John Clarke PHILLIPS

PHILLIPS, John Clarke

Service Number: 790
Enlisted: 17 February 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 43rd Infantry Battalion
Born: Abergwili, Carmarthenshire, Wales, 1874
Home Town: Kensington, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Tramway inspector
Died: Killed in Action, France, 26 January 1917
Cemetery: Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres
Grave III. E 40. INSCRIPTION - LET THIS LITTLE TOKEN TELL WE STILL REMEMBER THEE
Memorials: Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour
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World War 1 Service

17 Feb 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 790, 43rd Infantry Battalion
9 Jun 1916: Involvement Private, 790, 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, 790, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide

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Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon

 John was the son of David Benjamin Phillips and Harriet Phillips and was baptised at Abergwili on 26 April that year. He emigrated to Australia with his wife, Hannah Maria Phillips, and their two children prior to the war, and the family lived at Stanley Terrace, Leabrook, South Australia, where John worked as a Tram Inspector. John enlisted at Adelaide on 17 February 1916 into the 43rd Battalion, Australian Infantry. He embarked at Adelaide on 9 June 1916 aboard HMAT Afric, and disembarked at Marseilles on 20 July 1916. The battalion then moved to Britain for further training, before moving to the Western Front early in December 1916, joining the 11th Brigade, 3rd Australian Division. The Division moved to Bailleul by 25 November 1916, then to the Armentieres Sector, where it began its routine of trench warfare. John was killed here by a German bombardment on 26 January 1917. He was 45 years old.

Surprisingly, although there are Australian casualties honoured on the Abergwili War Memorial he is not commemorated locally.

The Village of Abergwili sits just to the east of Carmarthen, on the A40 leading out of Town towards Builth Wells. On the main street sits a War Memorial in the style of a Celtic Cross, carved from granite, which remembers the men and one woman of the Village who gave their lives during both World Wars.

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