Harold Dean was the son of Levi and Eliza Dean and husband of Laura Dean, of Willenhall, Staffordshire. He enlisted in the South Staffordshire Regiment and volunteered for Airborne forces.

Private Dean successfully completed his glider training and was posted to Support Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, and took part in Operation Market Garden (Arnhem).

Pte Dean was killed in action on 22 September 1944, aged 30. He is known to have been killed by falling debris, when an 88mm shell hit the roof of the Old Church on Benedendorpsweg, and is commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial to the missing.