Philip James Young

Story:
Philip James Young was born in 1889 in Shaftesbury, Dorset. He was the son of Henry Young, an engine smith, and Martha Young (née Critchell). At the time of the 1891 Census the family were living at 26 Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury. By 1911 Philip himself had moved to Windsor and was boarding out whilst working as a grocer's shop assistant. He enlisted back in Shaftesbury as a Private in the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 16112) and later transferred to the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment (Service No.33667) where he was promoted to Lance Corporal. He served in France and Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War medals. He died on 28th October 1918 and was buried at Fontaine-Au-Bois Communal Cemetery, Nord, France (grave id. D.10). The inscription on the Park Walk War Memorial, Shaftesbury, gives his middle initial as "S" but all available information indicates that his middle name was James. His name also appears on the Holy Trinity Memorial, now in St. Peter's Church, Shaftesbury. Philip's brother Austin Henry (b.1885) served in the war with the Dorsetshire Regiment. On his discharge he applied to the War Graves Commission to be employed as a gardener's labourer in the graveyards in France. By the 1939 Register he was back in Shaftesbury and noted as 'incapacitated'.