Phillip Hill was born on 18 June 1896 in Neath. His parents were David and Lucretia Hill.

In the 1901 census, he is shown living at 4 Gold Street, Neath with his parents and 3 older siblings. His father David was working as a Coal Hewer.

By 1911, the family had moved to 22 Castle Street, Neath. Phillip was only 14 but had already started work as a Colliers Assistant at a Colliery.

On 26 December 1913, Phillip married Maggie Jane Llewellyn in Neath. The couple went on to have 6 children, William (1914), David Philip (1915), Gwendolin (Nov ‘19), Beatrice (1921), Phylis (Jan ‘23) and Thomas (Jan ‘25).

When war was declared, Phillip was embodied into the Army. From that point onwards, he would have seen little of his wife or children, other than a few short periods of leave in 1914 and 1915, until the end of the war. It is not known when Phillip returned to his family, but the birth date of his third child, Gwendoline, does give an indication.

Philip rejoined the Territorial Force in 1920, giving his occupation as Collier and address as 7 Lakes Court, Neath.

In the 1939 Register, Phillip and Maggie were living at 33 Coronation Road, Neath with their 3 youngest children. Phillip (now listed as David P) was shown as an Unemployed Coal Miner and a member of the Neath Boro ARP Rescue team.

Shortly after, David Phillip Hill passed away at the age of 46. He was buried on 17 April 1943 in Neath, the records state that his final address was 33 Coronation Street.

Phillip Hill enlisted in the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade as a Driver on 2 June 1913. He was given the Service Number 720. Given that he was from Neath, it is likely that he was a member of the 2nd Glamorgan Battery.

Unfortunately his service record was destroyed during the Blitz, however it is possible to give an outline of service using the surviving fragments of information.

Being a Territorial Force unit, Dvr Hill would have attended regular drill sessions in the evenings and annual summer camps.

When war was declared in 1914, it is probable that Dvr Hill was at summer camp on Salisbury Plain. Along with the rest of the Brigade, he would have swiftly returned to Swansea and been embodied for War Service on 5 August 1914.

The Brigade initially moved to Shrewsbury and then, after a 3 week stay, moved to Northampton where they trained until December 1914. Just before Christmas, they moved to Cambridge where they remained until May 1915 when they moved to Bedford.

At some point, most likely in September 1914, he volunteered for Imperial Service, which meant that as a Territorial, he was prepared to serve overseas – rather than protect the shores of Great Britain, which was the primary role of the Territorials. He would have received a small silver badge to recognize this.

His Medal Index Card confirms that he, along with the rest of the Brigade, travelled from Southampton to Le Havre on 22 November 1915. From there they moved to the Somme area, where they underwent further training, including a period in the front-line South-East of Albert (an area that marked the southern edge of the Somme battlefield just 6 months later).

Just before Christmas 1915, the Brigade withdrew from the front-line and in January 1916, received orders to rejoin the rest of the 53rd Welsh Division in Egypt.

Whilst there are no records stating that Dvr Hill went to Egypt, it would be unusual if he had not. The Brigade moved to Egypt in February 1916, landing at Alexandria after the dangerous 5 day crossing of the Mediterranean. After a period of acclimatization at Beni Salama near Cairo, they were involved in Suez Canal defences (1916), the 3 Battles of Gaza and march into Jerusalem (1917) and the push through Palestine and the Judean Hills until the victory over the Turkish Armies in 1918.

Most of the men returned to Alexandria in December 1918 and returned to England to be demobilized in March/April 1918.

For his service in the Great War, 720, Dvr P. Hill was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Phillip Hill rejoined the Territorials in June 1920 and served for another 5 years, earning the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal in August 1921.