Harvey was born in Sheffield and he was the older brother of Mabel and John Pressley.

He met Lilian Knowles on Boxing Day 1935 and they married exactly 1 year later. They moved to Ravenshead (formally Fishpool), Nottinghamshire, where Harvey worked as a french polisher for Whiteley Electrical Radio Ltd in Mansfield. They had 1 daughter, June, born 13th June 1938.

Harvey was called up when June was 2 years old and was posted to the 8 Coast Regiment of the Royal Artillery in Hong Kong.

He was a Japanese prisoner of war after Hong Kong fell in 1941 and died on the Lisbon Maru when it sank in October 1942.

Many years later, when June was in her 50s, she lived in the USA. There she met a Japanese lady and despite her dad being murdered by the Japanese, my mum found forgiveness and became great friends with Eiko. They remained friends even after my mum left America and stayed in touch for the rest of my mum's life.