Lance Corporal Frederick John Phillis was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the "Dinks" - the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He was born in 1892, had been educated at Harewood School and before enlistment in 1916 had worked as a miner at Waiuta in Southland. He arrived in France in March 1917 and was involved in the battle at Messines. He was detached to the Brigade School for some time, rejoining his unit on 5 October 1917. Phillis survived the debacle at Passchendaele and was promoted to Lance Corporal on 29 November 1917, possibly to replace a comrade killed in the struggles near Polygon Wood. He was wounded in the abdomen on 27 March 1918 trying to halt the massive German offensive near Amiens on the Somme, evacuated for treatment but died two days later and is buried in the Étaples Military cemetery. He is commemorated on the Harewood School War Memorial. (see below)
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