Harris brothers
Lawren Harris
Born in 1885, Harris was a member of the group of Toronto artists who would become known as the Group of Seven after the war. As an heir to the MasseyHarris farm equipment fortune, he was also one of the group’s patrons. He was educated at the private St. Andrews College before enrolling at the University of Toronto, but he was soon pursuing his art career. Harris joined the army in 1916 and served with the university’s Canadian Officers’ Training Corps. As a gunnery officer, one of his jobs was to paint landscapes and villages to be used for target practice. One of his works, a panorama depicting a ruined Belgian village, was used at the School of Musketry’s rifle range in the unfinished Hart House. But Harris didn’t last long in the military: in 1918, he reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was discharged.
Howard Kilbourne Harris
Lawren’s younger brother was born in 1887. Unlike Lawren, he excelled at U of T and went on to law school. He was called to the bar in 1912 and was beginning a promising career at the Bankers Bond Co. when the war started. He travelled to England in April 1915 to become a commissioned officer in the 11th Essex Regiment, and was promoted to captain in February 1917. That May, he was awarded the Military Cross “for successfully directing with great coolness and skill an attack on the enemy’s trench near Albert.” He was killed on Feb. 22, 1918, while making a reconnaissance on an advanced German post about 20 kilometres northeast of Albert. When the memorial carillon was installed at Soldiers’ Tower at the University of Toronto, Bell No. IV was dedicated in his memory.