Philip McGlynn (7 Oct 1954 - 25 Sep 2018)

RIP Royal, sadly I never met Phil but I've lost count of people asking if he was my dad,uncle etc from my time in the corps. Some of the old & bold in Kilkeel also asked, 20 yrs had passed but his shift at Warrenpoint was well known and his name held in the highest regard. #ClanMcGlynn

I visited Phil when back home in Glasgow in early September shortly after the Celtic v Rangers game. I took a 45 Cdo Pin as a wee pressie to cheer him up. He was in fine fettle and was doing well having had a he said a wee episode. It was good to be able to see him and pass on regards from other brothers and to see the support the staff at hospital where giving him. He still had that big heart and was generous in his appreciation for the team that looked out for him and this included his family who he metioned many times in our conversations. I knew Phil back in 45 Cdo days from the Cpl's Club and obviously a 'little' banter about the Celtic and Rangers at that time. He enjoyed his swally as many brothers do but was utmost professional in his approach to his role and responsibilities. I echo the thoughts of many on here especially Eddie Warren who was very close. I am sorry I did not make it back for the funeral but my heart and thoughts were with Phil and his family at that time. See you at the final RV Phil!

Phil , It is with a heavy heart I say farewell to a good and honest friend , I knew you for many years in 45. I thank you for that, a big loss to anyone who knew you. PMPT.

Son I know you have to go, all the love I have cannot hold you here. There is one thing I know. I will hold your memory close my dear. Should you ever think of me, just send your love out on the evening breeze. I will collect it from the wind till you come home again. Because in the heart of my heart there is a place reserved for you, it has memorized your face its a lonely little space no other love can come into.
Brothers leave from time to time no one thinks that much about it. But when you take your love away. I am empty without it. If your mind should ever change and you need somewhere to turn to. I will burn that candle low let the embers glow just you know I love you. As long as I survive You will always be alive in the heart of my heart

From Mother and your wee Sis Cathy xx

Dear grandad
I miss you so much, I wish you didn't die whilst I am still a little girl. I know that you were really sick. You were the best because you are a sweet person and a kind, sharing and caring man. You dont need to be sad because everyone love you for who you are. God I know that it was time but why now. I have just started a new year at school kind of and it has started terrible now but you are god you know when people have to go. It is sad but it has to be done, so I say please look after my loving, sharing, caring and amazing grandad.
So goodbye
I love you grandad
Xxx
Kim

Dads Eulogy.

For those of you that dont know me im Ian McGlynn, I am the eldest of my Dads three children and was really close to my Dad even after joining the Navy meant I couldn’t call him everyday, but would make time when ever I was not at sea.
As many of you know the last thing my Dad would want is someone standing in front of all of you and talking about him. But stand here I must and try to express to you in words what my Dad meant to me and I’m sure so many of you.
As I look out into the church, I see both smiles and tears. The tears, although there have been many tears of sadness in the past few days since we lost my Dad, are not tears of sadness as you sit here and remember. They are tears of joy, intermingled with nostalgic smiles, for the way this man has left a permanent mark on your minds, hearts, and souls.
Dad was a man of very few words and could say more with one look than most could say at all. I’m sure many of you have been on the receiving end of a McGlynn stare. And have known exactly what you need to do.
Of all the qualities that my dad had. Pride, leadership, Courage Under Fire, punctuality which I’m sure about 90% of Us definitely been caught short by at some point, the meticulous way by which he would organise things which is probably one of my favourite memories I will have of the time he was in the hospital, and that was the sheer fear of everybody when it came to the table needing to be moved and just a look in people’s eyes as they realised that they were the closest one to the table and they were going to have to be the person that moved it.
But of all of them the one I loved the most was his humility. It is without doubt the main reason he was such a great father and leader. His ability to make everyone else more important than himself, even if it meant leaving a Celtic game early to get a advent calendar for his Daughter and subsequently missing 4 goals.
Or giving his Son a place to live so that he could come back up to Glasgow without having to worry about having bills to pay.
Or taking a young lad by the shoulder on the eve of the assault on two sisters and telling him that he will see the sunrise in the morning while in his head he thought it would his last night alive and would never get home to see his unborn son. Never one to stand on ceremony of receive praise he was happy to let everyone else take the credit. This is the one I have tried to emulate in both my personal and Navy life.
He had three true loves in life first was Family which he held above all else and would often say that Blood is thicker than water.
The other was his time in the Royal marines during which he achieved and made friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
And of course his third love was Celtic and his love for this has transferred to the whole family except Zoe but we don’t judge her for that, it’s not her fault Henry is a good looking fella.
As with all of us Dad had flaws and his biggest was his drinking which he used to help with his PTSD. It was the architect of a lot if the sadness in Dads life and would be the one thing I wish I could change.
During my Dads four month Battle with Cancer he remained his optimist and funny self. Having a laugh with the hospital staff and even when being taken in with his cyst he made sure that nobody mentioned The eyebrows. But as with all battles they have to come to an end and my Dad did us proud one last time as his fighting spirit ensured that he lasted long enough to see all his kids together again. And died the way he would have wanted to, not surrounded by loads of people and knowing we were all going to be ok.
So however you knew him be it Phil, Royal, Brother, Grandad, Son or Dad know that i love you and will never fill the hole that has been left behind. Goodbye dad and I will see you on the other side.

From Eddie Warren.

Over my life time I have experienced many heartbreaking moments, the death of my father, the deaths of my aunts and uncle as well as my cousin from cancer. I have also experienced the loss of many comrades on active service, these deaths as strange as it may seem are the easiest to deal with. They don’t hit home until we are away from the theatre of conflict.

Last Tuesday morning I woke at 1:00am here in California to see text messages from Ian, Andrew and Jean saying that my friend my mate my brother from another mother had passed away ay 7:30am in Glasgow. This was only and hour and a half before I woke. I had to drive the 60 miles to work after receiving this news. Luckily for me at that time in the morning in LA the traffic is light, I thought of my mate Phil my eyes would tear, then I would think of some of crazy stuff that had happened to him or he had done and I would start smiling.

Phil liked to remind me that I was the first guy he met when he joined 45 Commando from 40 Commando in 1973. He would tell me I was the main gate sentry when he arrived at Condor (better memory than me there Phil). I think we first really and truly bonded as good friends when we were in Northern Ireland in 1974. Phil was Zulu Company Int. I was a sniper in Recce Troop we were working some tasks from Newry, where Zulu were based. The bond that happens between Marines on active service is like no other friendship. It was then that Phil, Harry Culley and myself created our greeting and farewell od Sarramarra. This became our greeting whenever we met or phoned, it was also our way of saying goodbye.

Over the next 44 years we were as tight as any brothers can be. There are so many stories I can share and some I definitely cannot say here . The one story I will tell is in 1979 Phil and myself were the corporals on a specific task that the Royal Marines undertook in Northern Ireland. There were approx. 20 of us, Lt Ian Dunn our O.C. Sgt Yorkie Malone our detachment sergeant. Phil and I would take turns around doing 10 days onboard a RN vessel on Carlingford Loch and 10 days on the ground operating once again from Newry. On August 27th, Phil with his team were assisting a search operation in Warrenpoint docks, I was on the Carlingford Lough with my team. We were informed on the ship that there was an incident in Warrenpoint. At this time we had no idea of what was truly happening. On arriving South of the roundabout Phil came to meet me and give me a sitrep (situation report). He informed that they were on task when he heard the first bomb, he thought it was at the gates to the docks so he sent a couple of the lads to investigate. They informed Phil that it was outside the docks North of the roundabout close to Warrenpoint mansions. Phil got all the RE search team and RN personnel together with his team and went to the scene and set up the ICP (Incident Command Post). Phil had his signaler call in the casevac helicopters for the wounded. Phil then took charge of the whole situation. When the QRF (Quick Reaction Force) arrived from Support Company 2 Para in Newry our boss Lt ian Dunn was with them. Phil called the boss over. The QRF had stopped by the gatehouse to the Mansions, as Ian met Phil the second IED was detonated. It was situated in the gatehouse, the 2 land rovers of the QRF were destroyed along with their occupants including the Commanding Officer of the Queens Own Highlanders Lt Col Blair and his sgnaller who had flown in from Bessbrook having heard pf the initial incident in the Ops Room there.

The former Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jackson who was then a Major and a Company commander in 2 Para was also there. Even with these officers present at the scene, Phil was the one taking charge of the incident. Interestingly Jackson makes no mention of Phil or the Royal Marines in his recall of the incident in his book. Phil was rightfully awarded a Mention in Dispatches for his actions that day. Phil was 24 years of age at the time, it is a measure of him and the way he took command and control of the that dreadful incident (the highest casualty count to the military in Northern Ireland). Phil didn’t talk of this I know the story as I was there another testament to Phil that he kept it quiet.

I wanted to mention this story just to let everyone know the type of man he was. He was also one of the craziest people that I know and if there was something going to go wrong then it was going to happen to Phil. As mentioned previously Phil and I would do 10 days about on the Lough and on the ground. While we were on the Lough our job was to d carry out boardings of vessels coming into the Lough. These vessels varied in size from small boats to container ships heading to the docks at Warrenpoint. We were issued with immersion suits, this is basically a waterproof onesie. In the event we fell into the water we would float. Phil loved wearing his immersion suit. One day he was standing on the deck of the ship wearing his immersion suit looking at the water. Carlingford Lough is heavily infested with Jellyfish. Phil looked down saw a Jellyfish and being Phil decided he wanted to take his wrath out on this Jellyfish. So, he jumped from the deck down onto the jellyfish, forgetting, that what goes down in the water pops back up. Phil did so but now he was wearing a Jellyfish on his head. I was on patrol at the time we received a coded message to head to one of our RV’s (Rendezvous) to pick up a casualty.
We immediately headed there as quickly as possible not knowing what the situation was. As we waited on the shore at the RV, we watched as the rigid raider came speeding towards us with one person sat there with a head like a Belisha Beacon. Yes, it was Phil, as he approached me the first thing he asked was could he sit in my seat in the rover as it was protected by a windscreen. Now at that time there were daily reports published daily called NIReps. NIReps were the daily casualty reports for the Security Forces for that day. So on this day we had eg Guardsman jones 1st Battalion Welsh Guards GSW (Gun Shot Wound) to the upper chest. Fusilier Smith RRF Shrapnel injury to head IED, then Corporal McGlynn Royal Marines Jellyfish sting to the head. This managed to give the army units some chuckles at the expense of the Royal Marines cheers Phil haha.

A couple of different stories of Phil the different characters that made up my mate, my brother.
When I retired from the Corps in 1995, I remained in the South West for a few years. In 2001 I immigrated to California, I met my wife and settled here. I had lost touch with Phil on leaving the Corps. Partly my fault and partly Phil’s, Phil was a bit of a technophobe. He didn’t have email etc, I believe it was Andrew who posted on a royal Marines website Once a Marine that I managed to get a contact number for Phil once again. About 3 years ago when with my wife we were in Glasgow we met with Phil it was as if we had never been apart. he met my wife Dianna and immediately bonded with her. Last year we met up with Phil again to take him to the 35th Falkland Islands reunion to be with him over those fewds were days that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I would try to call Phil at least once a week and just basically check up on him. We had planned to go to Spean bridge in November for Remembrance Sunday. When he told me about his drastic weight loss I kept on at him to see the doc. I tried to remain optimistic right up till the end. On my last call to him his final words were as always give my love to Dianna.

To my brother we laughed together, we joked together, we cried together, we fought together, I miss you a large part of my soul has been taken,

God Bless, Sarramarra.

RIP Phil. I am sure you are watching over all of your family and friends as they gather in person or thinking about you from afar.
I am thinking of you all. Take care.

Thinking of Mrs McGlynn and all the McGlynn family at this sad time Mrs Barr and family from Beattock Street x

So sorry for your loss thinking of the McGlynn family at this sad time R.I.P. Philip xx

Dear Philip, my first born. My heart is broken and I will miss you so much. Rest in Peace, all my love Mum xxx

Our brother in law and our true friend, though the years we have shared great time(to many to mention) from when our children were small, and when myself,you,carol and Yvonne would go out of a Saturday night, when we would have great nights out. Some quiet and some very lively.
You will be sadly missed. Myself and Yvonne couldn't ask for a better brother in law.
Rest in peace
Barry and Yvonne x