Walter James Harris

Story:
Walter James Harris was born in 1898 in Farnham, Dorset, and baptised there on 8th January, 1899. He was the son of Charles Harris, a Farm Labourer, and Edith Emily Harris (née Hiscock). His siblings included Francis George Harris, (b.1897) who also died in the war and Reginald Henry Charles Harris (b. 1895) who served and survived. At the time of the 1911 Census Walter was single, a scholar and living in the family home at Farnham, Blandford, Dorset. He enlisted in Blandford as a Private and joined the 6th Battalion of the Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire) Regiment (Service No. 36872). He served in France & Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He went missing and was presumed killed in action on 22nd March 1918 and his name appears on the Arras Memorial, Arras, Pas de Calais, France (Bay 7). He is remembered on the Farnham War Memorial in St. Lawrence's Church. His death and that of his brother Francis are also commemorated in the churchyard on the headstone of their grandparents Francis Rogers Hiscock and Emily Hiscock. His mother was in receipt of a dependent's pension covering both brothers who died.