of walters death died himself in battle just 2 brave men among many thousands...lovely to see a photo of you and val as well and hopefully the docs will now stay within the family...look forward to welcoming her to the forum...i will now save them and have good read later on...always happy to help phil...its been a lovely journey...well done to you... so until the next one
lyn
lyn
pjmburns
master brummie
Brilliant and so nice to see faces - so often we are just working with names. I know that the further back we go then the less likely it is for photos so it makes a real change. Looking forward now to seeing the item on TV. Like Lyn I am now going to download them for a read later.
Lyn - I agree - here's to the next challenge.
Lyn - I agree - here's to the next challenge.
Lovely Phil and Valerie ! So good to see people reunited with their ancestor's belongings. Have to say it's brought a few tears to my eyes reading Walter's letter. Letters like his give a more striking picture of what was really going on in the trenches during the War than all the official war diaries put together.
He mentions "it goes awful cold at night just when the fun starts" and "as Fritz won't let us have a minutes peace". These are perfect examples of how German bombardment at night was bringing about sleep deprivation among soldiers and must undoubtedly, over time, have had a psychological impact on soldiers and officers alike. Dragging themselves through the following day after constant shelling overnight, not knowing if you'd be alive in the morning, must have been a dreadful strain.
It's a very small comfort to discover Walter died as a result of a direct hit and didn't suffer. When you consider this was happening frequently throughout the day in the trenches, the effect on officers too must have been devastating. And of course officers couldn't express their feelings in any way. Can't say I could deal with the daily task of writing letters to families informing them of their lost sons and husbands. Must have been utterly demoralising.
Thanks for uncovering the various documents Phil.
Have tried the ITV site and can't find a way to link to Central, so any help from members very welcome. Viv
He mentions "it goes awful cold at night just when the fun starts" and "as Fritz won't let us have a minutes peace". These are perfect examples of how German bombardment at night was bringing about sleep deprivation among soldiers and must undoubtedly, over time, have had a psychological impact on soldiers and officers alike. Dragging themselves through the following day after constant shelling overnight, not knowing if you'd be alive in the morning, must have been a dreadful strain.
It's a very small comfort to discover Walter died as a result of a direct hit and didn't suffer. When you consider this was happening frequently throughout the day in the trenches, the effect on officers too must have been devastating. And of course officers couldn't express their feelings in any way. Can't say I could deal with the daily task of writing letters to families informing them of their lost sons and husbands. Must have been utterly demoralising.
Thanks for uncovering the various documents Phil.
Have tried the ITV site and can't find a way to link to Central, so any help from members very welcome. Viv
well said viv....completely agree with you..over the years we have always said that we can never repay those who gave their lives for england...the only thing we can do is to try and make sure that they are never forgotten and thanks to phil walter is another who will be remembered....
lyn
lyn
Found the Central news page now Janice. I can catch up on news but not watch anything live. So shall watch it after it's been broadcast. Thanks. Viv.
Phil Harborne
proper brummie kid
Hi All,
I haven't any news today so all being well it should be on at 6pm tonight. Val wishes to pass her thanks on to you all for helping out so much, its caused a stir between her friends who all want to see these letters in person.
As you all put in the hard effort, she is of the feeling that the letters should go somewhere to be shared rather than just put in a draw after years and forgotten about, so she is thinking of donating them to the Royal Warks museum, but she is open to suggestions if anyone else has a good idea?
thanks
Phil
I haven't any news today so all being well it should be on at 6pm tonight. Val wishes to pass her thanks on to you all for helping out so much, its caused a stir between her friends who all want to see these letters in person.
As you all put in the hard effort, she is of the feeling that the letters should go somewhere to be shared rather than just put in a draw after years and forgotten about, so she is thinking of donating them to the Royal Warks museum, but she is open to suggestions if anyone else has a good idea?
thanks
Phil
Phil Harborne
proper brummie kid
Ok all, been moved to Friday now as its a longer show! apparently looks really good now its all been edited etc...
hi folks...received this lovely email from valerie today..i have imformed her about our next meet up so hopefully she will be there..will let you know....also hoping phil can attend as well..
I am the niece of Private Walter Harrison and I am writing to thank you for all your help in tracing the history of my family after the discovery of the letters in Phil Harborne's cavity wall.
I am overwhelmed by the kindness of so many people who took the trouble to find all the information. I had no idea so much information was available about an ordinary Brummie working class family.
I don't know whether you have meetings but if you do and your members would be interested I would be happy to bring the letters along to your meeting. A number of friends have expressed an interest in seeing them and I now have to decide on their future. Although I am the next of kin I feel that they belong to all the people involved in tracing their history. They can't just be hidden away in a drawer until my daughter has to clear out my house. I will offer them to the Warwickshire Regimental Museum in Warwick but I wonder if you have any other suggestions of a suitable home.
Once again, many, many thanks for all your hard work.
Best wishes
Valerie Dobbs (Harrison)
I am the niece of Private Walter Harrison and I am writing to thank you for all your help in tracing the history of my family after the discovery of the letters in Phil Harborne's cavity wall.
I am overwhelmed by the kindness of so many people who took the trouble to find all the information. I had no idea so much information was available about an ordinary Brummie working class family.
I don't know whether you have meetings but if you do and your members would be interested I would be happy to bring the letters along to your meeting. A number of friends have expressed an interest in seeing them and I now have to decide on their future. Although I am the next of kin I feel that they belong to all the people involved in tracing their history. They can't just be hidden away in a drawer until my daughter has to clear out my house. I will offer them to the Warwickshire Regimental Museum in Warwick but I wonder if you have any other suggestions of a suitable home.
Once again, many, many thanks for all your hard work.
Best wishes
Valerie Dobbs (Harrison)
