Philip was the first of five children to Wilfred Ivan Tchernegovski (1895 Staffordshire - 1967 Auckland) and May Beatrice nee Coaker (1898 Lambeth UK - 1979 Onehunga NZ). He served in WWII in both the NZ Army and Royal Air Force services as a driver and electrician respectively in Fiji. He married in 1948 and had eight offspring of which seven survive. The family home was in semi-rural Sunnyvale, Henderson in outer Auckland City. Chuckles... he was never a good electrician businessman, always willing to help those in need at any time of the day or night and so needing family generosity to keep his solo business afloat. He unexpectedly died in 1958 of a berry aneurysm to the brain. He inherited a little of that quite compassion and interior reflection of his father. It was not unusual to suddenly bump into him while he walked gently around a corner. He was known for his love of animals always trying to revive the odd hedgehog dying on the local roads and quietly talking to the family hens in their back yard roosting pen. His musical tastes were contemporary to his times. With his local drinking mates his sense of humour could be wicked and mischievous.