INSPIRED by ‘a very full life’ Redditch man Roger Henry Lippett has written a book on his life which began living on the Batchley Estate.
He went on to serve in the Royal Navy and wants to share his story.
He was born on January 30 1939 on the council estate, with his dad’s name Henry, being given to him as his middle name.
Here he sheds light on his life family and friends as a social record of sorts that may be of interest to his children, grandchildren and the people of Redditch.
Although he said he had never achieved great wealth or fame he felt his life had moments worth recounting.
In his words: “I now live in the beautiful city of Plymouth in Devon but I will always be a Batchley boy.
“Far have I traveled, and much have I seen and this is my story, serialised in the Redditch Standard.”
Part 9
After two years and eight months at HMS Caledonia our shore-based Navy training was coming to an end and we were ready for our final year of training which was to take place at sea.
We were to be allocated our sea-going ship and anticipation was high as we waited for the list of drafts to be published on the noticeboard in Nelson corridor.
When the day came we rushed down to read the list to see where we were to be deployed.
The range of ships and areas of deployment was large and encompassed a wide range of destinations all over the world.
I discovered I was to be drafted to HMS Ulster along with a friend from my dormitory, Tim Townsend.
It was to be a general service commission which meant the ship would operate in home seas and abroad.
Our commission was to be home and the West Indies.
Hardly anyone travelled abroad on holiday in the 1950s and Tim and I had to check in an atlas to ascertain just where the West Indies were and we were excited to see we would be crossing the Atlantic.
So our days at Caledonia came to an end and there was a passing out parade which friends and families were invited to attend.
My mum and dad didn’t come as it was a long way to travel for a parade which lasted about an hour.
Rose [my girlfriend who became my wife] was my guest and she came along with her friend Jean Alexander who was also the girlfriend of one of my mates.
So the band played, we marched and put on a display of parade ground drills – speeches were made and then it was all over.
It was a big moment. Training was over, time for us to go to sea and for all of us to say our goodbyes to all the people we had got to know in Scotland.
I said my goodbyes to Rose’s mum and family and Rose and I made arrangements that she should come down to Redditch to meet my family during my final leave.
I travelled home on leave to Redditch with my motorbike in the guards van. Through necessity I sold it to a local man on the estate and was sad to part with it.
Rose came down on the train a few days later and my dad and I met her at New Street Station in Birmingham.
My dad and Rose seemed to take an instant liking to each other. Rose met my mum and my family and got on well with them all.
The time was drawing near for me to leave and travel to Plymouth to join my ship.
The ship’s programme was to complete her refit and then proceed to Portland Navy Base for work up and on completion to carry out Iceland patrol to play our part in what became known as the Cod Wars.
