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Reginald Arthur Harris continued

Account of death - 27TH MAY 1917
The following is typical of the more eventful patrol, when our men encountered the enemy.
Our Intelligence Officer at the time was 2nd Lieut. Harris, a boy about nineteen years of age,
very keen and cheerful, who, like the rest of the scouts, had been bitterly disappointed with
the Battalion's ill-luck in capturing prisoners. With two scouts he left our line at 1-10 a.m. on
May 27th to reconoitre the "Devil's Jump," a point in the enemy line immediately north of
the wood mentioned previously. Before our patrol reached the enemy parapet several
Germans were heard walking in the front line trench. Throwing caution to the winds and
burning the desire to take a prisoner, our patrol moved forward to the enemy parapet, and
from there saw a party of about fifteen Germans in the trench, about forty yards away from
them. The enemy party advanced down the trench, and passed within a few yards of where
our three scouts were lying. Several minutes passed. Then one of our men saw two of the
enemy coming towards them, and immediately warned 2nd Lieut. Harris. It was quickly
arranged that if the two Germans discovered our patrol, Scout O'Donnell was to take on the
left-hand man, and Harris the right-hand one. When the enemy had crawled to within a few
yards of the shell hole where Harris was, he called upon the Germans to put up their hands.
But the Germans shouted out, warning the rest of their group, whereupon both Harris and
O'Donnell fired immediately, and both Germans dropped, one of them being killed. Harris
and O'Donnell fired again, but one of the Germans was only wounded, and raising himself on
his knees, he fired point blank just as Harris was in the act of throwing a bomb on the rest of
the enemy patrol, who were approaching. Harris was killed, shot through the chest. The rest
of the German party was now very near, and our two scouts , finding they were being
surrounded, retired as quickly as they could. By great good fortune they got back to our
lines. The body of Lt. Harris was not recovered. Corporal Silverwood and Private Martin
(Battalion Scouts) crawled out in broad daylight the following morning to the enemy line in
the hope of being able to find the body, but were not successful. His loss did not go
unavenged. A large fighting patrol of two officers and seventy other ranks went out a few
days later, and attacked an enemy post opposite Red Lamp Corner, killing several of the
enemy.

source:- https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/1595050 (M. Whincup)

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