Harold Harrison ( rugby player ) Brigadier Harold Cecil Harrison DSO CB ( 26 February 1889 – 26 March 1940 ) was an English rugby union player , who at club level represented several rugby teams in the British Armed Forces , most notably United Services , and was capped four times for the England national rugby union team . Harrison was part of the England team that won the Grand Slam during the 1914 Five Nations Championship . Personal history . Harrison was born in Solihull , England in 1889 to Edward James and Laura Harrison and was educated at King Edward ' s School , Birmingham . He was married to Katie Deeley of Box , Wiltshire . For his services whilst in the military Harrison was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure of Japan in 1926 and the Order of the Bath in 1939 . He died at home at Ivor Court in Marylebone in London in 1940 at the age of 51 . He was buried at East Finchley Cemetery . Rugby career . Harrison came to note as a rugby player when he represented the Royal Marine Artillery team based in Woolwich . An imposing forward player , he was selected for both the Army and Royal Navy teams before representing the United Services . The United Services was made up of servicemen from the Royal Navy and played against the biggest clubs from all over Great Britain . It was while Harrison was playing for United Services that he was selected to play at international level , gaining his first cap for England in the 1909 Home Nations Championship . Harrison was the only new cap brought into the England squad , to face Scotland at Richmond . England lost 8 – 18 , and Harrison was dropped for the rest of the campaign . Although out of favour at international level , Harrison was still in demand . In 1911 he was selected to play for invitational touring team the Barbarians , joining the side on their Easter tour of Wales . He was re - invited to join the Barbarians in 1914 , to play a forces team from Shoreham Camp . Harrison was given the honour of captaining the Barbarians to 16 – 13 victory , his opposing captain being Edgar Mobbs . 1914 also saw Harrison back in favour with the England selectors , and in February he was back in the national team to face Ireland as part of the 1914 Five Nations Championship . England had won the opening game of the tournament against Wales , and Harrison retained his place when they narrowly beat Ireland at Twickenham . He then faced Scotland for the second time , this time away from home at Inverleith . Harrison was given conversion duties during the match , an unusual tactic for a forward , and successfully kicked two goals which prove decisive in a narrow 16 – 15 win for his England team . With three victories over the other Home Nations , England had won the Triple Crown , leaving recent inductees France as the only obstacle to stop England taking the Championship and the Grand Slam . Harrison was again selected , but kicking duties were now given to John Greenwood . England won convincingly , making Harrison a Grand Slam winning champion . He may have been selected for further England games , but the outbreak of the First World War ended all international competitions . Harrison continued to play rugby during the war , and again captained the Barbarians in a 1915 encounter with a South African Services XI . In 1922 , he took part as a referee in the international encounter between France and Scotland in the 1922 Five Nations Championship . Whilst playing in the Navy , Harrison was known by the nickname , " Dreadnought " . Military service . Harison was a career soldier and joined the British armed forces after leaving school . He served in the Royal Marines Artillery and by 1908 he had reached the rank of Lieutenant . During the First World War he was initailly stationed in German South - West Africa where he served as a commander of a South African siege battery . He was first Mentioned in Despatches during the African campaign and by 1915 he had been promoted to temporary Major . In 1916 he and his battery were stationed in France , and during action in Pozières he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order . His DSO citation reads : On 29 July 1916 he was caught in a gas attack and declared unfit to return to the Front . He returned to Britain where he served as a gunnery instructor at Lydd from 1917 to 1918 . He returned to active duty in October 1918 , and served in the Heavy Artillery division of the XI Corps at the Western Front . After the First World War , Harrison remained with the British military becoming adjutant of the Royal Military Academy from 1919 until 1921 . He transferred from the Royal Marines to the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1924 and was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel in 1927 . He then spent some years serving in different posts in Asia . He served in Singapore from March 1923 until April 1924 where he was GSO 3 before being posted to British Malaya until 1925 as GSO 2 . Between 1925 and 1928 he served GSO 2 in the War Office . He was posted to Quetta in Pakisatan in 1930 , becoming an instructor at the Staff College , achieving the full rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1932 . That same year he was given a role in the Imperial Defence College and from 1932 until 1935 he commanded the 1st Battalion of the Green Howards . From 1935 to 1937 he was GSO 1 of British Troops in China . From 1937 to 1939 he was posted to Palestine where he was commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade and was given the temporary role of Brigadier .