| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Philip Whitelam was born in Beverley the 16 May 1897, the son of William Craike Whitelam of Hessle and Eliza (nee Hewson) of Beverley, they married in 1896. William was a master draper with a drapery and home furnishing business, “Whitelam and Sons”, on Toll Gavel. The family lived at Belgrave Villas, Westwood Lane, and later on Railway Street before moving to Shaftesbury Villas, Grovehill Road, Beverley. Philip attended Beverley Grammar School winning many prizes for French and Mathematics.
Philip served as a private in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment (The Sherwood Foresters), with the 2nd/7th Battalion (Robin Hood Battalion), part of 176th Brigade. He was wounded in action in the autumn of 1917 and returned to hospital in Huddersfield. He later served on the Somme in Mar and Apr 1918. On either 21 or 22 Apr, depending on the source chosen, he was taken prisoner and sent to Germany. He was incarcerated in Friedrichsfeld POW camp, 60 miles north of Cologne, a city where his brother, Gerard, was to serve in the British army of occupation in 1919-20. Conditions in the camp were harsh with food in short supply and overcrowding. According to the Beverley Guardian of early 1919, Philip, had been released on the signing of the Armistice 11 Nov 1918 and made his way into Belgium, a distance of over 200 miles where,
“…he was in such an exhausted condition as to attract the notice of a Belgian gentleman who took him into his house in a small town near Brussels and looked after him until the arrival of British troops when he was removed to military hospital.”
Philip returned to Beverley in early 1919 and worked as an accounts clerk. There is no record of him marrying and lived with his unmarried brother, and sister, Alan and Elfrida at 178 Grovehill Road, Beverley. He died in 1972. He was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |