PHILLIPS, Harold Charles
| Service Number: | 4791 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 March 1916, Adelaide. South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Haverfordwest, Wales, United Kingdom, 1879 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 9 July 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Adelaide Cemetery Villers-Bretonneux (Plot I, Row B, Grave No. 10), Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4791, 27th Infantry Battalion, Adelaide. South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4791, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4791, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Adelaide |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Births Jun 1879 Phillips Harold Charles Haverfordwest 11a 922.
Harold was born in Haverfordwest in 1879, the son of Frederick and Mary Ann Phillips, and he was the brother of the Reverend Arthur Gilbert Phillips, of Moravion Manse, Leominster. He had emigrated to Australia prior to the war, and lived at 75, Halifax Street, Adelaide, South Australia. Harold had originally enlisted into the 12th Battalion, AIF at Adelaide on 3 March 1916. He was discharged due to bad teeth, but as was the norm at the time, he may have had them all extracted, and he re-enlisted at Adelaide on 22 March 1916 and joined the 12th Reinforcements of the 27th Battalion, AIF, which was on the Western Front attached to the 7th Australian Brigade, 2nd Australian Division. This batch of reinforcements embarked at Adelaide aboard the H.M.A.T. Aenas on 11 April 1916. Harold worked his way up to Acting Sergeant during the voyage to England.
Still in England in 1917, Harold was posted to the 7th Brigade Concert Party.
Harold joined his unit on 30 October 1917 on the Western Front. They were in Flanders, after taking part in the Third Battle of Ypres, where the Division fought at the Battles of the Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcapelle and Passchendaele. The 2nd Australian Division played a major role in the defence in Flanders during the German Offensive there in April 1918, and then during the advance to victory on the Somme, including the capture of Hamel on 4 July 1918. They were at Hamel when Harold was killed in action on 9 July 1918. He was 39 years old.
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