[1] He also turned down a place in the Great Britain Olympic squad in 1920, became a South African boxing champion and represented England in polo, all in between serving in both the First and Second World Wars.
[5] After his service in World War I, in which he was wounded, he spent some time convalescing, but his boredom at this predicament led him to take up ballroom dancing.
After being sufficiently healed, he returned to his school boy passion of rugby union and became the leading try-scorer for Blackheath F.C.
[2] Harris then remained in South Africa until the beginning of the Second World War and won Springbok colours both in tennis and boxing.
He was commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery in 1915 and fought in France, and was severely wounded during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Harris was second-in-command of the 148th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Field Artillery Regiment sent to help defend Singapore in January 1942.
Harris was also promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and commanding officer of the Bedfordshire Yeomanry in captivity when the Regiment's previous CO was killed trying to escape from Singapore.