Mellor, Philip Evert McIlvaine, brother of Anthony Wright Camac Mellor (q.v.); b. Feb. 5, 1903; adm. May 2, 1917 (H); left July 1921; St. John's Coll. Camb., matric. Michaelmas 1921; played football (assoc.) against Oxford 1925; B.A. 1925; inspector, Sudan Plantations Syndicate Ltd., Oct. 1925; 2nd Lieut. Leicestershire Regt. May 11, 1940; transferred to 1st Batt. Parachute Regt. Aug. 1, 1942, and was one of the pioneers of parachuting; Capt.; M.C. Feb. 12, 1943; killed in action in North Africa, Feb. 1943.
Philip Evert McIlvaine Mellor was born at Kensington, London on the 5th of February 1903 the third and youngest son of Sir Francis Hamilton “Frank” Mellor Kt. BA LLB KC, a barrister at law and judge, and Lady Elizabeth Markoe (nee Camac) Mellor of 53, Victoria Road, Kensington in London and of “Woodvale”, Rotherfield Greys, Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. He was christened at St Stephen’s Church, Kensington on the 14th of March 1903. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Homeboarders from the 2nd of May 1917 to July 1921. He was a member of the 1st Cricket XI in 1921 and the Elizabethan wrote the following on his season that year: - “Bowls a good off break but does not vary his pace enough. A poor bat, because his left leg is never anywhere near the pitch of the ball; should make more use of his wrists and less of his forearms.” He was a member of the 2nd Football XI in 1919 and of the 1st Football XI from 1919 to 1921 where he played at left half. The Elizabethan wrote the following on his 1919/20 season: - “A splendid tackler, who never knows when he is beaten. Feeds his forwards well, but apt to give his passes too much in the air. Marks his wing man very closely, but might with advantage converge more into the centre when play is near his own goal.” They wrote the following on his 1920/21 season: - “A sound and reliable half back. But has the great fault of lying too far back and thus concentrating on defence to the entire exclusion of attack.” He was awarded School Colours for Football in 1921.
He matriculated for St John’s College, Cambridge in 1921 on a Marquess of Salisbury Exhibition and graduated with a BA in 1925. He was awarded a “Blue” for Association Football against Oxford in 1925. On leaving university he joined the staff of the Sudan Syndicate Ltd in October 1925, where he was appointed as an inspector.
He enlisted as a Private in the Scots Guards before attending the Officer Cadet Training Unit at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst from where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Leicestershire Regiment on the 11th of May 1940. He transferred to the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment on the 1st of August 1942 where he was one of the pioneers of military parachuting.
In November 1942, the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment embarked for overseas service on board the passenger liner Arundel Castle and set sail from Clydeside. They disembarked at Algiers from where they marched to the airfield at Maison Blanche.
On the 16th of November 1942 the Battalion boarded aircraft at Maison Blanche and took off at 11am for an operation to capture the airfield at Souk-el-Arba which was thought to be held by Vichy French forces. It was not known whether the French would oppose the landing. The Battalion landed on the airfield at 1.30pm where they were met by a French officer and no opposition was met. At 5pm they formed up and mounted transport to move to Beja from where they mounted patrols over the next two weeks. On the 17th of November, S Company set out from Beja to the area of Sidi N’Sir from where they were to attack enemy outposts around Mateur. The following day they planned an ambush on an enemy column which had been seen at 7am that morning heading for Sidi N’Sir and was expected to return along the same route. The paratroopers were in position at 7.30am and at 10.30am the German column, which was made up of three eight wheeled armoured cars and three light reconnaissance cars, returned. Mines had been laid across the path of the returning vehicles and the paratroopers held their fire until the first vehicle struck a mine. Philip Mellor and his men rushed forward with Gammon bombs and quickly knocked out two of the armoured cars as well as two of the scout cars and killed their occupants. Those Germans who had not been killed or wounded in the first five vehicles surrendered without a fight and eight prisoners were taken.
At 8pm on the night of the 29th of November Philip Mellor led a patrol out along the Mateur Road to capture enemy prisoners for interrogation. As they advance on foot on either side of the road at 12.43am they came under fire from automatic weapons and a light machine gun from their left. They returned fire and threw grenades at the enemy who quickly fled back to their armoured car and left hurriedly. Mellor then sent half his men back to base and continued on with the other half. The patrol was three and a half miles from Mateur when they ran into an enemy road block. During an exchange of fire Philip Mellor’s helmet was perforated by a bullet but he was unharmed.
On the 1st of December 1942, the Battalion attacked enemy positions at Coxen’s Farm near Medjez-el-Bab. The following day a report was received that enemy troops were arriving in trucks on the Mateur Road and Philip Mellor’s Platoon was sent to investigate. When he and his men arrived there they met heavier opposition that had been expected and after a short fire fight, in which they suffered three casualties, they were forced to disengage. On the night of the 11th of December 1942, Philip Mellor led a patrol which attacked enemy 88mm gun positions. They killed a number of the enemy and returned with five prisoners.
For his actions since landing in North Africa he was awarded the Military Cross, which was announced by the War office on the 11th of February 1943. The recommendation for his award read as follows: - “For most conspicuous gallantry. Throughout all operations and actions between 17 Nov., and 24th Dec., Lieut. Mellor’s conduct has been an outstanding example to all ranks under his command and to the Battalion as a whole. On no less than four occasions he has displayed gallantry of the highest order and a total disregard for his own safety. On the morning of 18th Nov., an ambush was laid on the S’nsir – Mateur rd., to destroy a strong armoured patrol of the enemy. This officer led a strong group of bombers to attack the armoured vehicles. He attacked and immobilised one armoured vehicles, and destroyed and killed the occupants personally of one scout car at a range of about five yards. On the 29/30 Nov., Lieut. Mellor was in command of a fighting patrol which was ordered to raid enemy positions in Tunisia. The patrol encountered and destroyed an enemy section post. The patrol then withdrew and Lieut. Mellor went forward alone to within three miles of Mateur and brought back valuable information as to enemy dispositions on the road. On the 2nd December Lieut. Mellor was ordered to take two sections in carriers to attack enemy troops which were seen in the area of a farm. On arriving at the farm he attacked but was forced to withdraw owing to intense machine gun fire. On withdrawing under cover he found that one man was missing and without a thought for his own personal safety he returned and brought back the missing man. On the 10/11 Dec., Lieut. Mellor was in command of a fighting patrol which was ordered to attack and destroy an enemy A.A. gun position and bring back prisoners. He attacked the position and captured five prisoners and damaged the gun. The attack was made in the face of heavy machine gun fire and it was only by the personal courage and leadership of Lieut. Mellor that the post was taken and invaluable information obtained. On many different occasions Lieut. Mellor has taken part in long daylight reconnaissances in and behind the enemy positions & brought back information of extreme value concerning the enemy positions and by his courage & inspiration set an example of the highest order to all ranks.”
On the 3rd of February 1943, the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment was to attack enemy positions on two hills at Djebel Mansour. R and T Companies were to lead the attack with S Company in support. Once the position had been secured they would be relieved by the 3rd Battalion, Grenadiers Guards. As the two leading Companies began to climb the steep slopes in the dark it began to rain. They were following white tapes which had been laid to help them find their way in the dark. S Company, which was following, was also following the white tapes but, by the time they passed up the hills, the tapes had been cut and they headed off in the wrong direction.
R and T Companies managed to get very close to the enemy positions without being spotted and then rushed them at the point of the bayonet. After heavy hand to hand fighting they had secured both of the positions of Djebel Mansour and Djebel Alliliga. Meanwhile, S Company had run into a minefield where it is thought that Philip Mellor had trodden on a mine as he was seen to have lost a leg and to have been wounded by machinegun fire. The Company continued on and launched its attack. Philip Mellor was last seen crawling towards the enemy machine guns firing his pistol and it was reported that when his body was recovered it had seventeen bullet wounds. He was buried where he fell but the site was lost in the subsequent fighting.
Sergeant Eric Seal of S Company later wrote of the fighting: - “In the battle for Djebel Mansour, S Company suffered very heavy casualties, including Lieutenant Mellor who was killed attacking a machine gun post, which was typical of the man; thus died an irreplaceable soldier.”
He is commemorated on the war memorial at St John’s College, Cambridge.
He is commemorated on the Medjez-el-Bab Memorial Face 34.
