FLIGHT SERGEANT ARCHIBALD CLIFFORD PHILLIPS 1852332
Flight Sergeant Archie Phillips was 20 years old when his bomber was shot down in Austria, five weeks before the war ended. He had joined the RAF aged 17, having been in the Air Cadets. A Radio Operator/Air Gunner, he was stationed in Egypt and attached to the South African Air Force, where they lived in tents.
Archie wrote to his sister, Eileen, regularly, and talked about his pals using Afrikaans language, and how he was learning some. A letter from Archie in March 1944 said he had “flown his 13th mission and should be OK now”.
His final mission was a bombing raid on Villach, Austria. This was a critical strategic transportation hub for the German Reichsbahn, connecting Austria with Italy and Southeastern Europe. Due to its importance for troop movements, munitions and other resources, it became a major target for Allied bombing raids. The bodies in the burnt out crashed plane could only be identified by the pilot’s dog-tags. Archie is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Archie and his twin brother, Richard (Dicky), were the youngest of nine children, born in the post-war austerity of 1923. His twin was outgoing, strong and charming, whereas Archie was quiet and reserved. His home broke up when he was very young and with brothers Dicky, Ronald and sister Olga, lived in a home for a while. Dicky was sad that he was separated from Archie when leaving the children’s home. While Archie went to his oldest brother Arthur, while Dicky went to live with his oldest sister. Arthur was wounded during the retreat at Dunkirk and died in hospital in Portsmouth. He is buried in the War Grave at Caversham, Reading.
Archie’s eldest sister, Eileen, “mothered” her brothers and sisters and her house was a Mecca for all her siblings. Her eldest son, Bob Young, was only eight when he last saw Archie, he remembers him well. He was well liked, with a ready smile. Bob recalls the telegram arriving with the sad news. Eileen had gone to the cinema to see ‘Shine on Harvest Moon’. The telegram had to be opened before the telegraph boy would leave (in some cases he had to take a return telegram details). Eldest sister Pat opened it. How should they tell Mum? Make her a cup of tea, which was good for someone receiving bad news. Eileen returned and talked incessantly about the film she had seen. They all waited. When she stopped to take breath, Audrey quickly said: “Drink your tea Mum, it will get cold.” As Eileen sipped her tea, Pat said “Mum, we have some very bad news for you concerning Archie.”
Dicky told his children about Archie, and daughter Carol Sissons recalls how he was learning how to play the piano accordion. This went to Dicky who learned how to play it well, along with Archie’s mandolin. Several of Dicky’s grandsons are very interested in Archie’s war history and hope to arrange a family visit to Bomber Command when he is added to The Wall of Names.
It was a delightful surprise for Bob to find Archie’s name in the Losses Database at the International Bomber Command Centre, Lincoln in September 2025, 80 years later. There is now a stone in the Ribbon of Remembrance for him.