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.”
Chapter 18
OUR Atlantic crossing was uneventful and we arrived at Devonport on April the 4th 1963 with our long
decommissioning pennant flying proudly from the masthead and the ships company went on split leave.
At home the winter of 1963 had been one of the most severe and coldest for two hundred years.
Lakes and rivers, including the Thames, froze over and temperatures plummeted.
I had missed all this in the sunshine of the West Indies.
At home Rose had often found herself snowed in and struggled to get to the nearest shop for food, especially
as she tried to drag the pram through deep snow, and with no help available.
She was very isolated and had to cope on her own. It was not easy being the wife of a sailor.
I was to go on second leave so Rose arranged to travel down with Susanne to meet me and we would stay at
the NAAFI club on Notte Street near to the Hoe
I went to North Road station to meet Rose and Susanne and waited with eager anticipation for the train to arrive. It pulled in and out stepped Rose and Susanne and it was so wonderful to see my girls again.
Before I could get to give them a big kiss and a hug to my great surprise out from the train stepped my dad.
This was so unexpected but it transpired that Rose had experienced some difficulty in keeping a toddler amused for so many hours on the train from Edinburgh that she broke the journey at Redditch and stayed with my mom and dad overnight.
My dad then decided he would accompany her for the rest of the journey to Plymouth.
It was nice to see my dad as I absolutely thought the world of him. He stayed in Devenport as it was only officers in the NAAFI Club.
The next day after I had met Rose we caught the bus to Devonport to call in and see how dad was. We
walked and lo and behold, there was dad working behind the bar. He was in his element and looked completely at home as if he had worked there forever.
He had his feet well under the table. Quite a character my dad.
The next day I took dad on board the ship where he got to meet my shipmates and sample naval rum.
I took him down onto the engine room plates on which we stood to control the main engines.
He looked at the huge throttle wheels and maze of pipes and machinery and said with a look of amazement on his face.
Dad enjoyed the few days he spent in Plymouth and said it was one of his most enjoyable weekends ever.
We saw dad off on the train and a few days later we caught the train back to Kirkcaldy and then we had two
weeks together which passed far too quickly. After being apart for over a year two weeks seemed such a
short time and our next parting at Waverly station was a sad and tearful one.
I remained on HMS Ulster for the next six months on what was known as home sea service which entailed
another spell on fishery protection around the seas of Iceland.
