WHEATLEY, Philip Charles -- died peacefully in Victoria BC (Canada), August 23 at age 87, following a stroke.

Philip was born and raised in London.He enlisted in the British Army in February 1942, shortly before his 18^th birthday, and became a Fusilier in the 8^th battalion, Royal Fusiliers.In July his unit was shipped via Capetown to Iraq, to join a British force intended to stop a potential German advance.In April 1943, his division was moved to join the Eighth Army in North Africa but an injury kept Philip in hospital in Egypt for many weeks.He was reassigned to the Fourth Battalion of the 8^th of Foot, the Buffs, a reserve battalion from Kent then occupying Malta.

In September 1943, the British Army began occupying islands in the Aegean Sea vacated by the Italian forces after their surrender.Philips regiment moved to Leros, in the DodecaneseIslands.They had been there only a few weeks when German paratroopers landed and overwhelmed the small British garrison.While on patrol, Philip was captured, and in late October was sent with other prisoners to Greece, and Germany.

Philip remained a prisoner of war for nearly eighteen months, at a construction stalag in northern Germany.He escaped while his group was being marched to the east to evade advancing Allied troops, and he was returned to England a few days before VE Day, May 8 1945.

Later in the 1940s Philip followed his father, Richard Wheatley, a WW 1 veteran, into a career with Barclays Bank, and took early retirement in 1982.He remained in the army reserve and later received a commission with the Green Jackets Brigade.

Neither Philip nor his sister Evelyn (1920-1997) ever married.They maintained their home in Finchley (Whetstone), North London, where they cared for their aging parents and other relations until their passing.In 1982, and finding themselves alone, they decided to emigrate to Victoria to join their cousins, Stella Jenkins née Cuming, and her sister Faith Furber, and their extended families.

Philip and Evelyn will be long remembered for their generosity, hospitality, and service to their family.

At Philips request there will be no service.