Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 13/09/1915
- Date of Discharge
- 06/06/1920
- Place of Enlistment
- Goulburn NSW
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Other Name(s)
- Known as 'Harry'
- Place of Birth
- Uriarra ACT
- Address (at enlistment)
- 'Sherwood' via Uriarra ACT
- Occupation
- Labourer
- Next of Kin
- Hannah Phillips (aunt), 'Sherwood' via Uriarra ACT
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- 2213
- Final Rank
- Private
- Final Unit
- 53 Battalion AIF
Notes
Harry Phillips was born in 1898 at 'Sherwood' (between Uriarra and the Cotter River) and enlisted on 13 September 1915. He arrived in France in June 1916 with the 53rd Battalion and between then and March 1918 he was hospitalised six times with various illnesses. He was shot in the left thigh in action near Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918 and evacuated to England for treatment. Phillips returned to his unit in August 1918 but on 1 September 1918 he was wounded in both legs near Peronne resulting in his right leg being amputated to the thigh. After a bout of diphtheria he returned to Australia in May 1919 and was discharged on 6 June 1920. He died on 12 October 1958 in Port Kembla where he had worked as a pay officer at the steel works. He was the older brother of Bertie Phillips, brother-in-law of Harry Nicholson and uncle of James Nicholson who was killed in action during World War 2.
Sources
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Bruce Moore, 'Cotter Country', 1999 (pp134, 135)
Queanbeyan Age - 7 January 1916
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'Pioneer Family in two World Wars', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
Images courtesy of Bill Chase