PHILLIPS, Douglas Charles
| Service Number: | 125 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 August 1914, An original of C Company |
| Last Rank: | Company Sergeant Major |
| Last Unit: | 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Footscray, Victoria, Australia, 19 December 1889 |
| Home Town: | Maylands, Bayswater, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | 15 November 1925, aged 35 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 125, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), An original of C Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 125, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 125, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 12 May 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
| 22 Mar 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
| 12 Jun 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Company Sergeant Major, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Douglas Charles Phillips served at the Landing at Anzac. He was wounded by shrapnel in the face and arm at some time over the next fortnight and evacuated to Egypt. He went back to Gallipoli on the 11 October 1915 and stayed until the evacuation.
He was promoted up through the ranks, being made Company Sergeant Major in June 1917. He was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his deeds near Morcourt on the 8 August 1918, when during the advance in dense fog he was a great help in maintaining contact with adjoining units. When one of the platoon commanders became a casualty, he took command and led an assault which captured an important machine gun post, killing a number of the enemy and capturing ten Germans and two machine guns. Not done, he bombed his way through trenches to the objective and then organized his platoon to beat off a heavy counter attack.
Phillips returned to Australia in October 1918. He passed away only 7 years later in 1925.
A Graphic Account, - By Corporal Douglas Phillips, late of Ongerup.
The following is a letter from Corporal Douglas Phillips, brother of Mrs. A.W. Jones, of Ongerup, to his mother:
The Greece Hospital, Alexandria, May 20th, 1915, ….. “I am writing from the hospital. I was wounded on the 11th May. It was a shrapnel that caught me, but only slightly, all over the face, head and arms. I am just like a spotted Dick— just as if someone had thrown a handful of pebbles at me, and risen a lot of blood blisters all over me. My eyes are the worst, they are very painful sometimes. I will be all right in a month. We have been through something that will not be forgotten for many a year. And those of us, that return home have got to thank God for looking after us. I will try and tell you what happened, which is a very hard thing to do, as there are only two of us left out of the whole section, a mate of mine and myself, his name is McCarthy…… “
Southern Districts Advocate (Katanning, WA : 1913 - 1936), Wednesday 14 July 1915.
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