Lance Corporal Fernaley Phillips Service Number 7687021

On June 7th 1940 the 1st armoured division were in the area of Ecouis, upper Normandy. On that day Lance corporal Fernaley Phillips (Service number 7687021) of the military Police was killed. Can anyone help me find information suggesting how he was killed?

I also wanting to try and track any of his relatives down because as a British ex-pat living not far from the location of his death I am working on behalf of the Town hall of Ecouis to learn about his history. No one at present knows how he died.

If anyone can help this would be much appreciated as I am unable to visit the likes of Kew to check out the archives.

 

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2320692/PHILLIPS,%20FERNALEY

Not a lot happening in the war diary

 

Fernley Phillips was born 4 Q 1910 in Camberwell. In 1941 his name appeared on a BEF CMP missing list.

He is recorded as Fernley on the 1911 census. His parents were Henry and Amy Phillips, greengrocers of 23 Camberwell Grove.
He is also listed as Fernley Phillips on the missing list. The Cwgc record appears to be wrong.

 

If he was on the 1941 Missing CMP list he may well get a mention in the WO 361 Missing Men file for the regiment.

 

The reference for this was from a Foreign Office file, FO 916/50 List of missing combatants - circulation among POW camps 1941

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r/?_q=+FO+916%2F50

 

Soldier Details:



Surname:

Phillips



Initials:

F.

Rank:

Lance Corporal

Army No.:

7687021

Notes:

CMP. L/Cpl 1 Armd Div Pro Coy, BEF 1940. He was born in London SE and resided in Surrey. No inscription on gravestone.


Casualty Details:


Date Killed:

7th June 1940

Company:

1 ARMD DIV PRO COY

http://www.corpsofmilitarypolice.org/soldier/4333/

 

If he was killed in an accident where would it be listed. If there is no mention of enemy action. I wonder if it was accidental death? Where would these be listed if not in the war diary?

 

Also a "Barbara" on the In Memories site http://www.inmemories.com/agb/index.php?lang=english&skin=&debut=450&seeAdd=1&seeNotes=&seeMess=
confirmed his name as FERNLEY, says she has photos of him....
No reference though as to how he died.
Strange there is no mention of any incident in the War Diary.
How certain is it that 7th was his death date?

2 other L/Cpls (lowest rank in Military Police) died on 17th June, when War Diary infers they were on ship from Brest to UK.
BARCLAY, STANLEY JOSEPH. Rank: Lance Corporal. Service No: 7686963. Date of Death: 17/06/1940. Age: 23.
Regiment/Service: Corps of Military Police 1 Armd. Div. Provost Coy.
Grave Reference: Coll. grave 4. Cemetery: LE CLION-SUR-MER COMMUNAL CEMETERY.
Additional Information: Son of Joseph Henry Barclay, and of Rose Lilian Barclay, of Monk Okehampton, Devon.
Most of those buried here lost their lives when the S.S. "Lancastria" was sunk by enemy action off St Nazaire on the 17th June, 1940.

BLACK, HAMISH ADDIS. Rank: Lance Corporal. Service No: 7687025. Date of Death: 17/06/1940. Age: 24.
Regiment/Service: Corps of Military Police 1 Armd. Div. Provost Unit
Panel Reference: Column 147. Memorial: DUNKIRK MEMORIAL.
Additional Information: Son of Thomas Charles Addis Black and Ethel Beatrice Ann Black; husband of Joan Winifred Black, of Sudbury, Suffolk.

The Company was billetted around GuipavAs, not Guipavos to the north east of Brest.
Why would Phillips have been so far from his unit, as Ecouis is south east of Rouen towards Paris and some 450 kilometers from the rest of his unit.
That looks to have been someone heading west away from Dunkirk towards the as yet unconquered West of France.

Many French villages, such as Ecouis have isolated graves from 1940 and tend them with great care. Is there no known story as to how he came to be buried there? Usually there are recollections as to how and why. There are no other British graves there, so it's not as if there was a rearguard action, bombing attack or whatever, just an isolated grave. There is no Concentration Report, so he died very close to Ecouis, else he wouldn't be there.

 

It seems that Barbara who wrote the notes mentioned above by Kevin, may also have created a 'Private Tree' on Ancestry:


Personal Member Tree
2 attached records, 2 sources photos
Fernley Phillips
Birth: 1910 - London

I can contact them should you wish to see if they have any more info on how he died and or refer them to this thread





England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
Name: Fernley Phillips
Registration Year: 1910
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration district: Camberwell
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: London
Volume: 1d
Page: 793

TD

 

Tricky, that would be great! If she is related I would love to talk to her personally as I live no more than 6-8 Kms away. The local town hall know nothing about the man and as I am a member of the Souvenir Français (French equivalent of the Royal British Legion) and a British ex-pat they asked if I could do some research on the man.

 

For thread information

Contact has been made with the grand daughter of Fernley Phillips and they have been provided with oldlegs email address. Hopefully we may have more information on this thread soon to complete the mystery .

TD

 

Hi
Fernley Phillips was my Grandfather. His death certificate states that he was killed in action, however when my grandmother asked for more details on his death she was sent a letter from the War Office saying that the only information that they had was that it had been reported that he had been involved in a motorcycle accident in June 1940 and that he had been taken to a French Hospital.
I have this letter and several others relating to his death, but no official cause.
Fernley's 2 sisters went to visit his grave when the war ended and were told by locals that he had been injured and hidden by the local resistance for several days before he died, wether either story is true I guess i'll never know.
I have a couple of photo's of him and more information on his life and family if you are interested.
Barbara

 

Hi Barbara

Welcome to the forum

Thank you for taking the time to fill in some of the blanks on this thread, the more pieces of the jigsaw we can find, help us all to see the bigger picture.

TD

 

Hello and welcome, Barbara and many thanks for sharing with us.
Together we may be able to move this closer to a proper resolution for all parties.

What seems a plausible explanation would be a motorcycle accident, whether he being hit by one when marshalling traffic or as a rider/pillion I don't know. The reference to dying in a local hospital would also explain his "isolated" grave as the retreating British and French troops were pushed by by the advancing Germans.
I wonder when the Germans actually occupied the town?

If Barbara hasn't already done so, applying for his Service records may help fill in more of the gaps, as there are many specialists here who understand War Office jargon and acronyms. It costs £30 and may take some months but could be the important pieces needed so that the townsfolk of Ecouis (who no doubt arranged his burial and cared for his grave during the War) may know the full story and arrange suitable commemorations.

Maybe trying to complete FERNLEY's story will provide the details required for the town who have tended his grave, and also for the CWGC to correct the spelling of his name.

Brilliant thread, nice to see so many pitching in with a piece here, a piece there, the forum magic!

 

Many thanks for posting, I'd love to see the pictures.

 

Hi I applied for his service record last year but never got a reply and the money wasn't taken from my account. I have also emailed them but again got no reply.
How do I upload the photo on here?

 

Injuries, particularly to the head, had been a serious concern to the BEF even before the commencement of hostilities. The standard steel helmet with its large rim and spring-loaded chinstrap was almost worse than useless. Steps had been taken to arrange for the issue of proper crash helmets to Royal Corps of Signals despatch riders but I've seen no evidence to suggest that they were also issued to the CMP who were perhaps a larger user of motorcycles.



The Road Party of 1st Armoured Division Provost Company left Fordingbridge Hampshire and sailed to France on 16th May 1940. It comprised 1 Officer and 111 Other Ranks and travelled with 10 vehicles and 89 motorcycles.



The movement code '0096' was painted on the front of vehicles and all kit and was accompanied by three coloured stripes for easy identification. In this case white / buff / white.

The Provost Company's main task at the time would have been traffic control. In addition to the usual hazards, they'd have been closing junctions and then returning to the front of convoys of armour and heavy vehicles on unfamiliar roads and surfaces. It's not surprising that there were casualties.

 

Hi Barbara

To upload photos or other documents etc, select 'More Reply Options' in the reply box, under the newly opened reply box there is the option to 'Choose Files' from this you can download from your computer

TD

 

Thank you. this is Fernley just before he married in 1935 and as a young boy.