Private Thomas Harrison
26851 140th Coy Machine Gun Corps (Inf)
Missing in Action 21st May 1916, aged 19
Lived at 54 Hollbeck Street
Commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France
St.Andrews Memorial, Burnley

Brother Samuel 172816 RFA Prisoner of War May 1918

Formerly 19695 East Lancashire Regiment, born and resided in Burnley, enlisted Nelson, Son of Samuel and Mary Harrison, 54 Holbeck Street, Burnley.

Burnley Machine Gunner’s Death (Burnley Express 12/05/17)

Mr & Mrs Harrison, of 54 Holbeck Street, Burnley, have now been notified that their son, Gunner Thomas Harrison (26851), Machine Gun Corps, was killed in action on May 21st, 1916, from which date he had been missing. He was 19 years of age, and a weaver at Messrs Halstead’s Queensgate Shed before enlisting on March 13th, 1915. He went to the front on March 17th, 1916. He attended St Andrew’s Church, and was a promising amateur footballer. His brother Samuel is with the Royal Field Artillery in France.
Captain B. Barnes, writing to the parents last June, said: “ I regret to inform you that your son, No 26851 Private T. Harrison, has been missing since the recent fighting in the sector lately occupied by the 140th Brigade Machine Gun Company. Before deciding to write to convey such sad news to you I have waited some days in order that replies to my enquiries of the casualty clearing stations might come through, but I now regret that I am unable to get any definite information. I can only assume that your son was killed or wounded in the terrific bombardment which preceded the German attack. He may, of course, if wounded, be a prisoner of war, but I am afraid this is unlikely. Will you please accept my sincerest sympathy? The loss of such excellent soldiers as your son is one I feel deeply, but I am intensely proud to be able to tell you that our machine gunners stuck to their guns and died at their posts rather than give up ground which there was a chance of holding.”