NAM.1957-06-35-1-1

Great coat worn by Lt Col Michael Charles Cooper Harrison, Royal Irish Regiment, during his escape attempts from prisoner of war camps in Germany, 1915-1917. Atholl grey cloth dyed brown. Originally a great coat of the Grenadier Guards, Harrison ordered this coat from his tailor in England while he was a prisoner in Offizier gefangenenlager Burg, Burg bei Magdeburg, in the mistaken belief that it would be similar in cut and colour to the coat of a German officer and could thereby be used as a disguise for an escape attempt. However, he had to make substantial alterations before he was able to use it for this purpose during an escape attempt mounted from Burg camp in November 1915. After he was recaptured the German’s re-tailored the coat to its original pattern, however, it was substantially altered again by Harrison for another escape attempt mounted from Magdeburg prison in May 1917. This time Harrison aimed to make it look like a civilian coat and, to this end, he shortened it, added a new collar and dyed it chocolate brown using a chemical disenfectant. Harrison also wore this coat during his final and successful escape attempt mounted from Ströhen camp in Augusts 1917. A photograph of Harrison wearing the coat can be found in his memoir ‘Within Four Walls’. Associated with World War One, POWs, 1914-1918.

World War One, POWs (1914-1918)