War Service:
Sergeant 800964, Royal Artillery
attd., Special Operations Executive
Harry joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1930 for a period of three years and nine in the reserve. In 1939 he was recalled. After surviving Dunkirk, and witnessing the suffering of the French populace, he joined Special Operations Executive in 1943.
Harry was captured by the Germans following a mission in occupied France and he died in Flossenburg concentration camp in Germany in March 1945. His army casualty card reports he went missing on 2nd February 1945 and that he later died as a Prisoner of war. It is then amended to say he was Killed in Action whilst a POW. An army report from October 1945 recommending him for an award reads thus:
“Sgt GRAHAM was parachuted into FRANCE on 16th August 1943 as a member of a coup de main party which was to attack a synthetic oil company at AUTUN. The operation was entirely successful, and Sgt GRAHAM showed exceptional courage and efficiency in the accomplishment of his allotted task. He was one of two members of the party who placed the charges on the target, and his coolness and daring greatly contributed to the successful accomplishment of this operation.
After the operation GRAHAM escaped towards AVALLON but was later reported as missing. He was mentioned on a list of Gestapo prisoners in October 1944, and has since been reported executed at FLOSSENBURG in March 1945.
For his great courage and devotion in carrying out this dangerous, clandestine mission…” (Incomplete) and also sates he was “Mentioned in Despatches. Posthumous”
The mission was called Scullion2 and was headed by Captain Hugh Dormer. He and sergeant Birch both escaped and returned to the UK, only fpr Dormer to be killed in Normandy in 1944. Sergeant Birch survived the war. The other SOE members were also captured and were held in Paris for six months before being transferred to Flossenburg: they were also executed alongside Harry. In total 13 SOE members were executed that same day and some had been subjected to torture.
