HARRISON, Albert Victor

Victor Harrison was the son of Enoch and Alice Florence Harrison of 16 Nelson Road, Dudley. attended Claughton School and had possibly volunteered before 1914 for the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars. They were sent to Gallipoli as part of the 1st Mounted Division and took part in the August landings at Suvla Bay. After the evacuation in December they went with the 5th Mounted Brigade to defend Egypt and the Suez Canal. With German military advisers the Turks decided to invade Egypt and achieved a considerable success at Katia on the 23rd April when the Worcesters' losses were very heavy. By 1917 they were in the Australian Mounted Division and at the end of the campaigning season General Allenby decided to mount a major attack on the Turks and capture Jerusalem. The cavalry made a flanking attack through the desert and struck at Beersheba on the 1st November. The Worcester Hussars then distinguished themselves in a cavalry charge at Huj on the 8th November, the last such charge in the history of the British cavalry. Jerusalem fell on the 9th December, and this might be accounted the first major success of the British army in the Great War. However, among the few casualties of Huj was Sergeant AlbertVictor Harrison. He was 22 years of age is buried in Gaza War Cemetery (XIX D 10) and commemorated on the Dudley, St. James church and Claughton School Memorials.