S6215
PHILLIPS, Henry Harold
| Service Number: | 152 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 January 1916, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Kadina, South Australia, July 1894 |
| Home Town: | Yorketown, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Mason |
| Memorials: | Yorketown and District of Melville Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 152, 43rd Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 152, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 152, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 152, 43rd Infantry Battalion, Broodseinde Ridge, GSW right forearm | |
| 30 Sep 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 152, 43rd Infantry Battalion, Breaching the Hindenburg Line - Cambrai / St Quentin Canal, GSW humerus | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 152, 43rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 17 Apr 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 152, 43rd Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Henry Harold Phillips's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Before the War
Henry Harold Phillips was most likely born around mid-1894 in Kadina and was a mason. A mason is someone who works with bricks and stone in construction. Similar to most people who fought in World War One, he had never been in the army. His mother, Mrs Elizabeth Phillips, was his next of kin and lived with him. He followed the Church of England as his religion.
He enlisted on the 11th of January 1916 and joined the 43rd battalion, at the age of 21 and a half. The minimum age of enlistment was 18 with parent permission and 21 independently. He most likely was eager to join the army, but his parents were not so keen as he had to wait until he was 21, which he did.
During the War
He stayed in Australia for about six months after enlisting. During those six months, he and his battalion trained in Adelaide, specifically in the Morphettville Racecourse and Sturt River, where they practised using rifles. On the 9th of June 1916, they boarded the HMAT A19 Afric, and sailed to Marseilles in France, arriving about six weeks later in mid-July. The battalion then travelled through France to the English Channel, where they crossed, arriving in England.
From late July to late November, he and the 41st, 42nd, 43rd and 44th battalions trained at Lark Hill in England. Mr Phillips never transferred and stayed in his Battalion for the whole war, apart from when he got injured or sick. On the 25th of November, his Battalion moved to Flanders in France, where they stayed and trained, much closer to the front of the fighting. He went to hospital due to illness on the 20th of December, missing out on his Battalion doing their first bit of fighting on the Western Front.
On the 7th of June, the 43rd Battalion moved into the Battle of Messines and supported some of the other Australian and New Zealand battalions. The 43rd Battalion partially moved out of the battle on the 11th, which is when Mr Phillips came back from the hospital and re-joined his battalion. Shortly after the start of the Third Battle of Ypres, Mr Phillips was shot in his right arm in combat and was sent to a hospital in England to be treated.
He returned from England on the 23rd of January 1918 he joined the battalion, and it is safe to assume that he followed his battalion as a private, up until him being promoted to a Lance Corporal on the 12th of July. There are a possible few reasons for this happening. He most likely was promoted because of his bravery and skill in battle.
It also may be because a different Lance Corporal died, and they needed someone to replace him, and he was chosen for reasons explained above. On the 30th of September, Mr Phillips was sent to hospital for the second occasion due to him being shot in the right arm, fracturing it. This injury caused him to not be able to fight, and was invalided and sent back to Britain.
After the War
Mr Phillips was sent back to Australia due to his injuries on the 18th of January 1919, and left the army on the 17th of April. Mr Phillips was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for him partaking in the war on foreign lands.
Bibliography
The Forty-Third: the story and official history of the 43rd Battalion, A.I.F. 2021, Trove, viewed 23 March 2021, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52860815/view?partId=nla.obj-105155943#page/n69/mode/1up
Terrace, V 2021, NAA: B2455, PHILLIPS H H, Naa.gov.au, viewed 23 March 2021, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1989326
Henry Harold Phillips 2016, Adfa.edu.au, viewed 23 March 2021, https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=240423
AWM4 Subclass 23/60 - 43rd Infantry Battalion 2016, Awm.gov.au, viewed 23 March 2021, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1339186
43rd Infantry Battalion 2015, Vwma.org.au, viewed 23 March 2021, https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/64
Henry Harold Phillips 2016, Awm.gov.au, viewed 23 March 2021, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1939360
Click images to start slideshow.