SERIOUS WOUNDS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 56, 7 March 1944, Page 2

SERIOUS WOUNDS

GEN. KIPPENBERGER

FEET SHATTERED BY MINE

(N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) N.Z. DIV. H.Q., ITALY, Mar. 4.

While visiting the forward area, Major-General H. K. Kippenberger, D.S.O. and bar, Commander of the Second New Zealand Division in action in Italy, was seriously wounded as a result of stepping on what is believed to have been an anti-personnel box mine. With his A.D.C., Second-Lieuten-ant F. P. Massey, of Mangere, a grandson of a former New Zealand Prime Minister, the Hon. William Ferguson Massey, General Kippenberger was descending a rocky slope after viewing the battle area. He remarked to Second-Lieutenant Massey that the place seemed a likely one for mines, and they had proceeded only a few yards further when there was a violent explosion, which threw General Kippenberger several yards and Second-Lieutenant Massey some distance down the hillside.

One of General Kippenberger s feet had been severed, and the other was so shattered that later it had to be amputated. Second-Lieutenant Massey, although he had been following only a yard or so behind General Kippenberger, escaped with superficial wounds. General Kippenberger suggested that he crawl down the rest of the slope, but his A.D.C., upon seeing the seriousness of his wounds, hastily made for a nearby New Zealand unit. Stretcher-bearers set out immediately and within a very short time General Kippenberger was receiving medical attention. He was returned to the rear areas through the usual medical channels, and it is expected that within the next clay or two he will be moved from a casualty clearing station to a New Zealand general hospital on the Fifth Army front. He has already been visited by Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C. The news of General Kippenberger's wounds has stirred the feelings of every man in the Division. He is admired by the troops for his leadership, and for his unfailing interest in their well-being over a long period. Box mines are an ever-pre-sent menace on the front. They are well concealed and difficult to detect. It was reported to-day that General Kippenberger was making as good progress as could be expected