A.B.Phillips (Allen Borman) Army Service 1914-1919
Allen was Tony's Great Uncle - his paternal grandmother's brother
The information below has been collated by Tony Arrowsmith from available information. Allen's WW1 record was 'burnt' in WW2
1914 - 1919 Allen Borman Phillips in the Herefordshire Regiment and Worcestershire Regiment
Regimental Service No: 2407 (Herefordshire Regiment - Issued 1914)
Army Service No: 235752 (Herefordshire Regiment - issued 1917?)
Army Service No: 72056 (Worcestershire Regiment - issued 1918/19???)
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abt. 12th September 1914 - Volunteered for and joined the Herefordshire Regiment
abt. August 1914 - Joined 2nd/1st Herefordshire Battalion when it was formed. Shown on
September 1914 - 2nd/1st Battalion moved to Aberystwyth and joined 68th (Welsh) Division
October 1914 - Battalion in Aberystwyth
26th October 1914 - Shown
as a Lance Corporal in Hereford Times
December 1914 - Promoted
to Sergeant whilst at Aberystwyth
April 1915 - 2nd/1st Battalion moved to Northampton as part of 205th Brigade on 68th Division
27th May 1915 - Battalion Moved to North London District for 2-3 weeks
May 1915 - June 1915 - 2nd/1st Battalion at Billericay working on North London Defences
17th June 1915 - Battalion moved back to Northampton
July 1915 - 2nd/1st Battalion moved to Bedford on foot in the pouring rain.
October 1915 - Sergeant 2407 A. B. Phillips was shown on the 2nd Battalion Roll at Bedford ( 2nd/1st Battalion 'D' Company)
Sgt Phillips Service
Record was burnt and little information on individual soldiers in the
Herefordshire Regiment is available.
The following entries on his movement between the 2nd Battalion and the 1st
Battalion are the 'best guess' based on War Diary entries.
June 1915 - 150 men of the 2nd Herefordshire Regiment moved to the 46th Coast Battalion - also known as the 48th Provisional Battalion
March 1916 - 48th Provisional Battalion based in Cromer, Norfolk.
September 1916 - 70
members of the 48th Provisional Battalion return to form D Company of the
Herefordshire Reserve (3rd) Battalion.
Most had originally joined the 48 Provisional Battalion from the 2nd
Herefordshire's in June 1915.
before March 1917 - Sgt Phillips moved as part of a Draft to the 1st Battalion of the Herefordshire Regiment in Egypt
March 1917 - May 1918 - Palestine Campaign
- Sergeant A. Phillips was pictured in Palestine with his brother in law - Sgt G. Arrowsmith
(see
larger picture under G.Arrowsmith)
The following has been added from George Arrowsmith's record following the finding of a postcard Home from both George and Allan on the 5th September 1918 - They were obviously still in the same unit (1st/1st Herefordshire's) that they had been together in Palestine :
26th March 1917 - 1st Battle of Gaza - Herefordshire's at Whadi Ghuzzi
17th April 1917 - 2nd Battle of Gaza - Herefordshire's on the Es Sire Ridge (Samson's Ridge)
31st October - 7th November 1917 - 3rd Battle of Gaza - Herefordshire's at Beersheba
25th December 1917 - Christmas in Jerusalem
1st June 1918 - Having been replaced by the 2/22nd Battalion London Regiment the Herefordshire's marched off to Sura
6th June 1918 - Entrained for Kantar - thence on to Alexandria
15th June 1918 - Embarked at Alexandria on "HMT Kaiser-I-Hind" for Tarant, Italy
22 June 1918 - Landed in Tarant, Italy - entrained for France
30th June 1918 - Arrived in Proven, France - part of 102 Infantry Brigade of 34 Division
7th July 1918 - training at Schools Camp, St Jan ter Beisan
18th July 1918 - Second Battle of the Marne in French Soissons-Rheims Sector
18th July - 30th July 1918 - at Bois de Reugny
1st August - 30th August 1918 - at Bucy le Bras Ferme
1st September 1918 - transferred to Battle of Ypres
4th September 1918 - at Mount Kemmel
5th September 1918 - Postcard Home from George and Allan ( Borman Phillips) ' I am quite well'
September - October 1918 - During this period Allen was seriously ill (see photo on page - menu item 1918 Ill?).
From research, and a view of his photograph, it would seem most likely that he suffered from 'Spanish Flu' in the epidemic of Influenza which struck soldiers and civilians alike in 1918-1919:
In the closing months of the war, a terrifying pandemic swept the globe, devastating populations already coping with the losses of war. Known as the Spanish Flu, or Influenza, it appeared early in 1918, and reached a climax in October and November of that year. Victims of this virus showed many of the same symptoms of milder flu – headache, fever, nausea and respiratory problems, often resulting in Pneumonia. Mortality rates, however, were significantly higher, and unlike other flu outbreaks (where children, the elderly and the weak were most vulnerable), it particularly affected young, healthy adults.
abt. 1918 - Transferred to the Worcestershire Regiment
as Sergeant
Research suggests possibly to 4th or 7th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment
An entry in the 4th Battalion War Diary shows a draft of 208 other Ranks joining the Battalion at Croix near Roubaix, North France on the 1st Nov 1918.
1919 - Demobbed
Entry in Worcester Regiment list in the National Archives:
"36373 - Phillips, Allan B
Worcestershire Regiment 72056 Serjeant [1]
Herefordshire Regiment 235752 Serjeant [2] Worcestershire Regiment 72056
Serjeant"