Born in Twickenham on 24th May 1879, Lieutenant Colonel Holberton was killed in action at Gomiecourt, France, on 26th March 1918, aged 38.

He was the son of Edmund Robert Holberton (1843-1886) and Emily Gertrude Holberton (nee Bros, 1846-1930). Philip was one of eight children:
• Robert Francis Holberton (1873-1937)
• Dorothea Holberton (1875-1973)
• Richard Bartle Holberton (1876-1972)
• Mary Bros Holberton (1877-1973)
• Philip Vaughan Holberton (1879-1918)
• Janet Holberton (1881-1975)
• Thomas Edmund Holberton (1882-1965)
• Fanny Hughes Holberton (1884-1981)

Philip was husband to Dorothea (nee Walcot, 1887-1950) and father to Elizabeth, John and Diana).

The family lived in Teddington, Middlesex. His father was a merchant with the East India Company. He sadly died at the age of 43 in 1886, when Philip was seven years old and the family moved to Shrewsbury to lodge with the family of a farmer, John Lewis in Minton, All Stretton, Shropshire.

Philip joined Saint Ronan’s in January 1891 and was described as being “by far the most useful addition from the football point of view”. In 1892 he was awarded a Founders Scholarship.

On his first sports day he came first in the ¼ Mile Junior Run and the Long Jump. He was elected to serve on the Games Committee for the 1891-2 season. On his last sports day in 1893 he came first in the 100 Yards Senior, Long Jump, Quarter Mile, Half Mile and Obstacle Race. The Ronian reported that “Holberton was to the front of the races as usual, his best performance perhaps being the Quarter-mile, which he got over in 72 seconds” and that “a very handsomely chased plated Silver Cup was presented to Holberton as “Victor Ludorum””.

In Football it was noted that he “shows especial promise”. In 1891 he was awarded his Colours and by 1892 he was Vice-Captain. He was described as a “good and clever kick with either foot”. In February 1893 at a meeting of the whole school he was unanimously elected Captain for the remainder of the season.

On 18th March 1893 he was one of the hares in the school paper-chase. The hares arrived back at Saint Ronan’s about half an hour before the hounds arrived. The length of the course was about 7 or 8 miles.

In Cricket however it was noted he “Has no remarkable qualities. Has bowled well once or twice, when occasion required”.

In Latin, his work “was good throughout, and his showed especial excellence in the Latin Exercises.” In French Grammar, his work was “highly commendable”. He was appointed as Treasurer of The Reading Room and was described as “a most efficient tax-gatherer”.

He went on to Shrewsbury School in 1893 as a day boy, where the Shrewsbury School Roll of Service records that he played in the Football XI and would have served in the school crew had he not been prevented by examinations. He was also assigned the title of “Killing Hound” (decided by the number of “kills” or first-place finishes a boy had attained during the school’s unique version of the “Hare and Hounds” game).

Philip left Shrewsbury in 1898 and went up to Sandhurst. In 1900 he won the 120 Yards Handicap in the Sandhurst Sports and was their representative in the Mile and Half-mile events against Woolwich. In 1901 it was announced in the newspapers that he had been appointed an Under-officer, and upon passing out of Sandhurst was awarded the highest distinction in the shape of a Sword of Honour (the last one ever presented by Queen Victoria) as the most deserving cadet for the term ending 29th January 1901.

In June 1901, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, Second Battalion, and left to join the British Forces in South Africa, to serve in the Boer War. On 12th November 1901, he was wounded slightly at Schalkie Farm near Bethlehem in the Orange Free State. He continued to fight in South Africa through 1902, and received the King’s Medal with two clasps and the Queen’s with five.

Group of officers after the parade for the distribution of Boer War Medals. Lieutenant Holberton is back row, left. Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Aldershot Barracks, 1903.

March 1904 – Officers, 2nd Batallion at Aldershot
Front Row – Lt Foord, Capt Theobold, Capt Hardcastle, Major Willcock, Lt Col Watson
Lt and Adjut Holberton, Capt Jebb, Capt Nisbet and Capt Cockburn.

In 1907 Holberton was appointed Adjutant of the West African Regiment.

In June 1908, Philip married Dorothea Walcot in Westminster, London. They had three children:
• Elizabeth Vaughan Holberton (born 1910, Ruabon, Wrexham)
• John Walcot Holberton (born 1913, Macclesfield)
• Diana Holberton (born 1914, Bucklow, Cheshire).

In 1911 Holberton was appointed Adjutant of the 6th (Territorial Force) Battalion of the Manchester Regiment. In 1912 he was promoted to Captain.

1911 – New Colours presented to Battalion by HM King George V, Dublin.
The Colour Party Ensigns – Lieutenants Abbot, Anderson and Holberton.

In 1913 he paid his first return visit to Saint Ronan’s, having left some 20 years before.
When the First World War broke out, Philip was still serving as Adjutant to the 6th Manchester Regiment (Territorial Force). The 6th Battalion Manchester Regiment was a unit of the Territorial Force with its HQ at 3 Stretford Road, Hulme. In August 1914 they were mobilized and moved to Rochdale to prepare for service overseas. They proceeded to Egypt arriving at Alexandria on 25th September to defend the Suez Canal from the Turkish forces in Palestine. They were in action in the Turkish attack on the Suez Canal on 3rd February 1915.

26th December 1914 – Mustapha Barracks, Alexandria, Egypt
6th Battalion Warrant Officers and Sergeants.
Seated in the centre, wearing open jackets and ties, are Lt Wynne, Capt Holberton, Lt Col Heywood (CO), Sgt Mjr Pilkington and Lt Blatherwick.

On 23rd October 1914, Captain Holberton, the Battalion’s 35 year old Adjutant, gave the men a lecture on outpost duty before preparations were made for an exercise the coming night. PV Holberton was the Battalion’s only regular army officer.

In the first week of May 1915, the division embarked from Alexandria, landing at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, where they saw action in the attempts to capture the heights of Krihia and the Battle of Krithia Vineyard which was a diversionary attack for the British Landing at Sulva Bay. The much depleted division were evacuated from Gallipoli in the first week of January 1916, returning to Alexandria via Mudros. Captain Holberton fought gallantly through the Gallipoli campaign, receiving his brevet majority in 1915. Afterwards being appointed GSO and Brigade Major.

The Gallipoli campaign began in April and early May of 1915 with the landing of British, French and ANZAC forces. Stiff Turkish resistance confined them to their bridgeheads and by early June both sides were entrenched. An attempt by the Allies to break through the Turkish lines in early June was unsuccessful; casualties on both sides were approximately 25%. The Manchester Regiment played a prominent part in this attack.

The regiment sustained appalling casualties during the fighting on the Peninsular. On 10th June 1915, they received orders to evacuate to the safety of the island of Imros for rest and regrouping. Rough seas prevented the men from boarding to Imros and they waited in the rest area. At around 3pm on 11th June, a shell exploded next to Batallian headquarters, injuring five men, including Captain Holberton who suffered a minor injury.

On 2nd August the Batallian was back on the front line and a number of accounts record that the men could hear singing or chanting from the Turkish trenches which they presumed were prayers. Whenever it was heard, many of the Manchesters struck up “Ragtime” tunes to annoy their opponents.

During the evening, seven men, under Captain Holberton, started out on a most dangerous mission. Since the attack in June, the British front line was what had previously been the Turkish front line. It meant that, in front of the British, there was no longer an open No Man’s Land, but one crossed by the old Turksish system of support lines and communication trenches. On both sides, barricades had been built in the trenches and these were manned by sentries. The aim of the raid was to get to the other side of one of the barricades and then dig away a traverse in the Turkish part. This would enable the British to have a clear field of fire down fifty yards of trench.

image: Captain Holberton en route to Gallipoli, aboard the “Durfflinger”. This was a German ship that had been berthed in Port Said when war was declared and had been impounded and put to use as a troop transport. It was renamed “Huntsgreen” in 1915.

Once the digging was completed the men withdrew behind the British barricade and waited. In the early hours of the next morning, a party of Turks moved towards where the traverse had previously provided cover for their grenande throwing. Now in full view, the Manchester men opened fire on them.

The regimental history praises Holberton, for his constant thought for others and his cheery words of encouragenment during this period “stimulated weary comrades to carry on hopefully and made him an insipriation to officers and men alike”.

The regiment were struck by dysentry, with many men reporting sick, including Colonel Pilkington who was in command. Command was therefore passed to Holberton. Holberton hinmself was taken aboard a hospital ship on 20th August suffering with jaundice.

The Battalion returned to duty on the Suez Canal and were in action in the Battle of Romani in August 1915. Following the Battle of Romani, many Turkish solders surrendered whilst the bulk of the force undertook a brave and well-organised fighting retreat. Many official congratulations were sent to the troops who had been involved. The King wrote to General Sir Archibald Murray, commander of British Forces in Egypt to express his appreciation of their efforts and brilliant success. With British efforts struggling in the Battle of the Somme in France, any success was to be welcomed.

On 12th October 1915 it is noted that Captain Holberton was in combined command of the 1/5th and 1/6th Manchesters.

On 12th August 1916, the King of Serbia awarded the Order of the White Eagle to Holberton, who was now Brigade Major with 126th Brigade.

In early 1917 the Manchesters were ordered to the Western Front. At 9pm on 28th February 1917, the Battalion paraded for the last time in Egypt before boarding ships in Alexandria to take them to the front in France. They docked at Marseilles on 9th March.

The Battalion went into the front line at Ephey, moved to Havrincourt then were withdrawn to Albert for rest and training during July and August. In September they moved north to Flanders and were in action during the Third Battle of Ypres at Iberian, Borry Farm, Beck House Farm and Sans Souci. At the end of the month they moved to the coast at Nieuport until November when they moved to La Bassee Canal at Givenchy.

On the 19th February 1918 they transferred to 126th Brigade, still with 42nd Division. In 1918 they saw action during The Battle of Bapaume, The First Battle of Arras, The Battle of the Ancre, The Battle of Albert, The Second Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of the Canal du Nord, The pursuit to the Selle and The Battle of the Selle..

In October 1916 Holberton was given command of a Lancashire Fusiliers Battalion. The Battalion went to France, and Major Holberton received his Brevet Lieutenant-Colonelcy.

The brevet rank was usually awarded for gallantry. It was a way of giving an officer a higher rank, without the authority, precedence or pay to go with it. Holding brevets in both ranks, shows what a brave fellow Holberton must have been. He was mentioned four times in despatches.

On 6th September 1917, all four Lancashire Fusilier batallions of 125 Brigade were commanded by men who were regulars in August 1914. The Commanding Officer of the 1/5th Lancashire Fusiliers was Lieutenant-Colonel Phillip Vaughan Holberton, a Captain of the Manchester Regiment in August 1915 and clearly an immenseley talanted officer, who had served as Adjutant to the 1/6th Manchester (127 Brigade), Brigade Major with 126 Brigade, and as both GSO3 and GSO2 between December 1915 and 17th October 1916, at which point he took over the battalion at the age of 37, having contributed to all three brigades of the division.  

Between 24th March and 26th March 1918, the Battalion was in action having withdrawn to the Gomiecourt Ridge. Gomiecourt is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, 16 kilometres south of Arras. From the War Diaries of both battalions, it is obvious that they were jointly involved in some very severe fighting during their gradual retreat towards Bucquoy. At one stage, Colonel Holberton personally led two companies in a counter attack undertaken by the 1st/8th Lancashire Fusiliers and despite strong enemy resistance managed to re-establish a line on the outskirts of Sapignies.

On 26th March 1918, their Brigade was again ordered to withdraw, this time to a position between Ablainzeville and Logeast Wood and it was during this period that Colonel Holberton discovered that the battalion on their left front had retired. During this phase, at around 2:00am, Holberton was moving about in the open, giving advice and orders and also encouraging his men. Inevitably, he came under German machine-gun fire and he was killed by a stray bullet. The Divisional history notes: “With his habitual disregard of personal safety he walked along the line encouraging and heartening his men and was shot through the head” - The 42nd (East Lancashire) Division 1914-1918, Frederick P Gibbon.

It was said that chance shot robbed the army in general and his brigade in particular of one of its finest soldiers. At the time of his death, he was on the waiting list for a brigade.

An Old Salopian who had served with him wrote the following appreciation on 11th May 1918 edition of ‘The Salopian’:

He had in a most unusual degree the gift of getting the best out of his subordinates, and his unfailing cheerfulness even under the most trying conditions did much to maintain the morale of his men. He was an excellent judge of character and the pride of those in whom he placed his confidence was such that they would strain every nerve to justify his choice. He knew the value of encouragement and the futility of abuse. No detail was too small for him to notice, no interests of his men too petty for his care. No commanding officer ever had a more intimate knowledge of his battalion, and none was ever more whole-heartedly loved. As a soldier he was a splendid example of the finest type of regular officer. He knew his work in every detail, he shirked no responsibility, he was a born leader of men and his personal bravery was unsurpassed.”

The following notice appeared in The Times on 6th April 1918:

His medals, Sword of Honour and archive material are held in the Museum and the Archives of the Manchester Regiment.

Lieutenant-Colonel Holberton is commemorated on the regimental plaque in the Chapel of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and on the Alderley Edge War Memorial, Cheshire. This latter commemoration is due to his having lived in Alderley Edge pre-war whilst serving as the Adjutant of the 6th Battalion in Manchester. He is also remembered on the war memorial in St Leonard’s Church at Sunningwell and on the Shrewsbury School Roll of Service 1914-1918. He is also listed in Wisden on the Great War: The Lives of Cricket’s Fallen 1914-1918 for his playing at Shrewsbury and Sandhurst.

Philip’s brothers Robert Francis Holberton and Thomas Edmund Holberton also fought in the First World War: the former was awarded the M.C., and the latter the M.C. and Bar.