Not Forgotten, WX15945 Driver Alick William HARRIS,139 General Transport Company, Australian Army Service Corps, World War 2

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Overview

Commemoration of the military service of WX15945 Driver Alick William HARRIS, Australian Army Service Corps, died of illness while serving, 21 July 1943.

Historical information

Alick Harris was the eldest son of William Valentine and Annie Elizabeth Harris of Minnivale, born in London on 14 July 1919. He enlisted on 20 August 1941 at Claremont and after training and various placings, was transferred to the 139 Australian General Transport Company, one of many units which worked to transport supply items, including ammunition, between depots.

Alick Harris had several stints in hospital during the time he was in the army. he died in Northam General Military Hospital on 21 July 1943 aged 24 and was initially buried in the Military section of the Northam Cemetery with military honours. Padre BishopElsey conducted the service while the Australian General Transport Company provided pall bearers and a Guard of Honour. The Last Post and Reveille were sounded at the conclusion of the service. Alick Harris’s body was exhumed and he was reburied in the Perth War Cemetery.

William Valentine Harris, Alick’s father, had enlisted in February 1916 at Blackboy Hill and served as a driver with the 4th Machine Gun Company, taken on strength in France in August 1916. In October 1918 William Harris married Annie Elizabeth Webb in Branksome on the south coast of England. He returned to Australia in December 1919. Alick’s brother D.V. Harris and two sisters D. Harris and N.Harris (information from the Minnivale District Roll of Honour for the Second World War) also served during the Second World War.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-65-M104

Inscriptions and markings

When the Great War broke out in Europe in 1914, Dowerin was an isolated farming district, several days travel by horse or by coach from Perth. Over the succeeding four years at least 176 men and one nurse served in the armed forces of the Empire. The names of the men who served can be read on the Honour Roll in the Dowerin Town Hall or can be accessed on the museum section of the Shire of Dowerin website.

Fifty-one men from the district died in the Great War and their names are inscribed on the Dowerin War Memorial which was unveiled on ANZAC Day 1936. Subsequent conflicts have seen more names memorialised and each ANZAC Day their sacrifice is honoured and remembered by the community.

Contextual Information

For some years Diane Hatwell had been intrigued by the names on the Dowerin War Memorial. Some were familiar with the families still in the district but some not so. Diane felt It was important for the community that when we said each ANZAC Day “We will remember them”, we had some idea of who and what we are remembering. She set about, to find out who they were, what they were doing in the Dowerin district, and where and how they died. These pages presented through Collections WA represent the current state of this ongoing research and community response.

Geotag

-31.971790861745, 115.80519638175

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