Great War 1914–15 Star Trio – Leading Seaman Samuel Healey Harrison, Royal Navy – Somaliland & Persian Gulf Veteran
1914–15 Star – 231152, S. H. HARRISON, A. ., R.N.
British War Medal – 231152 S. H. HARRISON. L.S. R.N.
Victory Medal – 231152 S. H. HARRISON. L.S. R.N.
Samuel Healey Harrison was born on 11th June 1888 at Marylebone, London, and worked as an engineer's labourer before enlisting in the Royal Navy on 11th June 1906, his eighteenth birthday, for twelve years' continuous service. His service papers describe him as 5 feet 5½ inches tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion, together with several distinctive scars.
Following his initial training aboard HMS Boscawen II, Harrison served aboard numerous ships and shore establishments, including HMS Royal Arthur, HMS St George, HMS Victory I, HMS Vernon, HMS Philomel, HMS Hyacinth, HMS Caradoc and HMS Weymouth, building an impressive naval career that spanned Britain's final colonial campaigns and the First World War.
A highlight of his pre-war service was his appointment to HMS Philomel on the East Indies Station, where he took part in operations off Somaliland and in the Persian Gulf. For this service he qualified for both the Africa General Service Medal with clasp "Somaliland 1908–10" and the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Persian Gulf 1909–1914", although these medals do not accompany the present group.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Harrison continued his naval service and earned the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. During the conflict he served aboard several important vessels, including HMS Weymouth, a modern Town-class light cruiser that operated in the Indian Ocean, East African waters, with the Grand Fleet, and later in the Mediterranean.
Promoted to Leading Seaman, Harrison completed almost fourteen years of regular naval service before transferring to the Royal Fleet Reserve on 23rd January 1920. His career encompassed both Britain's imperial policing operations before 1914 and the worldwide naval commitments of the Great War.
This attractive 1914–15 Star Trio was awarded to a career Royal Navy Leading Seaman whose service extended from the Somaliland Campaign and Persian Gulf operations through to the First World War. Although only the trio is present, research confirms his entitlement to both the Africa General Service Medal (Somaliland 1908–10) and the Naval General Service Medal (Persian Gulf 1909–1914), making him a particularly interesting and well-documented Royal Navy veteran. Extensive surviving service records, medal rolls and ship histories allow his naval career to be reconstructed in considerable detail.
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