Lieutenant Colonel Philip Eric Bent (3 January 1891 – 1 October 1917) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Commonwealth forces.

Biography

Bent was born on 3 January 1891 in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and was educated at the

Royal High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

and

Ashby Grammar School Ashby School, formerly known as Ashby Grammar School, is a co-educational day secondary school and sixth form in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. The school is situated in the centre of Ashby on two sites. History Ashby Grammar Schoo ...

Ashby de la Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

. He joined the training ship in 1907. He served two years as a Cadet and then went to sea. He was taking his Merchant Navy officer's ticket when the war broke out in 1914. He and a friend joined a Scottish regiment "for a bit of fun" as the war was anticipated to be over by Christmas. He was commissioned in the

Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

in November 1914. Bent was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

in the

1917 Birthday Honours The 1917 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. He was 26 years old, and a Temporary Lieutenant Colonel in the 9th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment,

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

when he performed the deed for which he was awarded the VC on 1 October 1917 east of Polygon Wood,

Zonnebeke Zonnebeke (; vls, Zunnebeke) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of , , Passendale, Zandvoorde and Zonnebeke proper. On January 1, 2006, Zonnebeke had a total population of ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He was killed whilst leading a charge. His citation reads: He has no known grave and is commemorated on the memorial wall at

Tyne Cot Cemetery Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front. It is th ...

, Belgium.Bent, Philip Eric
Commonwealth War Graves Commission In 2015 a new road in Ashby de la Zouch was named "Philip Bent Road"; this is located approximately 0.6 miles west of the town centre off Moira Road (B5006). Bent's sword is displayed in All Saints Cathedral in his hometown of Halifax.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is held by his old school Ashby School but loaned to the Royal Leicestershire Regimental Museum (now part of

Newarke Houses Museum The Newarke Houses Museum is a public museum in Leicester, England. It incorporates the museum of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, and has a range of exhibits illustrating post-medieval and contemporary Leicester. The museum is close to the 15 ...

). The school proposed to auction his medals to raise funds for a sports pavilion, a decision which received widespread criticism. In May 2016 the school was unable to prove ownership. In 2018, a pavilion is set to be built following a funding bid to the Healthy Schools initiative.

References

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

(David Harvey, 1999) *

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

(This England, 1997) * VCs of the First World War - Passchendaele 1917 (Stephen Snelling, 1998)

External links

Service details, citation, burial information - from Veteran Affairs Canada

Legion Magazine Article on Philip Bent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bent, Philip Eric 1891 births 1917 deaths Royal Leicestershire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I Canadian sailors Canadian people of British descent Canadian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People from Halifax, Nova Scotia People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh British military personnel killed in World War I British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Canadian military personnel from Nova Scotia

Biography

The medal

See also

References

External links