Frank Hugh Phillips
Frank Hugh Phillips (1875-1937)
1937 Obituary [1]
Lt.-Colonel FRANK HUGH PHILLIPS, R.A.O.C., ret., had over thirty years' experience in the R.A.O.C., which was known as the Army Ordnance Department when he joined it in 1899. He was born in 1875 and served his apprenticeship from 1889 to 1896 with the London and North Western Railway at Crewe; he received his technical education at Owens College, Manchester, and at the University of Liverpool, and then returned to Crewe as a draughtsman in the bridge department.
His first appointment in the Army Ordnance Department was that of inspector of ordnance machinery at Chatham. Shortly afterwards he went to South Africa on active service. In 1911 he was transferred to Gibraltar and three years later was promoted to be first-class inspector of ordnance machinery. He served in France until 1916 and became temporary chief inspector of ordnance machinery. In the following year he was sent to Malta, holding the rank of major, and was stationed there until 1919. He then returned to England and was attached to the Northern Command at York. Three years later he went to Hong Kong and remained there until 1925. He was promoted to be first-class ordnance mechanical engineer, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in 1926, shortly after his return to England, when he joined the Western Command at Chester.
He was subsequently stationed at Didcot, Woolwich, and Pimlico. In 1930 he retired and lived at Swanage, where his death occurred on 23rd August 1936. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1905 and was transferred to Membership in 1911.