AddThis SmartLayers

Former reporter and Army spokesman dies aged 59

A former South West sub-editor and journalist who became an Army spokesman has died aged 59.

David Harris, left, worked for the Plymouth-based Western Morning News and The Herald during the 1980s before moving to Sydney.

He returned to the UK where he took a job with The Times, in London, before returning to the Devon city a year later to work for The Herald again as a sub-editor.

David then joined the Wyvern Barracks, in Exeter, as a public information officer, working alongside the 43 Wessex Brigade and playing a key role in briefing the media on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also acted as a liaison officer between reporters and the families of those who had been killed in conflict.

David remained in that role until he fell ill in Germany in September where he had been working with the 5 Rifles at the time.

He died in Selly Oak Hospital, in Birmingham, last Thursday with his family at his bedside.