Edgar (known as Ed) Muerance Phillips enlisted in the 8th Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Forces but also served in the 60th, 58th, and finally the 59th Battalions.

He was an 18-year-old labourer when he enlisted on 22nd June 1915 but, at this young age, had already spent 4 years serving with the Senior Cadets in Williamstown. Ed had been previously rejected by the AIF and required parental consent to enlist due to his age.

Ed was born on 19th May 1897 in Williamstown (a suburb of Melbourne) in Victoria, Australia. He was the second of eleven children born to William Robert and Mary Ann Phillips. Ed’s older brother, 20-year-old William George Phillips, quickly followed Ed to the enlistment office signing up just two weeks later on 5th July 1915. In contrast, the youngest sibling, Jack, was born in 1916 when Ed and William were already serving on the Western Front.

On 15th September 1915, Ed embarked with the 8th Battalion reinforcements from Melbourne on HMAT SS Makarini, arriving at Gallipoli on 7th December 1915 just in time to assist with final defensive activities and evacuation to Egypt. During the re-organisation of Australian forces in Egypt post-Gallipoli, Ed transferred to the 60th Battalion in February and then three weeks later to the 58th Battalion on the same day as his brother William. On 19th May 1916 both Ed and William transferred to the 59th Battalion.

While in Egypt, training was constant and difficult but there was also time to enjoy the wonders of being in new and exotic places as the following photos attest.

Ed and William were both wounded in action on 19th July 1916 in the Battle of Fromelles in France. Both had hand injuries but Ed’s was seemingly less serious as he rejoined his Battalion at the end of August 1916. A local news report about Williamstown boys’ involvement at Fromelles makes mention of both Ed and William. See below to read a transcript of the full article.

After medical treatment, Ed was deployed to Grenade School in late September. He then re-joined his Battalion apart from a short detachment to the 15th Infantry Brigade headquarters.

Ed was wounded again on 11 May 1917, sustaining a gunshot wound to the left thigh. Two days later his brother, William, was also injured. Army records show that their father, William Phillips, senior, was sent notification as next of kin on two consecutive days at the end of May that his sons were wounded. It must have been a terrible time for the family as they awaited further news about their two oldest boys.

Ed was shipped out to England for treatment at the Guildford Hospital and later at the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital. In June 1917, Ed was discharged to Weymouth and then on 8th August 1917, Ed embarked on the hospital ship A71 Nestor from England for return to Australia. He was finally discharged on 26 December 1917, some two and a half years since enlisting and about five months shy of his 21st birthday.

Returning home from the war with a serious leg injury and still such a young man cannot have been easy. The following excerpt is from an interview with Ed’s sister, Dorrie Stanford (nee Phillips), in 1989:

Post war Ed married twice, first in 1919 to war widow Ivy Pearl Evelyn Wilkinson (nee Watts). Ed and Ivy had a son Leonard Thomas in 1919 who only survived a day. Leonard was buried in Williamstown Cemetery on 27th December 1919. Sadly, Ivy had already lost an infant son born to her first husband; she died in June 1922 aged just 25 years.

Ed re-married in 1923 to Mary Isabel Caruth, known as Mollie. They had two children - Edgar Albert (known as Bert) and Valda Maureen (known as Maureen), who both served in World War II.

There was a strong tradition of military service in Ed’s family. Apart from his brother William, Edgar’s maternal uncle Edmund John Sambell and two first cousins also served in World War I. Ed’s younger brother Roy served as an Officer with the Royal Australian Navy for twenty-seven years and his youngest brother, Jack, (born during World War I) was killed in action in World War II. In addition to his own two children, Ed also had at least seven first cousins and a nephew who served in World War II.

Post war Ed worked as a boilermaker and lived in Newport, a suburb of Melbourne near Williamstown. Family recall that Ed adapted his slouch hat to civilian use by replacing the strap with a string and a penny. He wore it until the 1950s and it is now in the custody of his grandson, Kevin Phillips.

Ed died on 16th November 1963 at the age of 66 years. His ashes were scattered in the sea off his hometown of Williamstown by his son Bert.

Ed's name is in the Books of Remembrance at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and on the World War I Honour Boards at Williamstown Primary School, the Newport Railway Workshops (Boiler Room) and St Andrew's Church in Williamstown.

In January 2018, his great niece, Catherine Westerland, was fortunate enough to travel to the Western Front for the second time to visit places where family members served and died in World War I. One of the places she visited was Fromelles, where Ed and his brother William were both wounded. It was a memorable and moving experience to have the opportunity to honour their service.