Father Joe Phillips
RSL (Port Pirie Sub Branch) Inc.Elzear Basil Phillips, (Joe) was born on the 21st July 1903 in Hamilton, Victoria. In 1929 he joined the Carmelite Order to become a priest. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Werribee and whilst he found study difficult, he was ordained in 1936.
He enlisted into the Australian Army on the 26th July 1940 from Adelaide, South Australia and as a Chaplain sailed for the Middle East with the 2nd A.I.F. (Australian Infantry Force) and served in Africa, Palestine and Syria. Returning home with the troops he was with them for jungle warfare training and then saw action in New Guinea and Borneo.
He was a member of the Occupation Force in Japan and next served in Korea becoming the longest serving member of his battalion. Chaplain 4th Class, ‘Father Joe’ was attached to the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) during the Korean War (his final posting) and wore army boots without socks; summer or winter, swelter or snow. He was a ‘Discalced’ Carmelite Priest…’discalced’ means barefoot and members of the order usually wear sandals. He was a tall, pale, slim man, quiet and aesthetic.
He would conduct mass wherever convenient, in a deserted building perhaps, but more often in a paddy field. He would hear confession and grant absolution wherever convenient too. Some of the officers were intrigued by the number Diggers including those who were not Catholics who would go to Father Joes' mass on Sundays. Then somebody worked it out. At the end of the service he would announce sporting results from Australia for the previous day. He prepared Japanese war brides and their soldier husbands for marriage and kept up contact with them for years afterwards.
On the eve of Anzac Day, 1951, his battalion – along with a Canadian battalion and a company of American tanks – faced a division of Chinese troops at the Battle of Kapyong, blunting an assault on Seoul. It was a desperate affair, leaving 32 Australians dead, 59 wounded and three captured. The Chinese dead were estimated to be at least 1000. By most measures it was a bigger battle than Long Tan, lasted longer, involved more troops and cost more blood. And it was a battle of human-wave assaults, encirclement and absolute confusion.
Colonel Donald Beard 3RAR Medical Officer in Korea stated that Father Joe often worked as a tireless stretcher bearer when casualties were high. A former digger Jim McEune can remember vividly the pain in the chaplains’ face as he knelt before them. 3RAR received the United States Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation. On the 25th November 1952 Chaplain 4th Class Elzear Basil Phillips Service Numbers VX700033, SX8944, was also awarded a citation in Korea - Member of the Order of the British Empire.
Father Joe Phillips died on the 28th November 2002 in Port Pirie where he had been helping out in the diocese for the past 30 years. He was aged 99.
Sources:
Father Joe’s personal collection
Herald Sun, Melbourne, Vic December 2002
- Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C51779
