File:Major James Logie Harcus (6279327795).jpg

20th Battalion, 5th Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Forces

Major Harcus was born in Orkney, Scotland in 1881 and was a fluent speaker of Gaelic. He emigrated to Australia in 1907 and, after spending a year in New Zealand, settled in Sydney where he qualified as a barrister in 1912.

During this time, he also served as an officer in the reserves of the New South Wales Scottish Rifles. On outbreak of the First World War, Major Harcus volunteered for active service and was part of the Australian force which took control of German colonies in Papua New Guinea in September 1914.

In 1915, he sailed with his battalion to the Middle East and participated in the landings at Suvla Bay on 22 August. Major Harcus was killed in action, aged 34, at Tel el Kebir, on 11 December 1915. He is buried at Walker's Ridge cemetery, Gallipoli. Photograph presented by his mother, Mrs Harcus, Orkney.

Faces of the First World War

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• The Museum released this image on a custom licence - IWM Non-Commercial license. However where the photograph has no known author, these are public domain under the 70 rule and where they were owned by the Ministry of Information, any other government department or agency, taken by a member of the military during their service or by a photographer commissioned by the services, these are now out of copyright restriction.