Lieutenant Colonel Jerrold Alexander Harrison, who received the MBE for his services to the Ministry of Defence, has died. He was 87.
Lt Col Harrison had retired to Knapp in Perthshire in 1983 and spent his last years in the home he shared with his wife Flora (nee Semple), immersed in the life of the community.
A veteran of the second world war and the Malayan Emergency (1947-60), he volunteered for the Korean War and was awarded the Military Cross for service in that conflict in 1953.
Born in Purley, Surrey, and educated at West Buckland in Devon, he began his long association with the military straight from school.
Lt Col Harrison joined the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and was then selected for officer cadet training before seeing his first tour of duty with the Queen’s Royal Regiment in North Africa.
Soon after, he was sent to Italy where he took part in the Anzio landings, which began in January 1944, following which he was raised to the rank of lieutenant.
Hit by a mortar round in February that year, he was briefly hospitalised and recuperated with his regiment in Egypt before returning to Italy and the Po Valley.
A more serious injury followed in February 1945, when he was once again hit by mortar fire, and he remained hospitalised for the remainder of the conflict, at the close of which he took a regular commission with the Royal Artillery.Service in Malaya and KoreaLt Col Harrison trained briefly as a gunner before service in Malaya and the Korean War, during which he was decorated.
Service in Britain, Germany and Hong Kong followed before secondment to the Hong Kong Defence Branch in 1967.
Disturbances in the colony lasted for three years, during which time Lt Col Harrison was awarded the MBE.
He returned to Hong Kong in 1973 as lieutenant colonel to act as liaison officer between the government and army and in 1974 joined the new Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Lt Col Harrison retired after 33 years as a soldier, settling with Mrs Harrison at Knapp, where he had bought a house years before.
The couple met in 1956 while he was on leave at Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute, and they married just a year later at Aberdeen.
Together they had four children, Jane, David (who died soon after birth), Ruth and Roderick and enjoyed seven grandchildren.Community lifeIn retirement, Lt Col Harrison known to friends as Jerry studied for an Open University degree in history, gaining a BA, and became a dedicated member of the Abernyte Parish Church, where he had duties as a senior session elder.
He was the founder and secretary for many years of the Abernyte Heritage Project and also helped to set up the Millennium Walk at Abernyte.
Lt Col Harrison found time to organise the annual parish walk, sing in the choir, volunteer for Meals on Wheels and help at the Macmillan House coffee shop in Perth.
He also enjoyed a number of other hobbies including walking, bee-keeping and dancing with his wife, while his family described him as a “reluctant under-gardener.”
Elders, church board members and friends described him as “a valuable asset to the community for his wisdom and knowledge and a friend and neighbour to all.”