Sergeant Wireless Operator and Air Gunner, RAFVR
Born: May 26th 1913
Died: October 29th 1940
Age at Death: 27
Philip was born in Brighton on 26 May 1913 to Georgina Ripley (née Watson), an ex-governess, and William Ripley, an insurance agent.
At the College he won the form prize while in the Fourth Form. After leaving the College he worked as a bank clerk, meeting and marrying fellow clerk Audrey Outen on 23 December 1939.
Ripley joined the RAF during the war, serving as a wireless operator in 22 Squadron, flying the Beaufort torpedo bomber.
More of these torpedo bombers were lost through air accidents and mechanical failures than as a result of enemy action. So it was to prove with Ripley. On 29 October 1940, the aircraft crashed into the sea within seconds of take-off from RAF North Coates in Lincolnshire on a very dark night. It was thought that the pilot might have taken his eyes off the plane's instruments to check whether the formation leader had taken off.
Ripley is buried in Bognor Regis Old Cemetery in West Sussex.
To mark Remembrance in 2023, a Brighton College family visited Bognor Regis Old Cemetery, and placed a poppy on Philip’s grave.