Lieutenant, Hampshire Regiment
Born: May 9th 1894
Died: August 10th 1915
Age at Death: 21
Killed in action, Gallipoli, August 10th 1915.
Grave reference Helles Memorial, Turkey.
Brother to L.M. Williams (BC reg. 3285)
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this soldier by Ayse Osmnoglu and the Sutton Family:
"I think the idea of erecting a statue in memory of the 149 Old Brightonians who gave their lives for their country in WWI is really wonderful. We wanted to choose a young soldier to commemorate who died fighting at Gallipoli. My great grandfather was the Ottoman Sultan at the time of the Gallipoli Campaign and as such was Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Ottoman forces defending our homeland. Too many young lives on both sides were sacrificed on the Gallipoli peninsula while the intrigues of Power Politics were at play.
In the words of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, an Ottoman Divisional Commander who fought in the defence of Gallipoli: "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
I pray that Philip Williams is indeed sleeping in peace...."
Lieutenant Philip Clarence Williams
Philip Clarence Williams was born on the 9th May 1894 at Lee House, Dyke Road, Brighton, East Sussex. He was the second son of Harry Montague Williams and Harriette (née Baker). He was educated at Brighton College between 1908 and 1913 where he played cricket for the 1st and 2nd XI and was a Sergeant in the OTC. He was also obviously one of the more academic pupils at the school because after leaving he matriculated at Merton College, Oxford in 1913.
On 1st September 1914, just after the outbreak of the First World War and just before the start of what would have been his second year at Oxford he enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment and received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 10th Battalion (one of the New Battalions) shortly afterwards. The following year the 10th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment took part in landings at Sulva Bay in August 1915 which were intended to revive the fortunes of the failing Gallipoli campaign. It was at Sulva Bay that on the 10th August 1915, just five days after the initial landing, that Williams was killed.
Source: LEST WE FORGET PROJECT, Brighton College 2014/15