Philip Witheridge Manning – Royal Armoured Corps, 11th Hussars

Trooper Philip Witheridge Manning – Royal Armoured Corps, 11^th Hussars

Birth and Family Background

Philip Witheridge Manning was born in 1914 at Penzance, Cornwall. He was the son of Philip Manning and Annie Witheridge, who were married in 1903 at Helston, Cornwall.

1921 Census

At the time of the 1921 Census, the Manning family were residing at 11 Reginald Street, Swansea. Philip Manning (49), born in Devon, was employed as a wireman with the General Post Office, while his wife Annie (42), born in Cornwall, undertook household duties. Their children were John (11) and Philip Witheridge (7), both attending school.

1939 Register and Marriage

1939 Register

By the time of the 1939 Register, Philip Witheridge Manning was living at 5 Sussex Place, Plymouth, where he was employed as a chemist’s assistant. His parents were then residing at 16 Riversdale Road, West Cross.

In 1940, Philip married Freda M. Abbott at Launceston, Cornwall.

Military Service

Philip Witheridge Manning served as a Trooper with the Royal Armoured Corps, attached to the 11^th Hussars, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War.

In August 1941, the 11^th Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own) were serving with the British Eighth Army along the Egypt–Libya frontier, operating primarily as a reconnaissance and armoured screening unit. The regiment was heavily engaged in patrol and intelligence-gathering duties in the Halfaya Pass and Sollum area, a strategically important region controlling movement between Egypt and Libya. Following the Allied offensive Operation Battleaxe in June 1941, fighting continued in the area as British forces sought to contain and disrupt German and Italian positions.

On 7^th August 1941, Trooper Philip Witheridge Manning was killed in action while the 11^th Hussars were conducting armoured patrols and reconnaissance missions in North Africa. These operations were carried out in extremely hostile conditions, with constant threats from enemy artillery, anti-tank guns, armoured vehicles, mines, and air attack, and casualties were common during such sudden engagements in open desert terrain.

Burial

He is buried at the Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery, Egypt, which contains the graves of Allied servicemen who died during the desert fighting along the Egypt–Libya frontier.