As you may know from Michael Smith's article on the web-site, HMS Kipling was launched in 1939, and sunk in the Mediterranean by enemy action in 1942. During its brief life there were cordial relations between the Society and the Officers and men of the ship.
In July 1940 The Society had presented a copy of the plaque of RK which figured on the cover of the KJ to HMS Kipling, and thereafter it hung in the ward-room. This was reported in KJ54, which went on to report as follows:
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After the unveiling ceremony, performed by Mr. J. H.C. Brooking the founder of the Society, the Captain and his officers had reserved a delightful surprise,
for they in turn presented to the Society a corresponding plaque in
bronze of the ship's boat badge, in recognition of the association
of the Society with H.M.S. Kipling, and the generous support its mem-
bers gave the fund to provide war-time comforts for the ship's
company.
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The boat badge, in bronze, was presented to the Society, and thereafter hung in the Society’s office in London.
A picture of the badge, which consisted of the elephant’s head motif, with HMS KIPLING above, and the date 1939 below, appeared in KJ 54.
We have now been sent by the son of Chief Petty Officer Roberts of HMS Kipling, who must have been one of the survivors of the sinking of the ship in 1942, a photo of a plaque, embodying the ‘boat badge’, which his father must have rescued before the ship went down.
Some questions:
Would there have been just one copy of the ‘Boat Badge’ on board the ship ?
What would its significance have been ?
How might CPO Roberts have rescued it ?
What happened to the copy presented to the Kipling Society ?
John Radcliffe 1 November 2006