Almost 70 years since World War II, a Master's student from the Department of Defence Studies has previewed her film which depicts a soldier heading into battle with the enemy, in an act that, ‘undoubtedly saved considerable casualties and damage', according to his commendation for the Military Medal.
Lt Col Anna-Lee Johnston, who is studying on the Defence Studies MA programme at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham, hosted a preview of the film Above and Beyond: The Craftsman at King’s with her partners from Ivory London. Among the invited audience was guest of honour, the subject of the film, Sergeant Wally Harris MM.
Sergeant Harris MM served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) during World War II and is the only REME veteran to be given a gallantry award for direct enemy action. As an engineer Sergeant Harris was a non combat soldier who should never have gone into battle. With his unit of craftsmen, Sergeant Harris‘ task was to maintain self-propelled guns as 231 Brigade pushed through France and ultimately liberated Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany.
On 3 September 1944, with his unit stuck behind a column of vehicles that was backed up through the town of Mons-en-Pevelle, Sergeant Harris decided to go on ahead, through the village, to find an alternative route. As he made his way through the streets, he turned a corner and came face to face with a German 88mm artillery gun unmounting.
He had only a moment to make a decision that would affect his and the lives of many of his comrades.
Sergeant Harris takes on the enemy with a .30cal Browning machine gun, cannibalised on D-Day from a drowned Sherman, with his friend and colleague Cpl. Swann. It is a defining moment in both their lives.
Now, Sergeant Wally Harris’ story has been preserved in Above and Beyond: The Craftsman, by Anna-Lee and her collaborators, Rowland Kimber (Executive Producer), Richard Canavan (Executive Producer and Composer) and Peter King (Director) who have written Wally’s story directly from his first hand account.
Anna-Lee said: ‘Wally’s story is so special. We are so pleased to be able to tell it and preserve it. We must capture others like it while we still have the chance to be with people who actually experienced the Second World War. If we don’t record these remarkable accounts now, they will be lost to history forever.’
Wally, who is now 90, offered his military expertise to the production team and was on location, on Salisbury Plain, during filming to advise on the events that unfolded nearly 70 years ago.
Wally said at the preview: ‘History tells us about the Battle of Britain and what those brave lads did out there – ‘the few’ as Churchill called them. But what they did, defeating the Germans, made them realise that we were much stronger than they thought.’
Former Head of the Department of Defence Studies, Professor Matt Uttley, said before the screening: ‘This is such an important piece of oral history that must be preserved, so we can reflect on the past and inform the future.’
For further media information contact Anna Mitchell on 0207 848 3092 or at anna.i.mitchell@kcl.ac.uk.
For more information about King's see our 'King's in Brief' page.
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