Arthur Edward Harris was the youngest of the four children of George Henry William Harris (1884-1938) and Lilian Emily Harris née Clare (1888-1960). His birth was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1915 in the Lambeth registration district. On 25 April 1915 he was baptised at St Peter's Church, Vauxhall, where the baptismal register shows the family living at 40 Auckland Street, Vauxhall and that his father was a taxi driver.
Postal Service Appointment Books show that he was employed in June 1934 as a postman in the London Postal Service.
In the 1939 England and Wales Register his is listed as as a G.P.O. postman still living at 40 Auckland Street, Lambeth, with his widowed mother and siblings: George Henry W. Harris (1908-1977) who was described as a general labourer and William Harris (b.1912) a cinema manager.
He was a Lance Sergeant in the Royal Engineers, service number 2118358, and was attached to their 80 Assault Squadron when he died of wounds, aged 29 years, on 9 June 1944 at Bernieres-sur-Mer, France. He was buried near where he died but on 14 February 1945 his body was exhumed and reburied in Plot 14, Row D, Grave 25, in the Bayeux War Cemetery, 1945 Bd Fabian Ware, 14400 Bayeux, France.
He was posthumously awarded the 1939-1945 Star and the War Medal 1939-1945. He is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website and on Page 113 of the Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance's Book of Remembrance 1939-1949.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
