Keith Elliott Tippett
Corporal · NZ #20441 · T1 Patrol · MM
| Rank | Corporal |
|---|---|
| Service number | NZ #20441 |
| Patrol | T1 Patrol |
| Regiment | 2nd NZ Divisional Cavalry Regiment |
| Born | 1914-09-27 |
| Honours | MM |
| Campaign medals | War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal |
| Record | https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/88560 |
What this roll records
He served in Greece and Crete and in the first Libyan campaign, and was transferred from the Divisional Cavalry to the Long Range Desert Group in February 1942. A car painter in business in Te Awamutu before the war and a well-known member of the Te Awamutu Football Club; one of four brothers serving overseas, one of them a prisoner of war in Germany. His home town paper carried the Military Medal on 30 October 1942, four weeks before it was gazetted. Source: “Award For Gallantry”, Te Awamutu Courier, 30 October 1942, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).
March 1942 roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)
Barce Raid, Sept 1942 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy): Driver — Picked up by S2
T1 Patrol at the Barce raid (Operation Caravan, Sep 1942); awarded the Military Medal for the action. Source: Wikipedia 'Operation Caravan'; O'Carroll 'Kiwi Scorpions'.
Born 27 September 1914 at Lyttelton. Car painter in civilian life. Embarked/served with 2nd NZ Divisional Cavalry Regiment. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
Full name Keith Elliott. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Cpl K. E. Tippett, MM — car painter, Te Awamutu; born Lyttelton, 27 Sep 1914.
At Sidi Haneish (July 1942), with Trooper T. B. Dobson, captured the pilot and passenger (a German doctor) of a Fieseler Storch that landed near the patrol, and set fire to the aircraft. Source: ‘Raids Behind the Enemy Lines’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
At Barce (13 September 1942), with Trooper T. B. Dobson, climbed on to the tank Wilder had rammed and destroyed it with grenades and bombs in the turret, then immobilised another. Awarded the MM (his citation also citing the capture of the Fieseler Storch after Sidi Haneish). Source: ‘The Barce Raid’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
Car painter, of Te Awamutu; born Lyttelton, 27 Sep 1914. MM. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).
Took part in the Barce Raid with T1 Patrol, 13/14 September 1942. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Kiwi Scorpions’ (Appendix VIII, T1 Patrol members who took part in the Barce Raid, September 1942).
His Military Medal was announced on 26 November 1942. The recommendation survives at The National Archives, Kew, in series WO 373 (War Office, Military Secretary’s Department: Recommendations for Honours and Awards for Gallantry), reference WO 373/46/58 — but note that the file is catalogued under the misspelling “TIBBETT, Keith Elliott”, so a search on Tippett will not find it. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
Car painter in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
HIS MILITARY MEDAL, CONFIRMED AND DATED. London Gazette, 24 November 1942, Supplement 35799, page 5142, under “The Military Medal.”: “No. 20441 Corporal Keith Elliott Tippett, New Zealand Military Forces.” He was a CORPORAL at the time. Source: The London Gazette.
See him in the full roll →Where this comes from
- Missing info added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll.
- Honours & campaign medals from Online Cenotaph: MM, War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
- Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 2, p.186. Unit history: Loughnan, R. (1963). Divisional Cavalry. External links: London Gazette, 26 November 1942, p.5142 (Military Medal): http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/35799/supplements/5142; The National Archives, Recommendation for Award (WO 373/46/58): http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D7369592
This page is part of the Long Range Desert Group roll of members at lrdgarchive.org. If you hold rights to anything on it and would like it credited differently, or taken down, please see Sources and Copyright. It will be dealt with promptly.
Not By Strength But By Guile