Talk:Ivor Philipps

Battle of the Somme

What should be added he was relieved of command after Mametz Wood by Maj. Gen. Watts.

This is a pertinent article from the National Library of Wales:

At the outbreak of the First World War, Philipps was appointed a general staff officer, second grade at the War Office. He had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel with the Pembrokeshire Yeomanry in April 1908. A few days after his appointment at the War Office, he was promoted to Brigadier General commanding the 115th Brigade. Early in 1915, Philipps was raised to the rank of Major General and placed in command of the 38th Welsh Division. Since 1906, Philipps had been one of the two Liberal Members of Parliament for Southampton and it is likely that the influence of David Lloyd George obtained the promotion to the 38th Welsh Division, which was part of Lloyd George's ambitious plan for a Welsh ‘army’. Before he saw active service, Philipps was summoned to assist Lloyd George at the Ministry of Munitions. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary (Military) to the Ministry on 18 June 1915 and, following Lloyd George's abrupt dismissal of Sir Percy Girouard, Director General of Munitions Supply, he was briefly Acting Director General.

Philipps was recalled to the command of the 38th Division in September 1915, and left, accompanied by Gwilym Lloyd George as his aide-de-camp, for France in December. During the Battle of the Somme, the 17th and the 38th Divisions were ordered to attack Mametz Wood. The attack began on 7 July 1916. At 11 a.m. on 9 July, Philipps was dismissed from his command for want, according to General Haig, of ‘push’. The commander of the 17th Division was sacked at the same time. In fact, Philipps had no freedom of action as commander of the 38th Division because he had been instructed to follow closely the orders of the XV Corps headquarters and any deviation would have been noticed quickly. There was considerable resentment among senior army officers of Philipps as a man with political connections who had retired from the Indian Army a major but was now a major general. Unfortunately, the unjust slurs which army gossip laid on Philipps became attached to the conduct of the Welsh troops under his command. The battle of Mametz Wood lasted from 7-12 July and the division suffered very heavy casualties, while forcing, in hard and difficult circumstances, highly experienced German soldiers to retreat for a mile. Philipps was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his services during wartime.86.173.141.213 (talk) 13:19, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Dates need fixing

In the section "Early life" the article says: "He was educated at Felsted School, and served in the military from 1881 to 1883." The article then goes on in the following section, "Military career",to describe Philipps' military service which extends from 1883 to 1916. I can't fix this because I am unable to access the relevant ref to do so properly. Maybe the 1881 --> 1883 dates refer to when Philipps was at school? Georgeblake (talk) 12:39, 30 December 2012 (UTC)