Walter Lindsay Phillips


The following profile was researched and compiled by Candice L. Buchanan and Glenn J. R. T. Toothman III, for www.RainDayBoys.com.


Birth: 30 May 1891 Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Parents: Jesse Leasure Phillips and Elizabeth Jane Cole

Residence at time of enlistment: Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Physical description: Tall, medium build, blue eyes, light hair

Death: Influenza epidemic, 14 October 1918 France

Age at death: 27 years old

Last resting place: 12 July 1920 Oakmont Cemetery, Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Military rank: Serial No. 2741371. Corporal. Motor Truck Company 541, Motor Supply Train 427.

Additional information:

Walter worked as a tool dresser for People's Natural Gas Company before joining the military.

On 30 September 1918, Walter sailed for Europe with fellow members of Motor Truck Company 541, Motor Supply Train 427, out of New York City, aboard the Caronia.

Unfortunately, the timing of Walter's travel on a crowded troop ship was during a peak period of the influenza epidemic. Like so many other soldiers, Walter succumbed to this illness at a base hospital in France shortly after entering the country.



SOURCES:

  • Oakmont Cemetery (Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania; on Route 19, near Waynesburg), Walt Lindsay Phillips tombstone; read and photographed by Candice Buchanan and Glenn Toothman, 2018.
  • "United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61174 : accessed 16 August 2018), Walt L. Phillips entry, line 1, page 284 (stamped), Caronia, box 402; citing Lists of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records. 255 Boxes. NAI: 6234477. Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985. Record Group Number 92. National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
  • "United States, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482 : accessed 16 August 2018), Walt Linzy Phillips draft card, serial no. 1920, Local Draft Board, Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania; citing National Archives microfilm publication M1509, FHL roll 1892940.
  • "Walter L. Phillips Buried with Military Honors" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 15 July 1920.
  • "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60884 : accessed 16 August 2018), Elizabeth Jane Phillips, mother of Walt L. Phillips - application no. 327870; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.