Harry Leonard Prior 1894 - 1918

Family history

Harry was born on 1 January 1894 in Sittingbourne, Kent, to James Prior, a carpenter, and Sarah Kettle. He was the fourth of five children:

Ada Mary Elizabeth Prior, the firstborn (1888) died of meningitis aged 14;

Elsie Mildred Prior, born in 1889, gained a BSc in Botany at Imperial College, London, married Ernest Bateson in 1913 and spent most of her life in Malay and Borneo;

Olive Prior, born in 1891, was a schoolteacher, who may have served in Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps, gaining a Victory Medal. After the War she was a secretary and lived in Pottersbury, Northants and Bournemouth;

Uriah John Prior (Jack), named after his grandfather, was born on 7 December 1897 and would have had to falsify his age to volunteer for the 10th Royal Fusiliers. He served as a private, then (possibly) as a second lieutenant, in the Machine Gun Corps in France and was wounded in 1918. He subsequently gained a City and Guilds Bse Hons (1st) in Engineering and worked as an assistant examiner for the Patent Office. He married twice and had two daughters. He died at Bexhill-on-Sea in 1974.

Harry Leonard Prior

Harry went to Holy Trinity School in Sittingbourne and then to Borden Grammar School on the outskirts of the town. He may have taught at a school in Greenhithe before going to St John’s College, a teacher training institution in Chelsea (or perhaps Battersea), where he was said to have qualified with an Intermediate BSc.

However, at his attestation (in Romford) to be enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers on 17 August 1915, he was noted as a student. He was 6ft 2in tall and weighed 168lbs. He started in the Reserve Battalion then transferred to the 23rd (Sportsman's) Battalion. This was a type of PALS battalion that took fit, active men, including some well-known sportsmen, who could ride and shoot. Some reports suggest that class distinctions were completely swept away in this particular battalion.

On 16 November 1915 the battalion sailed with the British Expeditionary Force to Le Havre and marched to Bethune. Its first action was on 19 December at Annequin.

On 24 April, Harry was promoted to Lance Corporal.

In July 1916 the battalion was engaged at the Battle of the Somme, including the successful capture of Delville Wood, near Longueval. In November 1916, the battalion was involved in the Battle of Beaumont Hamel, north of Albert.

On 17 February 1917, the battalion attacked the German trenches at Ovillers Huts, north-east of Albert. The objective was successful, but at a heavy cost: there were 240 casualties.

Harry was posted back to Oxford on 1 March 1917, where he trained in a cadet corps at Trinity College.

On 26 June he was discharged from the battalion and granted a temporary commission as Second Lieutenant with the 6th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers.

Although his army record has no further entries, it is known that Harry was attached to the Royal Flying Corps to train as a pilot. Training began in January 1918. His RAF service record started on 28 May 1918, showing Harry as a 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Fusiliers, attached to the 117th Squadron.

It records that on 3 July 1918 he was “Killed in Aeroplane Accident” at Hucknall Airfield, Nottingham. He had been training in a new machine (the make of aircraft was not specified) with Lieut. Edward Burney, his instructor, all day and successfully made a solo flight. On his second solo flight, eyewitnesses stated that the plane was flying perfectly one minute and spinning to the ground the next. It burst into flames on impact with the ground and Harry died instantly.

Harry’s coffin was placed on a gun carriage drawn by horses along Sittingbourne’s streets. It was reported that hundreds of people lined the main street. He was buried at Sittingbourne Cemetery with full military honours.

His effects were listed as £11 12s 2d. At probate his estate was assessed at £120 13 6d.

Images

Sources

* The 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman’s) - A Record of its Services in the Great War 1914-1919 by Capt Fred Ward, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1920 (also available at gutenberg.org)

* Roll of Honour in East Kent Gazette, Saturday 13 July 1918

* Commonwealth War Graves Commission at cwgc.org

* National Archives at discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk