Harold Jonathan Beer was born in Axmouth, Devon, on 7th April 1892. One of nine children, he was the third of three boys to Brian and Edna Beer. Brian was a railway porter, but when he died in the spring of 1894, Edna was left to raise her young family alone. She was pregnant when she was widowed, giving birth to her youngest, daughter Constance, in September 1894.
When he completed his schooling, Harold found work as a domestic groom. The 1911 census found him living with his mother and three siblings: four of the five of them were bringing in a wage, albeit a small one.
War broke out in the summer of 1914, and Harold would step up to play his part. He have up his then job as an insurance agent in November 1915, and enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment. As a Private, he was attached to the local depot; his service records showing he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, and weighed 136lbs (61.7kg). His medical reported that he was wearing a truss, but that there was no evidence of a hernia.
Private Beer was mobilised in February 1916, but by the end of the year, he had transferred to the Royal Horse Artillery, taking the rank of Gunner. Sent for training near Portland, Dorset, he fell ill, and was admitted to the Verne Military Hospital, suffering from pleurisy.
Harold only spent a week in hospital before being discharged. He continued to have a ‘winter cough’, however, and was sent to Tidworth Hospital in January 1917, having had a ‘perpetual pain in the left side’ for about a month. This was diagnosed as tuberculosis, and the contagious illness resulted in Private Beer’s discharge from the army on 14th March 1917.
At this point, Harold’s trail goes cold. It seems likely that he returned home, and that his health continued to be impacted. He passed away on 8th April 1919, the day after his 27th birthday.
The body of Harold Jonathan Beer was laid to rest in St Michael’s Church, in his home village of Axmouth.
