First Radio Officer Robert Allison McPhillimy served in the Merchant Navy during World War Two. He was the son of Robert McPhillimy and Elizabeth McPhillimy (née Allison) of Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone, and the husband of Phyllis Amy Ward McPhillimy of 1103 Fenn Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.
Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Robert emigrated from Northern Ireland. He departed from England sometime after 1927. Records show he arrived in San Francisco, California on 16th January 1931. Working on the seas, he also spent time in New York, New York, Tacoma, Washington, and Boston, Massachusetts.
He died on 11th November 1940 aged 32 years old when the 4,597 GRT cargo ship SS Trebartha came under attack while en route from London to Philadelphia. A Luftwaffe plane bombed the ship around 4 miles south-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. Second Radio Officer Charles Arthur Samuel Ratcliff and Third Radio Officer Francis David Ruffel also died as a result of the attack. The damaged ship beached at Cove Bay.
Robert Allison McPhillimy has no known grave. His name is on Panel 109 of the Tower Hill Memorial, London, United Kingdom.