Major General Sir Howard Karl Kippenberger, KBE, CB, DSO & Bar, ED (28 January 1897 – 5 May 1957), known as "Kip", was an officer of the New Zealand Military Forces who served in the First and Second World Wars.

He led the battalion for two years, through the Battles of Greece and Crete as well as part of the North African Campaign before being promoted to brigadier and taking command of the 5th Infantry Brigade.

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.

Therefore, he built up an extensive military library and studied the theory of warfare and analysed past campaigns to ascertain strategy and tactics for a given situation.

The 2nd New Zealand Division, under the command of Major General Bernard Freyberg, was amongst the various Allied units dispatched to Greece in early March.

[16] As part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, the 20th Battalion prepared and manned the western edge of the Aliakmon Line, a position Kippenberger was not particularly happy with.

He felt the defensive line allocated to his battalion was too wide to meaningfully defend, and he took care to reconnoiter avenues of retreat from his positions.

Kippenberger's battalion was chosen to be the rearguard and he personally intervened in the demolition of bridges and culverts through Servia Pass to ensure that as many stragglers as possible were collected.

[19] He and some of his demolition party later came under artillery and tank fire as they attempted to catch up with the main body of the brigade,[20] and were forced to abandon their vehicles and rejoin the battalion on foot.

[21] On Crete, Kippenberger was promoted to temporary colonel and given command of the 10th Brigade, an ad hoc formation, which included a 750-man composite battalion consisting mainly of artillery and Army Service Corps men (sans most of their heavy equipment and trucks), New Zealand Divisional Cavalry, some machine gunners and two Greek regiments (although Kippenberger assessed the Greek units to be of limited use).

[22] When the Germans launched the invasion of Crete on 20 May, Kippenberger, like most of the defenders of the island, was surprised at the sight of hundreds of Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) descending under parachutes.

[28] Back in Egypt, and after a short period of rest, Kippenberger set about rebuilding the battalion, which had lost over half its original complement.

The Italians began to send the captive senior officers to prisoner of war camps in Italy, a fate Kippenberger wanted to avoid.

However, he not only decided to use unreliable short-range radios but also failed to make it clear to the inexperienced commander of the 21st Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Sam Allen, that it was not expected to cover the whole frontal advance.

During the advance, the elements of the battalion were spread so far apart that they lost cohesion and bypassed numerous strong points, leaving the German line in front of the ridge largely intact.

[37] In the morning, the supporting British armour was nowhere to be seen and the artillery and anti-tank units were unable to break through, leaving the two New Zealand brigades in position on the exposed ridge.

Unable to contact nearby units by radio and realising the degree to which his men were exposed, he raced off under fire in a Bren carrier to locate the British armour.

Although awarded a Bar to his DSO for his dash for help from the British, Kippenberger was bitter about the poor planning of the operation and admitted his own errors of judgement.

[38] On the opening day of the Second Battle of El Alamein, Kippenberger led his brigade, which had spent much of the previous weeks in defensive lines, in an attack on Miteirya Ridge during which it achieved all of its objectives.

In contrast to three months earlier at Ruweisat Ridge, he took care to establish his headquarters as far forward as possible prior to the commencement of the battle to minimise communication difficulties with the units of the brigade.

The battalion's commander blamed his unit's eagerness for a rapid advance on Kippenberger's inspirational pre-battle speech which particularly enthused his men.

[41] Kippenberger was the ranking officer of the group, and with a high public profile due to his exploits in Crete and North Africa, he spent much of his leave in extensive speaking engagements.

[45] Kippenberger found the close fighting in the mountainous terrain in Italy to be in marked contrast to the open campaign of the deserts of North Africa.

When the commander of British XIII Corps, Lieutenant General Miles C. Dempsey, ordered what Kippenberger regarded to be wasteful attacks on ground in front of the 5th Brigade, he was not pleased and twice voiced his concerns.

[55] In his capacity as Editor-in-Chief, he guided the planning and production of volumes dedicated to specific campaigns, units and the war effort in general.

He disavowed any censorship and diligently read every draft of every volume produced under his editorship, providing extensive, but constructive, feedback to the authors.

[59] Kippenberger encouraged a positive atmosphere at the War History Branch, despite a tight budget and at times crowded work conditions.

While serving as RSA president, he courted controversy by his outspoken opposition to the All Blacks tour of South Africa in 1949, on the basis of the exclusion of Maori players from the team.

His collection is housed in the Kippenberger Research Library, in the QEII Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru, together with other books covering a wide range of military subjects, with an emphasis on all major wars involving New Zealanders.

It allows officer cadets based at Linton Military Camp, near Palmerston North, the chance to study at Massey University before becoming commissioned.