Diary of Ivan R. Harrison (6)

Ivan Robert Sinclair Harrison was born on 7 June 1898 in Peterborough where he spent his childhood with his parents and two elder brothers, Eric and Cecil. The boys were educated at the King's School, Peterborough, and were choristers at the Cathedral.

After passing the Cambridge Previous Examination, Ivan joined the Army at the age of eighteen. After ten months of training, he was commissioned in the Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment and was posted to Etaples in France on 12 November 1917. He then began active service in the 1/8th West Yorkshire Regiment at Ypres. The following pages are a diary of his life from that date until the end of the long march into Germany following the Armistice.

Subsequently, Ivan gained an MA in History at Magdalen College, Cambridge, and took up the post of history teacher at Hampton Grammar School. From 1939-1945 he served as Captain and then Major in the Army Education Corps. In 1948, he and his wife, May, purchased the independent school of St Christopher's at Heanton Punchardon, near Braunton in Devon. They ran the school together until his retirement at the age of 65. They had one daughter, Shirley, and three granddaughters, Joanna, Sarah and Anthea.