217492 Maj. Philip Arthur Chambers MID.Australian Imperial Force 12th Light Horse Regiment from:Australia Philip Arthur Chambers was born in Wellington, New South Wales, on 12 September 1876. He was educated at Kelly College in Devon, England, and then attended St Edward's School at Oxford. On leaving school Chambers returned to Australia and enlisted with the Australian Light Horse of the Citizens' Forces. He qualified for an appointment as a second lieutenant in 1908 and married his wife, Ethel, in 1911. The 38-year-old grazier enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 12 May 1915 and departed Sydney with the 12th Light Horse Regiment aboard HMAT Vestalia on 22 June 1915.
Chambers was deployed to Gallipoli in August and was evacuated to Egypt a couple of months later due to a severe case of paratyphoid. Invalided due to this disease, he was sent back to Australia in January 1916, but returned to Egypt in August 1916 and was made temporary commanding officer of the 12th Light Horse Regiment. His diaries from this time provide an officer's observations of the regiment as well as noting various troop movements, sporting matches, courts martial, and training undertaken.
In April 1917, Chambers sustained shrapnel wounds to both his right shoulder and his left hip. During July he distinguished himself as a leader of his unit and on December 1917 was Mentioned in Despatches by General Sir Edmund Allenby. Chambers continued to serve with the 12th Light Horse Regiment for the remainder of the war, noting in his diaries such battles as the second battle of Gaza in 1917, the raid on Es Salt in 1918, and the battle of Samakh in 1918. After having briefly been made commanding officer again in March 1919, Chambers returned to Australia and was officially discharged from the AIF on 20 October 1919. Philip Arthur Chambers died at Petersham, New South Wales, in 1950.
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