Background
The son of the Review Philip Armitage (1870–1960) and his wife Elizabeth Christina Armitage, née Marshall (c1875-1934), he was born in Birling in Kent on 28 March 1905 and educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
The son of the Review Philip Armitage (1870–1960) and his wife Elizabeth Christina Armitage, née Marshall (c1875-1934), he was born in Birling in Kent on 28 March 1905 and educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Trinity College; Rugby School.
He defused unexploded bombs during the blitz in 1940, notably a mine that fell on Orpington in Kent. The mine had come to rest in a tree and he climbed a ladder to defuse it, offering no chance of escape if the fuse had been triggered. He was one of four recipients: one civilian and one each from the Navy, Army and Air Force.
Also in 1940, he commanded a small coaster at the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk.
His George Medal, gazetted on 15 February 1944, was for mine disposal work at Corton Sands, Suffolk on 15 June 1942 while serving in HMS Vernon.