Salute to an old Harringavian

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Permalink Reply by Colin Marr on March 27, 2012 at 18:57

I was moved by Hugh’s post about Private Maurice Morgan who enlisted in Harringay and met his death in the First World War. This prompts me to write about my father Douglas Marr who at the age of eighteen was living in the family home at 63 Warwick Gardens when he signed up at the outbreak of war in 1914. Douglas was a Private in the 7^th London Regiment and served as a foot-soldier in France throughout the war. He fought in the battle of the Somme and in one of the battles at Ypres, which left him with two bullet wounds in his shoulder. At one point he was victim of a gas attack, but was sent back to the front after only a brief convalescence, the legacy of which was breathing difficulties throughout his life until he died in 1961.

The thing is, like many survivors of that war, my father would never talk about it. All that I have written above came from other family members and contemporaries. All I ever remember my father saying about the war was that “they looked after the horses better than they did the men”.

I have never attempted to piece together Douglas’s war record, partly because I didn’t think records existed for ‘other ranks’ and I thought it was only possible to do this for commissioned officers. Hugh’s account of Private Morgan encourages me to start to delve into my fathers’ military experiences.

 

Colin    

Permalink Reply by Hugh on March 27, 2012 at 19:10

Thanks for that very personal and moving comment, Colin. If you feel comfortabel with doing so, do come back and tell us if you're able to find out anything about Douglas. Best of luck with your delving.