Stan Harris
Encyclopedia
Stanley "Stan" Wakefield Harris (13 December 1894 – 3 October 1973) was an early twentieth century all-round sportsman regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders to have played for the British and Irish Lions
. As a rugby union international, he represented the England
in 1920, and the British Lions
in 1924. He also turned down a place in the Great Britain Olympic squad in 1920, became a South African boxing
champion and represented England in water polo
, all in between serving in both the First and Second World Wars.
where he excelled at rugby union.
" hero for his sporting prowess. After his service in World War I
, in which he was wounded, he spent some time convalescing, but his boredom at this predicament led him to take up ballroom dancing. A year later he reached the finals of the World Ballroom dancing championship, in which he won the waltz section.
After being sufficiently healed, he returned to his school boy passion of rugby union
and became the leading try-scorer for Blackheath F.C. and also played for East Midlands RFC. Having played in the trial match in December 1919 on the victorious side where The South beat England, he made his international debut on 14 February 1920 at Lansdowne Road
in the Ireland
vs England
match under the captaincy of Jenny Greenwood. He then also played against Scotland
that season, scoring a try in that second match winning the Calcutta Cup
and helping England secure a joint Five Nations
championship (along with Scotland and Wales). In 1920, he also turned down a place in the Great Britain Olympic modern pentathlon
team in 1920 to play rugby. He emigrated to South Africa soon afterwards and played for the Johannesburg Pirates club, as well as Transvaal
.
In 1921 he became the South African light-heavyweight boxing
champion. In 1924, when the British Lions toured South Africa
, he was called up by the team and played two Tests. Originally chosen as a replacement wing he then took over as fullback after a spate of injuries to the touring party. He played his final match for the British Lions on 20 Sep 1924 at Newlands Stadium
and scored a try in that final match that was rated as the best of the series. The Springbok
captain, Pierre Albertyn, rated Harris as the pick of the Lions backs.
Harris then remained in South Africa until the beginning of the Second World War and won Springbok colours both in tennis
and boxing
.
in 1915 and fought in France, and was severely wounded during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He returned to active duty to serve in both Flanders and North Russia.
In between wars he was a member of the Army Sports Control Board 1935-1939 and took up service again during in 1939. He became a prisoner of war of the Japanese in Siam for 3½ years. During this period he was the Lieutenant Colonel in command of F Force, 7000 prisoners with Lieutenant Colonel Dillon leader of the British and Lieutenant Colonel Kappe Leader of the Australians. These men were sent by rail to Non Pluduc during the latter part of April 1943. They were to suffer among the highest casualties of any POW group. Due to remaining under the control of the Malay Command, rather than the Thai-Burma Command, they suffered in the distribution of supplies. They were also forced marched for roughly 300 kilometres to their work area near the Burma border. To compound already dreadful conditions was a cholera epidemic, which struck during the wet season. Of the 3336 British in F Force 2037 of them died, whilst the Australians lost 1060 men. On many occasions Harris was known to have stood up for his men, on one occasion preventing 700 of his wounded soldiers being simply left in the jungle outside the camp.
.
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
. As a rugby union international, he represented the England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
in 1920, and the British Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
in 1924. He also turned down a place in the Great Britain Olympic squad in 1920, became a South African boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
champion and represented England in water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
, all in between serving in both the First and Second World Wars.
Early life
Stan Harris was born on 13 December 1894 in Somerset East. He attended Bedford SchoolBedford School
Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...
where he excelled at rugby union.
Sporting career
Stanley Harris has been described as a "Boy’s OwnBoy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.-Publishing history:The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society as a means to encourage younger children to read and also instil Christian morals...
" hero for his sporting prowess. After his service in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, in which he was wounded, he spent some time convalescing, but his boredom at this predicament led him to take up ballroom dancing. A year later he reached the finals of the World Ballroom dancing championship, in which he won the waltz section.
After being sufficiently healed, he returned to his school boy passion of rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and became the leading try-scorer for Blackheath F.C. and also played for East Midlands RFC. Having played in the trial match in December 1919 on the victorious side where The South beat England, he made his international debut on 14 February 1920 at Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union that has been the location of a number of sports stadiums. It was used primarily for rugby union and for association football matches as well as some music concerts...
in the Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
vs England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
match under the captaincy of Jenny Greenwood. He then also played against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
that season, scoring a try in that second match winning the Calcutta Cup
Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is a rugby union trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Six Nations Championship match between England and Scotland. It is currently England's since the 2009 Six Nations Championship....
and helping England secure a joint Five Nations
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
championship (along with Scotland and Wales). In 1920, he also turned down a place in the Great Britain Olympic modern pentathlon
Pentathlon
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five different events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente and -athlon . The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games...
team in 1920 to play rugby. He emigrated to South Africa soon afterwards and played for the Johannesburg Pirates club, as well as Transvaal
Golden Lions
The Golden Lions is a provincial rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team was originally known as Transvaal, before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. For sponsorship reason...
.
In 1921 he became the South African light-heavyweight boxing
Light heavyweight
In boxing, the light heavyweight is a weight division above 168 pounds [12 Stone or 76.204 kilograms] and up to 175 pounds [12.5 stone or 79.38 kilograms]), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight...
champion. In 1924, when the British Lions toured South Africa
1924 British Lions tour to South Africa
The 1924 British Isles tour to South Africa was the tenth tour by a British Isles team and the fifth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950...
, he was called up by the team and played two Tests. Originally chosen as a replacement wing he then took over as fullback after a spate of injuries to the touring party. He played his final match for the British Lions on 20 Sep 1924 at Newlands Stadium
Newlands Stadium
Newlands Stadium, currently referred to as DHL Newlands for sponsorship reasons, is located in Cape Town, South Africa.The stadium currently has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all seater venue....
and scored a try in that final match that was rated as the best of the series. The Springbok
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
captain, Pierre Albertyn, rated Harris as the pick of the Lions backs.
Harris then remained in South Africa until the beginning of the Second World War and won Springbok colours both in tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
.
Military career
Harris served in two world wars. He began his service as a trooper in the Imperial Light Horse, in South West Africa from 1914 to 1915. He was commissioned in the Royal Field ArtilleryRoyal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....
in 1915 and fought in France, and was severely wounded during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He returned to active duty to serve in both Flanders and North Russia.
In between wars he was a member of the Army Sports Control Board 1935-1939 and took up service again during in 1939. He became a prisoner of war of the Japanese in Siam for 3½ years. During this period he was the Lieutenant Colonel in command of F Force, 7000 prisoners with Lieutenant Colonel Dillon leader of the British and Lieutenant Colonel Kappe Leader of the Australians. These men were sent by rail to Non Pluduc during the latter part of April 1943. They were to suffer among the highest casualties of any POW group. Due to remaining under the control of the Malay Command, rather than the Thai-Burma Command, they suffered in the distribution of supplies. They were also forced marched for roughly 300 kilometres to their work area near the Burma border. To compound already dreadful conditions was a cholera epidemic, which struck during the wet season. Of the 3336 British in F Force 2037 of them died, whilst the Australians lost 1060 men. On many occasions Harris was known to have stood up for his men, on one occasion preventing 700 of his wounded soldiers being simply left in the jungle outside the camp.
Later life
Harris was awarded the CBE in 1946. He died in 1973 at Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
.
Print references
- Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records (Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. ISBN 0-7126-0911-3 )
- Havers, Robin Paul Whittick, Reassessing the Japanese prisoner of war experience: the Changi POW camp, Singapore, 1942-5, Routledge, 2003 , ISBN 0700716572, 9780700716579
- Kratoska, Paul H., The Thailand-Burma Railway, 1942-1946: Documents and Selected Writings, , ISBN 0415309506, 9780415309509