Wallington collection honours wartime service

IF YOU visit Phil, it is likely you will feel as if you were wandering through World War I for up to an hour.

Despite ending more than a century ago, some of the relics of the European war can be found on Australian soil at Phil’s Wallington home.

“My great uncle got shot in the First World War with a single bullet to the heart,” he said.

“He was only 19 at the time.”

His fascination with war memorabilia was somewhat hereditary, with his great-uncle, grandfather and father all serving for Australia and collecting bits and pieces along the way.

Among his unique pieces passed down for generations, Phil is able to dig a little deeper into what life was like back then.

“I have letters from my great-uncle addressed to his brother during World War I saying ‘if you are thinking of joining the army, don’t; there is no food and we are starving’,” he said.

“It must have been really terrible.”

Phil’s collection is made up of up to one-of-a-kind paintings from his father, models, pictures including Queen Elizabeth II in Geelong, as well as uniforms, letters, and parts of old air force planes.

His favourite pieces are the ones that remind him of his father’s work at the former International Harvester in Geelong, where they used to build aeroplanes.

“There is a picture of International Harvester, his paintings and a photo of him standing behind the aeroplane that he built.”

With a strong family history in the Australian Defence Force, Phil followed in the footsteps left by generations before him and joined the 10th Regiment in Geelong during 1966.

During his service, he fired cannons and travelled to different parts of the country but never experienced the conditions he was warned about in his great-uncle’s letter.

Now 71, Phil prefers to stay connected to the defence force through the memories of his family.

“There is a lot of history there,” he said.

“Some of these photos no one else would have, if it wasn’t for Dad we wouldn’t have this history.”

Often questioned about why he does not sell off pieces of the collection, he said he would like to keep it all together and hoped to pass it down to his son one day.

“I just wanted to do something to remember them by,” he said.