Name
Philip Arthur (Bunty) Spikesman
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
01/06/1944
21
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lance Corporal
7945700
Royal Armoured Corps
"B" Sqn., 142nd (7th Bn. The Suffolk Regt.) Regt.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Caserta War Cemetery
II, A, 3.
Italy
Headstone Inscription
STANDING TO ATTENTION FULL OF LIFE BEFORE THE CAPTAIN OF ALL SOULS
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, St. Mark’s Church Memorial, Hitchin, Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin, Hitchin Boys’ Grammar School Memorial (WW2)
Biography
He had been born in Hertfordshire and resided there. He attended St. Mary's School where his father was headmaster and went on to Hitchin Grammar School where he stayed from 1933-1940. He was popular at school, of a cheerful but gentle disposition, obtained school colours in the hockey eleven and was in the Scout Troop as a patrol leader. He took the School Certificate and the Commerce examinations in his stride. He Vice-Captained Radcliffe House and was a Prefect in his last year.
On leaving school, he was articled to Mr G.T. Hill, the Surveyor to Letchworth Urban Council. In this occupation he was not liable for immediate service when war commenced, but, seeing his friends called up, he decided that his activities in the Home Guard were insufficient. He therefore decided to join the fighting forces, even though it meant leaving his fiancée Doreen Handscombe.
His Service Number was 7945700 and he saw service in action with ‘B’ Squadron of the 142nd Regiment (7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment) in the Royal Armoured Corps throughout the North African desert campaign into Tunisia mostly in a Churchill tank. After a rest in Tunis and taking part in Churchill's Victory Parade, he continued fighting into Italy. Sadly, a hospital Matron wrote to his parents from Italy on the 26th May 1944, stating that he had sustained very severe wounds. He died ten days after he received his injuries.
At the time of his death the 142nd Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps was part of the 25th Army Tank Brigade and attached to the 1st Canadian Corps, elements of which broke through the Adolf Hitler Line to the east bank of the River Melfa northwest of Casino.
He was buried in Plot 2, Row A, Grave 3 in Caserta War Cemetery, Italy. A private inscription on the headstone reads "Standing to attention full of life before the Captain of All Souls’‘.
A friend wrote "So has passed on this young man of simple faith and high ideals and those who were privileged to know him cherish the memory of a dear friend."
His parents presented a revolving lectern to St. Mark's Church in Hitchin as a memorial in the Church where their son had been a crucifer.
He was the only son of Arthur Harry and Dorothy Gertrude Spikesman of 29, Fishponds Rd, Hitchin.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Hitchin Grammar School Chronicle,
Hitchin Grammar School Registers, ‘Roll of Honour Land Forces W.W.2.’ by J Devereux & G. Sacker, Herts & Beds Express dated 10th June 1944 & 25th Nov 1944
