Lance Corporal Fernaley Phillips Service Number 7687021

In Ecouis, right next to where the scene of his death/injury was to have taken place there is a medical centre which apparently was a sanitarium at the time. I wonder if this is not where he was treated for his wounds. I am going to see if they can help by looking in their archives. The only problem is, do their archives exist for that period? Who knows. I am also going to see if the local paper could help by letting me look through their archives but this may take some time as I have a small B&B service to run in the area and it is peak season for us. Dies anyone have access to any war diaries for field hospitals at all? May be there could be an entry there.

Alex.

 

Alex - Business before pleasure!
It could be that military records would have been destroyed or hidden once the Germans occupied the town.
Similarly the local newspaper is only likely to have accounts of the WW2 situation after the War had ended, or at least Ecouis had been liberated.

For the moment, the most likely scenario is that he either fell or was knocked from his motorbike or hit by enemy fire at some stage when pulling back from the oncoming Germans. It might have been actually in Ecouis or very nearby, and then his unit carried on retreating west, leaving him in medical care. That accounts for him being 450 kilometers or so away from his unit when he died, and therefore puts the date of his incurring fatal injuries possibly in late May.

Make sure your business prospers, then you can take time to dig deeper.

 

Kevin, trying to make it prosper, it is difficult with all that is going on in France at the mo'. However, our lads and lasses of the allied forces are as equally important to me. They are the reason why we live our lives the way we do.

Where was his unit on that date?

 

Sorry, being stupid!! I have just seen Drew stuck a copy of the war diary.

 

Just checked it out and Fouqueville which is where they were on that date is only 53 mins drive away.

 

With his unit being at Fouqueville I would think that the date of death is correct.

 

I copied the Missing Men file today for the BEF CMP. I'll check it this week to see if he's listed.

 

Cheers Drew!

 

Does anyone know the movements of the Luftewaffe that day? Maybe there is a clue there as to what their target was.