It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that on Wednesday 13 February 2008 Kipper passed away following his short fight against cancer.
Kipper was born on 25 February 1958 in his grandmother’s house in Cotteridge, Birmingham. The family lived in Brickfields, Worcester.
His father was a skipper on the riverboats in Worcester and his mother was a company PA and foster carer. Kipper was the middle child of three, having an older brother, Mark and a younger sister, Ruth.
Kipper left school in 1974 and became a Redcoat at the Silver Blades ice rink in Birmingham, where he was well known for the speed he reached on the ice, this tendency for speed was later to be repeated in his skiing in the Army, with the Regimental ski team.
The job also conditioned him to wear a uniform and having been in the ACF as a natural progression on 18 November 1975 he enlisted in the Army.
Kipper attended the Army Selection Centre from 24 to 26 November and joined the Queen’s Own Hussars. He commenced basic training in Catterick on 27 November.
He qualified as RAC Soldier 3 on 30 January 1976, and then passed his Sig’s Phase 1 & 2 on 5 March, he progressed on to his chosen trade of Crew Dvr 3, which he passed on 8 April. At the end of basic and trade training and after a spell of leave Kipper was posted to the Regiment in Detmold on 16 May.
On arriving he joined ‘D’ Squadron as 4th Troop Leaders Driver Kipper got into the flow of Regimental life and as already stated became a good skier and became part of the Regimental Ski Team, he even had his own sticker on the back of his tank, Skier’s Do It Faster.
Kipper was part of the Cat Team in 1981 and also in RHQ Troop prior to the Regiment leaving Detmold.
He gained promotion to LCpl on 9th May 1979 and was promoted to Cpl on 4th January 1981. The Regiment returned to Hohne in March 1983, Kipper passed his RINCO Gunnery Instructor Armoured on 9th November 1984 and qualified as Comd Chief on 6 December 1985.
He departed the Regiment on posting to the Armoured Trials and Development Unit on 25 October 1986 and at the end of his posting had completed his 12-year engagement, leaving the Army on 24 February 1988.
Kipper completed two tours of N.Ireland and was awarded the GSM N.Ireland on 18 July 1977.
Following his discharge, Kipper went on to work at Deritend Engineering in Droitwich. He then got a job with Rover in Longbridge and moved to BMW when they took over the company. He had a spell at Hoselock in Derby but then move on to work with Team Industrial at Toyota also in Derby until his ill health forced him to stop work.
