Kippenberger, Howard Karl “Kip”, born 28-01-1897, in Ladbrooks 
in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand, to Karl and Annie Kippenberger. His unusual surname came from his paternal great-grandparents, who emigrated to New Zealand from Germany in 1862. The oldest of five children, Howard received his early education at local schools in Ladbrooks and nearby Prebbleton (Kippenberger’s father was the headmaster at Prebbleton School). When he was 14, his father became a farmer and moved the family to Oxford. Kippenberger continued his schooling at Christchurch Boys’ High School 
as a boarder. Intellectually advanced for his age, he was not academically challenged at school and misbehaved in class. This, together with a low attendance rate, led to the school authorities asking him to leave high school. Returning home to Oxford, he worked on the family farm.
Always interested in military history, Kippenberger joined the local unit of the New Zealand Cadet Corps (NZEF) 
and found that he enjoyed soldiering. His father did not approve of his interest but regardless, Kippenberger enlisted. He saw action in France on the Western Front, participating in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. 
A serious wound in November 1916 
saw him repatriated to New Zealand and discharged from the NZEF, he qualified as a solicitor in 1920 and worked in a legal practice in Rangiora. In 1924, he joined the Territorial Force and by 1936 had advanced in rank to Lieutenant Colonel. Kippenberger appreciated the need to establish a career for himself and to this end, decided on a profession in law; in early 1918 he enrolled at Canterbury College 
to study law and later in the year found a job as a law clerk in a legal practice in Christchurch. Here he met Ruth Isobel Flynn, a secretary, whom he married on 28-09-1922, the couple had three children, two sons and a daughter. Ruth Isobel Flynn passed away on the 15-05-1967 aged 70 years old. Her remains were interred at Makara Cemetery on the 16-05-1967. Her grave is in Section 01/2, Plot 57/3. Working by day, and studying in the evenings, he qualified as a solicitor in 1920, he moved to Rangiora, becoming the manager and then a partner of the Rangiora branch of a Christchurch legal firm.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Kippenberger was appointed to command 
the 20th Battalion, 
he led the battalion for two years, through the Battles of Greece and Creteas well as part of the North African Campaign before being promoted to Brigadier and taking command of the 5th Infantry Brigade.
The 5th Division, New Zealand Military Forces, was raised in the Southern Military District during World War II. It consisted of the 3rd and 10th Brigades and the 11th Brigade Group. It was disbanded after the danger of invasion from Japan receded. It appears to have been raised on 01-11-1941, and disbanded on 01-04-1944.
Infantry units included the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Canterbury Regiment, the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Nelson, Marlborough & West Coast Regiment, the 2nd Battalion New Zealand Scots (Westerfield, Sept 42 – July 1943), the 1st Battalion Southland Regiment, and the 3rd Battalion, Nelson Marlborough West Coast Regiment (Blenheim, January–June 1942). In mid-1942, the division comprised:[5]
When King George VI was conferring Charles Upham‘s
second VC he asked Major-General Sir Howard Kippenberger, his commanding officer: “Does he deserve it?”
“In my respectful opinion, Sir,” replied Kippenberger, “Upham won this VC several times over.”
The pinnacle of his military career was as commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division 
during the Italian Campaign, Howard was wounded 
on 03-03-1944 during the Battle of Monte Cassino
when he stepped on a land mine. Kippenberger climbed the slopes of nearby Mount Trocchio to gain an overview of the Cassino battlefield. Near the top of the mountain, he triggered a land mine which exploded and injured both legs to the extent that one foot was severed in the blast, he was evacuated to a medical centre, and the other foot and the lower portions of both legs were amputated. When the news of his injuries spread to the men of the 2nd New Zealand Division, 
it was met with some disbelief and shock, greatly affecting morale As a result of his wounds, he lost both of his feet, after recovery in England, 
during which he was fitted with artificial limbs, he helped prepare for and assisted in the repatriation of newly released New Zealand prisoners of war. In 1946, he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of New Zealand’s largest-ever publishing project, the Official History of New Zealand in World War II, 1939–45. 
Bernard Cyril, 1st Baron “the Salamander” Freyberg (pictured) would command the 2nd New Zealand Division for most of its existence
Death and burial ground of Kippenberger, Howard Karl “Kip”
In April 1957, his wife’s health deteriorated and she was hospitalised, although seriously ill, she recovered sufficiently to be moved home. On 04-05-1957, while preparing for his wife’s homecoming, Kippenberger complained of a headache and then collapsed. Taken to hospital in a coma, he died the next day of a cerebral haemorrhage, he was buried on 7 May at Karori Cemetery in Wellington with full military honours. 
Ruth Kippenberger watched the funeral procession of her husband from her hospital window; she died ten years later..
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