Arthur Harris lived a few doors away from The Sultan in St James’ Road.
He started off as a van guard on the railway but moved on to work in the print. He joined up to do his bit and was at all the big battles. His battalion were there at the 1914 Christmas Truce and it may possibly be where he got the Belgian chocolate tin he brought home with him.
He was at the first Battle of Passchendaele and at some point, was gassed. He traipsed through freezing mud, dodged bullets and blasts, witnessed terrified domestic horses sinking helplessly into the mire and his friends dying by his side but he made it home.
However, already injured and with weak lungs he succumbed to the deadly flu virus and died at home with his distraught family by his side.
He left behind his widow Lydia and two small children. He is buried in Nunhead and appears on the war memorial there.
- Lance Corporal Arthur Harris,