John Harrison (12 November 1890 – 3 May 1917) was a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played for

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

. He later became a British Army officer, and was the posthumous recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

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and

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forces.

Early life

Harrison was born in Hull on 12 November 1890. His father was a plater and boilermaker in the Earles Shipyard. After leaving school, Harrison studied at St John's College, York (now

York St John University , mottoeng = They may have life and have it more abundantly , established = , type = Public , administrative_staff = 618 , chancellor = Reeta Chakrabarti , vice_chancellor = Professor Karen Bryan , student ...

) where he was Rugby club captain and also represented the College at cricket and swimming before becoming a teacher later at Lime Street School in Hull. In York, he caught the attention of the York rugby league club, and played for them five times in 1911–12, scoring three tries. He returned to Hull in September 1912 and married Lillian on 1 September 1914. He was invited to join

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

which included

Billy Batten William Batten (26 May 1889 – 26 January 1959) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Yorkshire, and at club level for Hun ...

, and played his first match on 5 September 1912. In 1913–14 season, he scored a record 52 tries and he went on to score a total of 106 tries in 116 matches for Hull up to 1916. Jack Harrison played , i.e. number 2, and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

s 6–0 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

in the

1914 Challenge Cup This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

Final during the 1913–14 season at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax, in front of a crowd of 19,000.

First World War

Not long after the birth of his son, Jackie, and while living at 75 Wharncliffe Street, Hull, Harrison volunteered for the army. He started receiving officer training on 4 November 1915,Jack Harrison, VC, MC
Hullsweb as a private in the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps. On completion of training, he was commissioned as a probationary temporary

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

on 5 August 1916, and was posted to 6 Platoon, 11th (Service) Battalion (the Hull Tradesmen). In February 1917 the Hull brigade entered the front line once again and Jack was soon in the thick of the action. On 25 February, Harrison led a patrol into

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

, and for this action he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

(MC).Bilton, ''Hull Pals'', Appendix 3. The citation for his MC read: On 3 May 1917 came the actions that led to his VC, during the

Capture of Oppy Wood The Capture of Oppy Wood was an engagement on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First World War on 28 June 1917. The Battle of Arras (1917), Battle of Arras of 1917 ended with the Germans in possession of a f ...

as part of the Battle of Arras. Ordered, with the rest of his brigade, to attack a wood near

Oppy, Pas-de-Calais Oppy () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Oppy is situated northeast of Arras, at the junction of the D33, D48 and D50 roads. Population Places of interest * The church of St.Nicho ...

, his platoon became pinned down by machine gun fire. The citation for his VC describes events in more detail: Harrison's body was never found. He is commemorated on the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

Arras Memorial The Arras Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located in the Faubourg d'Amiens British Cemetery, in the western part of the town of Arras. The memorial commemorates 35,942 soldiers of the forces of the United Kingdom, South Africa and ...

Further information

Lilian Harrison was presented with his Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

in March 1918. The war widow benefitted from a fund raised in Hull to provide for the younger John Harrison’s education. Their son went on to serve as an officer in the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was killed as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the defence of Dunkirk, and is buried in the Dunkirk town cemetery. Lillian Harrison died on 5 December 1977, and bequeathed Harrison's medals to the East Yorkshire regimental museum in

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

(now part of the Museum of Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire Museum in Tower St, York). In 2017, York St John alumnus, Patrick H. A. Neal, released his biography of Harrison, ''The Heroic Johnsman: The Story of Jack Harrison VC, MC''.

Notes

References

* David Bilton, ''Hull Pals, 10th, 11th 12th and 13th Battalions East Yorkshire Regiment – A History of 92 Infantry Brigade, 31st Division'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2014, . * David Bilton, ''Hull in the Great War 1914–1919'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2015, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Jack 1890 births 1917 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I Alumni of York St John University British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross East Yorkshire Regiment officers English rugby league players Hull F.C. players Military personnel from Kingston upon Hull Recipients of the Military Cross Rugby league players from Kingston upon Hull Rugby league wingers Schoolteachers from Yorkshire York Wasps players