RENDALL Philip Stanley

Lieutenant and Commandant Philip Stanley Rendal MBE DL Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, Special Constabulary and High Sheriff of Warwickshire.

Philip Stanley Rendall

The Man Philip Stanley Rendall was born Sunday on 7th July 1895 in Aix le Bains, Savoie, France, only son of Dr Stanley Morton and Clara Louise nee Moulton. He had one sister Yvonne Grace born on 26th August 1888.

Philip was educated at Shrewsbury School and the 1911 census shows him aged 15 living or visiting his sister and her family, she having married, the Todds at 111 Harley Street, Marylebone, London.

At the outbreak of World War I on 4th August 1914, Philip was aged 19 and Commissioned as a Temporary Lieutenant in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and posted to the Western Front on 21st July 1915, seeing action in France and Belgium. On 8th July 1916 he was transferred to the General List and at the end of war saw service in Archangel, possibly with the Royal Force to which he was attached from 7th November 1918 to 12th February 1919, when he was returned to his unit the KSLI. In 1918, British troops, along with forces from other Allied nations served in Archangel as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War following the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. His RAF papers gave his address as 111 Upper Wimpole Street, London with his sister as his next of kin.

On 31st October 1919, he relinquished his Commission, retaining the rank of Lieutenant and was awarded the 1914-15 Star, 1914-18 British War Medal and Victory Medal.

In 1920 Philip joined Courtaulds based in Coventry as a Salesman, the 1921 census shows him as a visitor, at 3 Rochester Road, Coventry with James Calcott and family, (James was a Coventry car manufacturer, Calcott Brothers, these being a small English motor vehicle manufacturer) his daughter being Philp’s future wife.

On Saturday 8th September 1923 aged 28 Philip married Louise Gwendoline Calcott, second daughter of James Calcott at Coventry Cathedral, the service being conducted by Rev E. de B. Saunderson, Vicar of Westwood and Rev J Kingdon, a Succentor at the Cathedral. Best man was Mr J Arch, the service choral and a reception held afterwards at The Woodlands. Philip and Louise spent their honeymoon in Devonshire and Cornwall and lived in Hendon, London, where they had two daughters, Jean L born in 1925 and Patricia S 1929.

Member of the most Excellent Order of the British Empire. 1914-15 Star. 1914-18 British War Medal. Victory Medal. Defence Medal. Coronation Medal 1953. Special Constabulary Long Service Medal and clasps 'Long Service 1951 and 1961'. Chevalier of the Legion of honour.

Medal Index Card showing award of WWI trio

During the General Strike in 1926 Philip joined the Special Constabulary (SC) at Hendon. During the strike, which began on May 3rd, the government recruited and deployed many special constables, including areas like Hendon, to maintain order. These special constables were part of a larger "militia" known as the Organization for the Maintenance of Supplies. Their duties included patrolling streets, ensuring essential services continued, and assisting regular police officers. Once the strike ended, he resigned to concentrate on his career.

The Rendall family relocated to Coventry in the late 1920s and in 1930 were living at 29 Earlsdon Avenue and by 1936 at a private residence, Cow Lees, Astley, near Nuneaton. In 1937 he was elected on to the Board of Directors at Courtaulds and on 12th August 1939, with World War II imminent, re-joined the SC in Warwickshire - when he was described as being 6'.2." tall - serving as a Sergeant in Nuneaton throughout the War. The 1939 Register shows him as a SC still living at Cow Lees. He qualified for his Special Constabulary Long Service Medal on 13th October 1942, with war service counting treble.

In the same year 1943 he was made Managing Director of Courtaulds and was also Chairman of F.N.F. Ltd Burton Upon Trent, Lustre Fibres Ltd , the Celanese and British Nylon Spinners (a British company set up in 1940 by ICI and Courtaulds to produce nylon yarn), a Director of Snia Viscosa (Italy), President of the British Man Made Fibres Federation and a member of the Draper's Company Club, Coventry. At the end of the war Philip was awarded the Defence Medal for his service in the SC.

Following the war, the family moved to Bridge House, Hunningham, near Leamington Spa and in 1946 he was nominated to be the High Sheriff of Warwickshire and again 1948. Philip travelled extensively as Managing Director of Courtaulds, sailing first class to New York in 1948, returning to the UK on 3rd June.

In 1949 he was appointed as Deputy Chairman of Courtaulds and on 4th March 1949, His Majesty King George VI, at a meeting of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace pricked with a sharp steel bodkin the roll of sheriffs who would hold office for the year 1949-50 - Philip was chosen as High Sheriff of Warwickshire aged 54.

Reverse of Medal Index Card

Still serving in the SC he had risen through the ranks and was appointed as Warwickshire County Commandant on 17th August 1950 in succession to the late Col W Bigwood. On 26th August 1951 he was awarded the first clasp to his Special Constabulary Medal, seemingly having broken service or not fulfilling the required hours between 1946 (when his second clasp would have been due) and 1951.

Philip continued his extensive travels abroad with Courtaulds, visiting New York in 1951 returning in the Queen Mary, again in 1953, 54 and 57 returning in Queen Elizabeth, Canada in 1959, returning to UK on 2nd June aboard the Empress of Britain from Montreal and to Sydney, Australia on 7th September 1960 with Gwendoline aboard the Oronsay of the P&O – Orient Line.

In 1953 Philip was awarded the Coronation Medal and in 1954 the French Government conferred upon him the rank of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the proceedings of the International Rayon and Synthetic Fibres Congress held in Paris in 1954 and his work for the cause of Anglo-French friendship.

He retired from Courtaulds in 1961 aged 65 and on 26th August the same year received the second clasp to his Special Constabulary Medal. He continued as County Commandant and in the Birthday Honours List of 1964 was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to the SC, from which he retired on 31st December 1965, aged 70.

Philip and Louise moved to 47 Kenilworth Road, Leamington Spa and in September 1967 he was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire by the Lord Lieutenant, Air Commodore John Henry Peyto Verney - the 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke, MC, AFC.

Louise passed away in early 1981 and in 1983 Philip moved into the Victoria Nursing Home a few doors away, at no 31 Kenilworth Road, he died shortly after moving aged, aged 88 on 15th July 1983. His funeral was held at 12 noon on Tuesday 26th July at Oakley Wood Crematorium and he left £159,000.00 in his will. A few weeks later items from his property at 47 were auctioned off in a marquee in the garden as previously arranged by Philip.

Thus ended the life of a man who served his country in numerous ways and recognised as such by the military, civil and business authorities.

Leamington Courier 26th November 1965

The Birmingham Post 17th February 1950. (Reginald Croom-Johnson's son's medals are in this collection)

Coventry Evening Telegraph 5th March 1949

The Story The medals awarded to Philip Stanley Rendall were acquired from Worcestershire Medal Services in May 2025, they having been offered because of the Leamington Spa link.

Although Philip was not a Leamingtonian, he did spend his later years in the town and was an influential person within Warwickshire as can be seen from his biography.

Ancestry, newspaper archives and Terry Gardner from the Leamington Borough Police Historical Society all helped to piece together a good, detailed biography.

It is also interesting to have a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour within the group, although no record can be found of permission to wear being granted.