Eric Harper

Bank: Williams Deacon's Bank

Place of work: Chorley branch

Died: 29 June 1943

Eric Harper was born in Lancashire in 1908, the son of William and Sarah Harper. He was educated at Rivington and Blackpool Grammar School, and in August 1927 went to work for Williams Deacon's Bank at its branch in Bolton. From August 1930 he was based at Chorley branch.  

In March 1942 Harper left the bank to go on military service, and in November that year he became a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. On 29 June 1943 he was part of the crew of a Lancaster bomber, flying from RAF Woodhall Spa on a mission to Cologne. The plane crashed near Eindhoven in the Netherlands and all seven crewmen were killed. Pilot Officer Harper was 34 years old and left a widow, Alice, whom he had married the previous year.

Eric Harper is commemorated on a bank war memorial at Hardman Boulevard office, Manchester.