Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Family Group:

British War Medal 1914-20 (L-8713 Pte. F. E. Phipps. E. Kent R.); Memorial Plaque (Frederick Edward Phipps) in card envelope of issue, nearly extremely fine

British War Medal 1914-20 (G-5360 Pte. C. Phipps. E. Kent. R.) Memorial Plaque (Charles Phipps) in card envelope of issue, nearly extremely fine

British War Medal 1914-20 (32107 Pte. E. A. Phipps. S. Lan. R.) Memorial Plaque (Edward Arthur Phipps) in card envelope of issue, nearly extremely fine

British War Medal 1914-20 (32108 Pte. J. W. Phipps. S. Lan. R.) Memorial Plaque (James William Phipps) in card envelope of issue, nearly extremely fine (8) £500-£700

Frederick Edward Phipps, of Dover, Kent, served with the 2nd Battalion, East Kent Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front, and died of wounds on 5 April 1915. He is buried in St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen, France.

Charles Phipps, of Dover, Kent, served with the 7th Battalion, East Kent Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front, and was killed in action on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

In his 1922 Historical Record of the Buffs, R. S. H. Moody states that:
‘On the great 1st of July the 55th Brigade, a unit of which was the 7th Battalion The Buffs, to whose part in the struggle we will now refer, held the line in front of Carnoy, and its objective was a trench about two hundred yards north of the Montauban-Fricourt road.
Zero hour was 7:30 am, and the following was the order of battle for the attack: the 7th Queen's were on the left, the 8th East Surrey on the right, the 7th Buffs in support, with the special task of clearing the Carnoy craters, and the 7th Royal West Kent were in reserve.
At 7 am our barrage became intense and remained so till 7:22, at which time all guns of the Trench Mortar battery opened for eight minutes, and at the zero hour the whole brigade went forward to the assault.
Local conditions necessitated the breaking up of the Buffs for several and separate duties: two platoons of B Company, under 2nd Lieut. Tatam, were to clear the Carnoy mine craters; two platoons of the same company to assist the assaulting battalions by clearing up captured trenches or ground; C Company to consolidate and garrison a certain trench called the Pommiers Trench. Two platoons of A Company to garrison two selected localities in rear of the Pommiers trench.
The Carnoy mine craters took six hours to clear, and six hours’ very heavy fighting it was, carried out under 2nd Lieut. Tatum, whose excellent work was rewarded by a M.C.
C Company was soon called away to aid the East Surreys, as were later on two platoons of A Company. In fact these two platoons of A, together with one of C Company, under Lieuts. Dyson and Budds respectively, reached the final objective and held that part of it allotted to the East Surrey Regiment until relieved by other troops.
Again it became necessary about noon to send up half D Company to make good part of the final objective of the 7th Queen’s. This was done successfully, but the company lost its commander, Captain G.T. Neame, during the operation.
There is no doubt that during the whole operation, which was carried out more or less as planned, our troops encountered far more opposition than was anticipated; particularly was this the case at the craters, to attack which only two platoons were originally assigned, a number of men quite inadequate. The whole position, indeed, proved to be a very strong one, consisting of four lines.
The battalion suffered 4 officers and 48 other ranks killed, and 2 officers and 144 other ranks wounded.
The Buffs remained in the front-line trenches till the night of the 4th/5th July and were heavily shelled, the enemy relaxing nothing of his activity and energy in this respect.’

Edward Arthur Phipps, of Dover, Kent, served with the 7th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front, and was killed in action on 3 August 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.

James William Phipps, of Dover, Kent, served with the 2nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front, and was killed in action on 21 August 1918. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, France.

The four recipients were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Phipps, of Dover, Kent. In total they had five sons; their youngest son, Perceval, was thankfully too young to serve.