John James Harrison enlisted in the newly formed 6th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment at Grantham on 29th August 1914. He was aged 35, 5ft 5”, fresh faced, with brown eyes and black hair. His religion was C of E, and his regimental number was 10471. He'd married Beatrice Annie Gregory on 15 Mar 1904 at Nottingham Registry Office. He was working as a groom and living at Hough Grange.
He'd previously served in the Leicestershire Regiment (17th Foot). His initial posting with 6th Lincolnshires was 19th Depot (1 Sep 1914). He was soon made a L/Cpl and then (Aug 1915) acting Cpl (substantive 1916).
The battalion embarked on the SS Empress of Britain at Liverpool on 1 Jul and sailed the next day for Gallipoli. They landed near Helles on 20th and joined the Royal Naval Division at the front near Achi Bara. They were withdrawn on 2 Aug to Imbros in order to part in the landings at Suvla Bay on 7 Aug 1915. The battalion stayed on the Gallipoli peninsula until it was evacuated to Egypt in Jan 1916. It moved to France in Jul 1916 and fought on the Western Front for the rest of the war.
On 24 July 1917 Harrison was charged for overstaying furlough and fined 14 days pay. In April 1918 he was discharged as Corporal with good character but no longer fit for war service (Myalgia) . His forwarding address was Lilly St (off Dame Agnes St), Nottingham, but in July 1918 he was back in Brandon.
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