Philip William HARRINGTON (1896-1917)

2nd Lieutenant Philip William Harrington (1896-1917) was a colleague of Cyril Sladden in the 9th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.

Philip Harrington was born on 18th November 1896 in Brondesbury, London, the elder of two children of William John Harrington, a tailor and outfitter, and his wife, Amy Christina. He was baptized on 6th March 1897 at Christ Church, Brondesbury, Brent. The family home was at 34 Carlton Hill, St John’s Wood. Philip was educated at Lynchmere School, Eastbourne, from 1907-1911, and Dover College from 1911-1915 where he was a member of the OTC.

During the First World War, Harrington obtained a commission the Worcestershire Regiment on 28th December 1915 and first went overseas to France in June 1916. He served with the Indian Expeditionary Force D in Mesopotamia from November 1916, when he would have first met Cyril Sladden.

During the first fortnight of 1917, the 9th Battalion of the Worcesters were involved in preparations for a systematic attack on the Hai Salient in Mesopotamia. The preparations included digging a system of trenches in successive parallel lines, to act as assembly trenches for the proposed attack. The construction was done speedily and included digging in the open at night. Harrington was killed on the night of 15th/16th January 1917 whilst acting as subaltern in charge of the work. He was buried in Amara War Cemetery.

According to De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, Harrington’s Commanding Officer wrote: “He had only been with us such a short time (two weeks), but what I had seen was all in his favour. A keen, plucky youngster. We buried him next morning in the Brigade Cemetery. The Officer commanding C Company (thought to be Cyril Sladden at that time) wrote: “He was killed while in charge of a digging party who were making a new advanced trench, a work that involves some little risk. The bullets were numerous enough to be a strain on the nerves. I was very much struck by the extreme coolness which he exhibited.”

Further details about the events in Mesopotamia at this time may be found on the Worcestershire Regiment website.