33
OAs in Action: True Stories from the First World War
initially in its 15th [reserve] battalion.
In March 1916 the Bath Chronicle reported that 'for some
time past' Dudley 'has been on duty in the Near East and
for the present is in Egypt' while Sydney 'has been in the
trenches in France for some while and is assistant machinegun
officer of his battalion'.
here were six Rippon brothers in total: the youngest
brother Percy threw up an appointment in Cardiff to join
the 4th Somerset Regiment: he subsequently went to India
with the first regiment. An elder brother, Gilbert, joined the
Royal Flying Corps but was killed in June 1916 when, after
making an ascent, his plane collapsed and fell to the ground
with terrific force.
he following month at the beginning of the Battle of
the Somme, on 1 July, Sydney was wounded in the chest
and shoulder. he Bath Chronicle reported on 22 July that
Sydney says that his wounds 'are slight and that he hopes to
be sent to England before long'. Dudley had been involved
in active service in Egypt but broke down under the strain
of duty in the desert. On 19 August the Bath Chronicle
reported that Dudley, suffering from neurasthenia, was in
the Anglo-American hospital in Egypt while Sydney was
in the Royal Free Hospital in London 'suffering from the
wound received in action in France some weeks ago'. He 'is
not making such good progress as he did at first, an X rays
examination showing that the bullet which went through
his body splintered a bone'.
he Bath Chronicle reported that in April 1917 that Sydney
having 'recently returned to military duty of a light nature
after recovering from the severe bullet wound he received in
the Somme attack' was now 'lying dangerously ill at a military
hospital in the East of England suffering from cerebrospinal
meningitis'. By 5 May the same paper was able to report that
he was 'progressing favourably'.
Dudley had been invalided home from Egypt suffering from
neurasthenia and remained in England, rejoining his corps
in London at the beginning of September 1917 when the
Western Daily Press announced his engagement to Miss
AMJ Green of Birmingham.
Sydney had been promoted to lieutenant in July 1917 but
had to relinquish his commission in December, owing to illhealth
caused by his wound and was appointed secretary
of the Somerset War Agricultural Wages committee - a
part-time appointment. Dudley had also relinquished his
commission on grounds of ill-health. In May 1918 both
brothers played cricket in Bath with Dudley scoring a
century. On 10 October Dudley managed to obtain a new
commission as a second lieutenant in the Administrative
Branch of the Royal Air Force based in London.
When the war ended both brothers were carrying injuries
but both played for Somerset in 1919. Against Essex in July
the two brothers put on 144 for the first wicket with Dudley
scoring a chanceless 134 in four and three quarter hours, his
highest first-class score. In June, while Dudley made a duck,
Sydney made his highest score to date of 92 while batting
under the alias of S. Trimnell, using his grandmother's name:
this was because he was working for the Inland Revenue
and had not been given permission to play!
Dudley made just one appearance for Somerset in the
1920 season, his wounds finally taking their toll. After his
retirement he became cricket correspondent for the Daily
Chronicle and Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.
Sydney continued to play fairly regularly for the county until
1929, reaching his first century against Sussex in 1920: he
scored five more centuries in subsequent seasons.
Sydney was the father of Geoffrey Rippon who also attended
King's College Taunton before going on to become the
minister in the government of Edward Heath responsible for
negotiating British entry into the European community.
At the 40s and 50s Luncheon in 2012 Tim Brennand (Carpenter 1954) suggested that we
should capture some of the amazing life stories of OAs. Tim has worked tirelessly to produce
what is, we think, an extraordinary snapshot of life during an interesting and turbulent period
of the world's history.
We have just produced and printed the first edition and we hope this will inspire other OAs
to send in their memories for the next editions. Our plan is to update the publication every
few years.
If you would like to receive a copy, we are more than happy to send this to you for a small
charge of £10.
Please send a cheque made payable to King's College Taunton to:
Brenda Hayman, Development Office, King's College, South Road, Taunton TA1 3LA.
Please ensure that you also provide your current address details.
40S & 50S Memories Booklet