Philip Howard Powley was born in Aba, Belgian Congo on 28 November 1933. His parents Harold Powley and Marjorie née Brinkworth were both missionaries.. When he was five the family moved to Kenya and he was educated at the Prince of Wales School in Nairobi. In 1950 they returned to the UK and he eventually enrolled at St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School to study medicine, qualifying MB, BS in 1958. Various house appointments followed at the Whipps Cross Hospital, the thoracic unit at St Thomas’s, St James Hospital, Balham and the Westminster and Southampton Hospitals. At this time in his career he acknowledged the help and guidance of the surgeons: Peter Martin, Norman Tanner, Peter Philip and Anthony Harding Rains. Eventually he was appointed consultant general surgeon at Princess Margaret Hospital Swindon, where he worked for 27 years. His book *Trauma surgery; excepting bones and joints* with contributions from John Garfield and Ronald Thexton was published by John Wright and Sons in 1973. Passionate about the railways, he was active in the restoration of the Swindon and Cricklade line. He was involved with the Swindon Counselling Service and helped with the Green Hut a drop-in centre which provides help and advice to the homeless, unemployed and disadvantaged or elderly people in the Swindon area. In 1959 he married Jennifer née Morrison; she was a nurse whom he met at St Thomas’s. They had three sons, one of whom predeceased him. He died on 2 May 2020 survived by his wife Jenny, sons Mark and Miles, daughters-in-law Katie and Janis, grandchildren Bel, Honor, Morrison and Dexter, and sisters Grace and Myrtle.