Sergeant. 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Regimental number 21821.
Early life:
Michael was born in 1885 at Wetherby and his birth was registered there in the second quarter of the year. His parents were wool comber Michael Philbin who was originally from Ireland and Bridget Philbin née Lynch.
In the 1891 census Michael was living with his parents, four brothers and three sisters who were: Father Michael, aged 50 and a wool comber, (his mother Bridget was absent from this address on the day of the census) His eldest sister Mary, aged 20 and a worsted spinner; Luke aged 19 a yarn warper; Maggie aged 16 a wool rover; Bridget aged 14 a worsted spinner. Then there was John aged eleven, Martin aged eight and Michael aged five, who were all attending school and the youngest was Sarah aged three.
In the 1901 census they were living at 11, Mill Lane in Oakworth. Father Michael was aged 65 and seems to have no occupation; Bridget was aged 52 and would be looking after the family home; Mary is 30 and a yarn ruler; Maggie is 26 and a worsted rover; Bridget is 24 and a yarn twister, John is 21 and a tool fitter; Martin is 18 and a yarn finisher; Michael is 15 and Sarah is 13 and they are both worsted spinners. The youngest is Joseph and he is aged nine and at school. (Since Joseph was born in 1892 at Oakworth, it’s likely that the family moved here shortly after the previous, 1891 census.)
Their father Michael died of heart failure on 12th September 1910.
In the 1911 census Michael is now aged 25 and is in the Army, serving with the 1st Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment at Ambala in Punjab, Northern India where the Battalion was part of the Garrison. A newspaper report from 1917 states he had been serving for nine years, meaning that he had joined the Army around 1908.
War service:
Michael’s Army service record did not survive the blitz in the Second World War which destroyed a great many of them. All we have is his medal information and some Pension cards and other records to create a picture of his service.
By August 1914 the 1st Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment was stationed at Lahore in India (now Pakistan) as part of the 2nd Rawalpindi Division. They were attached to the 1st (Peshawar) Division in June-July 1915 and remained in India throughout the war. Michael appears to have served in India for the whole period, although at the time of his death he was with the 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, with the Regimental number 21821.
The 9th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was formed at Warwick in August 1914 and came under the command of 39th Brigade, 13th (Western) Division. They served at Gallipoli in July 1915, then went to Egypt in January 1916 and from there, to Mesopotamia in February 1916. In May 1917, Michael was a Lance Corporal with them and had been severely wounded in the breast. After he wrote home, this was reported in the local newspaper:
Keighley News, Saturday 26th May, 1917 page 3:
Two of the five soldier sons of Mrs. Philburn, of Wellington Street, Keighley, have been admitted to hospital. Lance-Corporal Michael Philburn, of the Warwickshire Regiment, has written to his sister in Keighley stating that he has been severely wounded in the breast. Lance Corporal Philburn has served nine years in the Army.
In July 1918 the 39th Brigade was detached and sent as part of North Persia Force, including the 9th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Early in that month, Michael died, apparently of an abscess.
We do know he died in India and at that time he was a Sergeant serving with the 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment when he died of an abscess. It might be that he was injured or wounded and died of infection as a result, because another record says he died of wounds received.
He is buried in grave 378 of Poona (St. Sepulchre’s) Cemetery, which is about 80 miles to the South East of Mumbai (Bombay).
His brother Private Joseph Henry Philbin, was killed in action in France on August 8, 1918.
Remembrance:
He is commemorated on his Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone at Poona Cemetery in India.
Locally he is remembered on the St. Anne’s Catholic Church war memorial on North Street in Keighley and in the Borough of Keighley Great War roll of honour book at Keighley Library.
Post war:
As his father had died in 1910, Michael’s next of kin was his mother Bridget and the sole legatee in his will. She received a payment of £37 3s 1d from his Army account on 24th March 1919 which would have been his outstanding Army pay, less any deductions.
She also received a £25 10s 0d, war gratuity payment on 22nd November 1919.
She did apply for a dependant’s pension for both Michael and his brother Joseph who was killed in action in 1918, but despite there being four pension cards, none of them have details of payments which might have been made to her.
She would have received medals for both of her sons, plus bronze war memorial plaques and memorial scrolls inscribed with their names. She would also have received any of their personal effects.
Information sources:
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915.
1891 England Census.
1901 England Census.
1911 England Census.
India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919.
World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.
Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929.
British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920.
World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
