We are grateful to John's son Paul Harrison for his assistance and documents about the life of Private Harrison.

3246747 Private John "Jock" Harrison was born on the 15th of April 1923 in the Gorbals area of Glasgow; the son of William Harrison.

Click to browse John's complete Soldier's Service Book

John's Soldier's Service Book shows that during the 1940s his father was living in 86 Thistle Street, Glasgow. The houses and tenements in this area were later demolished as part of the mass urban renewal and redevelopment of the 20th Century. John later told his son that “he left Glasgow and walked down staying with gypsies on route.” John subsequently arrived in the Leicester area.

We don't know exactly when John volunteered for military service, but he later told his son that, like many other men, he lied about his age to join up.

Prior to joining the 11^th Parachute Battalion, John fought in the Western Desert at El Alamein and Tobruk. On the 5^th of April 1944 he was awarded the Africa Star.

John volunteered to join the Parachute Regiment and, after successfully completing parachute course K78 at RAF Ringway was assigned to the 11^th Parachute Battalion. Along with his colleagues, he was deployed to Arnhem in September 1944 as part of Operation Market Garden.

It was during the heavy street fighting in the Lombok area that John met a very courageous woman who risked her life to save him and who later became a lifelong friend: Mary Behr.

This is the story of Mrs Mary Elizabeth Behr (née Brown)—a courageous woman whose quiet act of bravery saved a young soldier’s life. Mary was British by birth, having been raised in Sunderland where she had been born in 1906; the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (née Kirtley) Brown. In 1929, leaving her family behind in Sunderland, she moved to the Netherlands where, on 3^rd January 1934, she married a Dutchman named Richardus Hendricus Antonius Behr. Richardus was a chauffeur born in Arnhem in 1902 and settled in the Netherlands.

In September 1944, during the Battle of Arnhem, she lived at Alexanderstraat 48, Lombok, Arnhem on the western outskirts of the city. On Tuesday 19^th September 1944, the streets around her home had become a battlefield. Private John “Jock” Harrison of the 11th Parachute Battalion had been separated from his platoon during the savage street fighting in the Lombok area at the western outskirts of Arnhem. Alone and hunted, he suddenly found himself facing an approaching German tank, closely followed by German infantry.

With nowhere else to go, Jock threw himself through the doorway of a nearby house. He must have expected fear, confusion — or perhaps an empty building. Instead, from somewhere inside the house, he heard a calm and unmistakably familiar voice: “What are you doing there, son?” Harrison could hardly believe his ears. In the middle of Arnhem, surrounded by enemy soldiers, gunfire and the grinding tracks of a German tank, he was addressed in a voice, language and accent he would have felt hard to believe. He was being spoken to in English by a women with a gentle lilting Geordie accent.

The woman standing before him was Mary Behr. There was no time for questions, no time for hesitation. “Come through here,” she told him. “I’ll help you.” While the enemy closed in outside, Mary calmly led the frightened young soldier through her home, out of the back door and into the garden. From there, she showed him the safest route back towards the British lines. Harrison then disappeared into the smoke and chaos of battle.

Their encounter lasted only a few moments. Yet in those few moments, Mary Behr risked everything—her home, her freedom and possibly her life—to save a British soldier she had never met before. No weapon in her hands. No uniform on her shoulders. Only courage in her heart. What an extraordinarily brave woman she was.

After Arnhem John returned home to England and embarked with the 3rd Parachute Battalion on the 3rd of November 1945 to Palestine. He was transferred to the Army Reserve on the 2nd of September 1946.

In 1947 John married Winifred (née LEE) in Leicester. The couple made Leicester their home and raised their children there. John became a self-employed painter and decorator.

Mary also survived the war and continued to live in the Netherlands and always remembered her family back home in Sunderland. Her brother, John, who had also served in the British Army during the war and was 13 years younger than her, not only remembered her but was proud of what she had done. They both kept in touch after the war, and she often visited him, his family and friends in Sunderland.

As a dedicated member of the Parachute Regiment Association he regularly attended events and organised trips. It was on the 33rd Anniversary trip that, by chance, he was reunited with Mrs Mary Behr, the Englishwoman who had saved his life. Mary and John kept in touch, and she often visited him and his family.

John died on the 5^th April 1983 and Mary attended the funeral held on 11^th April 1983 at Gilrose Crematorium, Leicester.

We are still researching the life of Private Harrison. If you are a relative or have any information about him, please contact us.