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.”
AS HMS Reclaim was not a warship, we spent most of our time working on our many important tasks – minesweeper support, diving trials and salvage work.
This meant we did not have to cope with endless damage control exercises and war games – as was the case on other fighting ships of the fleet.
Sea time could be most uncomfortable on occasion as she rolled a lot in heavy weather and when we spent time on passage to our area of operation we would sometimes pass the time watching an old TV set we had managed to acquire.
To get a picture, we needed an aerial and this took the form of an old metal milk crate which we hoisted up the mast.
This was fine until we altered course and then we had to re-hoist the crate in a different position to try to regain the signal. Not the most modern technology.
I enjoyed life on HMS Reclaim.
The mess was a good bunch of lads and the tasks we engaged in were many and varied, as was the area of operation from the cold Norwegian fjords to the warm seas around the Canary Islands.
Coupled to this was the fact I was able to get home at fairly frequent intervals.
This was all about to come to an end.
I had recently appeared before as Admiralty Fleet Board and passed what was known as ‘my unit watch keeping certificate’.
This meant I was now rated ERA1 (Engine Room Artificer 1st Class) and was now a Chief Petty Officer or CPO for short.
It also meant I was now qualified to take complete charge of the main propulsion unit of a 40,000 HP destroyer which included the engine room, gearing room, two boilers and all associated machinery. I was now ‘chief of the watch’.
I confess to being proud of the fact I had gone from a schoolboy who left school with no qualifications to my present status.
I dedicate this achievement to my two years at Redditch Technical School and the good teachers I had there.
I particular remember Mr Pead, Mr Harris and Mr Hunt. What I learned in those two years enabled me to pass the nationwide artificers entrance examination and indeed proved to be the foundation for my future careers.
With this new qualification it meant when my time on Reclaim was complete I would be facing a draft to another ship. And, when this time came, it was with great surprise that with all the ships in the fleet that on the November 13 1961 I was drafted back to my first ship HMS Ulster.
The difference now however was that instead of joining as a raw apprentice, I was now a qualified artificer and now able to carry out chief of the watch duties.
So a new chapter started and I had to leave my wife and baby daughter for the first of many partings and travel the length of the country to join my ship at Devonport on November 14 1961.
