HARRIS, Philip Vernon
| Service Number: | 577 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 September 1915, Toowoomba, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 42nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Armidale, New South Wales. Australia, 26 May 1882 |
| Home Town: | Dalby, Western Downs, Queensland |
| Schooling: | The Armidale School |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 11 June 1917, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais Plot I, Row P, Grave 10 |
| Memorials: | Armidale School War Memorial Gates, Bell War Memorial, Brisbane 42nd Infantry Battalion AIF Roll of Honour, Dalby 'The Fallen' Honour Board, Dalby St. John's Anglican Church Roll of Honour, Dalby War Memorial, Richmond University of Western Sydney WW1 Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Corporal, 577, 42nd Infantry Battalion, Toowoomba, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jun 1916: | Involvement 577, 42nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Jun 1916: | Embarked 577, 42nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Sydney | |
| 11 Jun 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 42nd Infantry Battalion, Killed in action |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of William Marshall and Marina Jane HARRIS. Native of Armidale, New South Wales.
PHILLIP VERNON HARRIS – (26.5.1882 - 11.6.1917)
Called Vernon
From Bank NSW Armidale. His father was W.N. Harris.
At TAS 6 years from Feb. 1894 to Nov. 1899. He was one of the first 36 boys at TAS when it opened. 1st Football XV. Won the senior mile in 1899. Lance- Corporal in the Cadets. After leaving school he worked first at the Eleanora mine at Hillgrove and then at Kalgoorlie where he joined his brother to study assaying and mining. He went to Hawkesbury College for 2½ years and then went in for faming near Dalby in Qld.
Enlisted at Bell, Qld 15.9.1915. It was only after his 5th attempt to enlist that he passed the sight test, and went into camp at Enoggera. Served: He sailed with the 42nd Battalion in June 1916 with the rank of Sergeant Major. In England he qualified for his commission at Tidworth Officer Training Centre and gained his first star (Second Lieut.) soon after reaching France.
Killed: - He was in the front line of trenches at Messines in the act of urging his men to stick to a position they had taken under a terrific bombardment when he was hit in the head with shrapnel. He died aged 25.
Buried - France 297 Trois-Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck.
Memorial: His name is on the fountain in Central Park, in the Armidale Library and in the Memorial Hall at Hawkesbury Agricultural College.
Philip Vernon Harris was born 26 May 1882 at Armidale, NSW. He and what appears to be his twin brother, Frank (as they have consecutive BDM registration numbers for the same year with same parents and district listed. Frank died in 1883), were the youngest of five children born to William Marshall and Marina Jane Harris. William Harris was manager of the Bank of NSW.
Philip attended The Armidale School (TAS) from February 1894 until November 1899. He was one of the first 36 boys at TAS. He played in the First XV Rugby team, won the senior mile race in 1899 and was a Lance-Corporal in the Cadets.
After leaving school, Philip worked in the mines at Hillgrove and Kalgoorlie. He was 19 when he enrolled at HAC for Practical Courses. He attended HAC from 1902-1903, and played in the First XV Rugby teams in 1902 and 1903. By March 1904 was engaged in shipping cows to Western Australia where he planned to start a dairy.
Philip was farming near Dalby, Queensland when he enlisted in the 42nd Battalion on 15 September 1915, and he was quickly made Provisional Corporal. He sailed from Sydney, 5 June 1916, aboard HMAT Borda A30. Philip quickly rose through the NCO ranks and was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the field in January 1917. Serving on the Western Front, and wounded at Messines, Philip died of those wounds 11 June 1917, aged 35. He is buried at Trois-Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, France.
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