Harry Brady was born in Chorley in 1886, one of eight children born to his Irish parents Catherine (nee Gilfoy) and James; they lived at 23 Queen’s Road in Chorley in 1901.
The 1911 Census recorded Harry having no trade and living with his father, now a widower, at Queen’s Road in the town. He married Clara Dawson in Chorley in 1915 and lived at 5 Back Pall Mall, eventually having two daughters; he was known to have attended St. Mary’s Church and worked as a cabman for Greatorex & Sons.
Harry had attained the rank of Corporal when he went to Caernarvon in February 1915, becoming one of the Battalion Bombers. He was wounded in the chest during the assault on Serre on the 1st July 1916. After recovering, his number changed to 654672 and he was transferred to the Labour Corps. At some point from spring 1915 to the end of the war he was promoted to Sergeant (although he is recorded as Corporal on the scroll in Astley Hall).
