Harry was born on 2 November 1919 in Hackney, London to Polish father Morris and Fanny nee Cohen. Harry was one of eight children and in 1921, the family lived at 29 Ellingfort Road in Hackney where Maurice was listed as working as a tailor.

Harry was an ordinary seaman on board HMS Kelly, a Royal Navy K-class destroyer, which was captained by Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten. The ship was bombarding German positions on the island of Crete when at 05.30am they were attacked by German Stukas. The ship was hit in the engine room killing all in the foremost boiler room. Within minutes she rolled over and sank taking the lives of half of her crew, a total of 128 men. The 38 survivors, including Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten, were picked up by the destroyer HMS Kipling.