Capt. Seagram (age 30) was the first officer of the 48th Highlanders to be killed in the Second World War – March 8, 1941.
Philip Seagram attended the 1934 Chicago World Fair as a new subaltern (2nd Lt.) with the regiment representing the Canadian armed forces. There he acted as Colour Officer for the Regimental Colour.
In September 1939, just days after war was declared, Lt. Seagram volunteered for overseas duty with the 1st Battalion, 48th Highlanders. With the battalion he sailed from Halifax on 18 December 1939 on the S.S. Reina Del Pacifico as part of the convoy carrying the 1st Canadian contingent to the UK. During training at Aldershot, Lt Seagram, now No. 7 Platoon commander and Gas Officer, “gleefully” staged a surprise attack on the regiment, catching half the battalion without their gas masks. After a period of staff duties, in May of 1940 Seagram was appointed to HQ of 1st Canadian Division in London as a Captain and Aide de Camp to Lt. Gen. Andrew McNaughton. In June 1940 he travelled to the Dunkirk area just days prior to the famous evacuation with Gen. McNaughton staff to assess the situation of the withdrawal and battle.
Captain Seagram then attended the Junior Staff Course at the War College in 1941 and while on leave during the bombing blitz of London, on March 8, 1941 Philip and several others sought safety in the basement of the Café de Paris near Leicester Square, London, when it was struck by two bombs. The blast killed Philip and several others. Captain Philip Frowde Seagram was buried with military honours in Brookwood Cemetery on 11 March 1941.
in 2007, Captain Seagram’s claymore was donated by his Robert Seagram to the active regiment. It has been engraved with “The Capt. Philip Frowde Seagram Claymore – Killed on Active Service – 08 March 1941 – Carried by the – Junior Ensign of the Colours. His daughter, Countess Sandra Annovazzi – Seagram donated his medals and Memorial Cross in 2022 and they are on display in the 48th Highlanders Museum.
His brother, LCol J E Frowde Seagram, commanded the second battalion 48th Highlanders during WW 2.
