Philip Hugh Whitby Hicks

Brigadier Philip Hugh Whitby Hicks, (25 September 1895 – 8 October 1967) was an officer of the British Army during both the First and Second World Wars.

Hicks was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1914, during the First World War, and fought on the Western Front. In the Second World War he was commander of the 1st Airlanding Brigade, of the 1st Airborne Division. He commanded the brigade in the Mediterranean theatre during Operation Ladbroke, part of the Allied invasion of Sicily, in July 1943, as well as during the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden, in September 1944.

After the Second World War, Hicks retired from the British Army and worked for the International Refugee Organization and the National Playing Fields Association before his death in 1967.

Early life Hicks was born on 25 September 1895 in Warwick, Warwickshire. The son of Dr Philip Hicks and the writer Beatrice Whitby, he was educated at Winchester College in Hampshire.

First World War Hicks was a member of the Territorial Force army number 15075, and was commissioned a second lieutenant into the 1/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, on 23 October 1914. The 1/7th Battalion was serving with the 1/5th, 1/6th and 1/8th battalions as part of the 143rd (1/1st Warwickshire) Brigade, part of the 48th (South Midland) Division, which took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and the third Battle of Ypres in 1917. Hicks was granted a regular army commission on 23 June 1916. Hicks was mentioned in despatches on 13 November, while serving with the 7th Battalion.

In May 1918, Hicks transferred to the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, which was part of the 10th Brigade of the 4th Division. While serving with the 4th Division he was awarded a Military Cross in 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive in the final months of the war. The citation stated:

On 8 November 1918, Hicks was again mentioned in despatches.

In 1942, Hicks was given command of an airborne formation, the 1st Airlanding Brigade, part of the 1st Airborne Division, and in 1943 was promoted to brigadier. During Operation Ladbroke – part of the Allied invasion of Sicily – Hicks's glider landed in the sea offshore. Hicks and the other men on board decided to swim ashore. Once there he gathered a force together and prepared to attack a coastal artillery battery. For his actions in Sicily Hicks was awarded a second DSO. The citation stated:

During the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden, on the night of 17–18 September, the commander of the 1st Airborne Division, Major-General Roy Urquhart, was reported missing and Brigadier Hicks assumed command of the 1st Airborne Division during a crucial period. Hicks's brigade went on to sustain severe casualties over the next few days before being withdrawn to the United Kingdom with less than half of its original strength.

After the battle was over, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery wrote in a letter to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, that, "There is no doubt Hicks did extremely well at Arnhem, but there is also no doubt that it has been too much for him and he is not now fit to fight again in battle in this war." Montgomery went on to recommend that Hicks be considered for command of an area in England or overseas. Hicks was succeeded in command of the brigade by Brigadier Roger Bower.

On 23 March 1945, Hicks was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Later life In May 1948 Hicks retired from the army and became a regional commissioner for the International Refugee Organization in Germany between 1948 and 1952. He followed this by being on the board of the National Playing Fields Association in London, between 1955 and 1961. Hicks died on 8 October 1967 at Hartley Wintney in Hampshire.