Born in South Wales in 1916, Harries was a dental student at Guy's Hospital when war broke out.

Joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) in September 1939, after training Harries was posted to No.

131 Squadron RAF, based at Llanbedr as a flight commander, and claimed his first kill, a Junkers Ju 88, soon after.

Harries was the most successful pilot to fly the Rolls-Royce Griffon powered Supermarine Spitfire, scoring 11 kills in the type, including a brace of Focke-Wulf Fw 190s on 25 May 1943.

[1] Flying a Spitfire XII, Harries intercepted the Fw 190s from SKG 10: I was leading Blue Section on a defensive patrol.

The enemy aircraft gradually lost height, with smoke and flames coming from it, skimmed for some distance along the surface of the water and then sank.

I orbited around taking cine gun snaps of the oil patch and pieces of wreckage that were visible.

In early 1944 Harries went to the United States, to lecture on fighter tactics, only to return and become wing leader of No.