Leonard Harrison

Leonard Henry Harrison (6 January 1905 – 15 July 1989) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer who was awarded the George Cross "for acts of exceptional coolness and courage on several occasions" in defusing unexploded German bombs during the Second World War. Having joined the RAF in 1922, he served as Civilian Armament Instructor at a RAF armament training school in 1940 and was an authority on explosive fuse systems. He used this expertise to render many munitions safe, including a bomb with a previously unknown fuse that had lodged in the deck of a grain carrier which struggled into Immingham Docks, which he defused with Flight Lieutenant John Noel Dowland. He also defused a device on a fishing boat in the Humber. His award was published in the London Gazette and was also covered by the Saturday News Chronicle of 4 January 1941. leaving a son, Leonard Jnr, and a daughter, Pat.