Harold Ernest Birch was born on 3 September 1897 in Fremantle, Western Australia. He enlisted as an 18-year-old and served with the 16th Battalion in France, returning mid-1919.
Playing for Midlands after the war, he may also have played for Northern Casuals in 1931 and 1932. He married Victoria Maud Margaret Stewart in 1922 in Bunbury, Western Australia and they had two children during their marriage.
He died on Christmas Day 1969 in Perth at the age of 72.