Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Arthur Spring (23 October 1921 – 25 December 1997) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, artist and co-founder of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.

Early life and family

Spring was born in

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

, London, the son of Albert Spring (1884–1961), a former

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

officer and schoolmaster, and the composer, Cecil Dorothy Arburn Chapman (1885–1961). Spring was a descendant of the Suffolk

Spring family The Spring family is a Suffolk Landed gentry, gentry family that has been involved in the politics and economy of East Anglia since the 15th century, as well as holding large estates in Ireland from the 16th century.Joseph Jackson Howard, ‘Spri ...

, and a relation of Lord Risby and Brigadier-General Frederick Spring. He was educated at

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, independent, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundatio ...

, London, where he was a close friend of

John Lanchbery John Arthur Lanchbery OBE (15 May 1923 – 27 February 2003) was an English-Australian composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements. He served as the Principal Conductor of the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1972, Principal Conductor o ...

, before attending Blackpool Art School.

Military career

On call-up in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 22 February 1941, Spring registered as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

and was conscripted into the

Non-Combatant Corps The Non-Combatant Corps (NCC) was a corps of the British Army composed of conscientious objectors as privates, with NCOs and officers seconded from other corps or regiments. Its members fulfilled various non-combatant roles in the army during the ...

(NCC); with other members of the NCC, he went on to volunteer for work in

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

in London. In October 1941 he resigned his status as a conscientious objector, and served as a

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

in 15 Bomb Disposal Company,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, between December 1941 and July 1943, when he transferred to the staff of "B” Company, No.2 Training Battalion, Royal Engineers, at Blacon Camp. In March 1944 he was selected for officer training and undertook the Officer Cadet Training Unit commissioning course at

Catterick Garrison Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and List of modern military towns, military town south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 14 ...

. On 23 July 1944 he was commissioned into the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. He was posted to India in October 1944, taking command of 35 Battery, 33rd Indian Mountain Regiment, Royal Indian Artillery, part of the

25th Indian Infantry Division The 25th Infantry Division is an infantry division of the Indian Army which was raised during the World War II and fought in the Burma Campaign. It was re-raised within the post-independence Indian Army in 1948. History Originally formed in B ...

. He saw extensive action in the Arakan Campaign 1944–1945 in Burma, during which he was injured. On 30 March 1945 he was promoted to

war substantive Military ranks is a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies, paramilitary groups, and other institutions organized along military lines, such as youth groups, chivalric orders, religious orders, an ...

lieutenant and became adjutant of the 33rd Mountain Regiment. Spring was involved in

Operation Zipper During World War II, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya, as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore in Operation Mailfist. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it ...

and served as the Station Staff Officer,

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir ...

in Kuala Lumpur during the Japanese surrender. Between November 1945 and June 1946 he was Acting

District Officer The District Officer (abbreviated to D.O.), was a commissioned officer of one of the colonial governments of the British Empire, from the mid-1930s also a member of the Colonial Service of the United Kingdom, who was responsible for a District of ...

Teluk Anson Teluk Intan is a town in Hilir Perak District, Perak, Malaysia. It is the district capital, the largest town in the district and fourth largest town in the state of Perak with an estimated population of around 172,505, more than half of Hilir P ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

. In this position he established a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

for Japanese prisoners in

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

. He returned to England in June 1946 and was placed on the list of the regular reserve of officers. On 22 April 1947 he was released from regular service due to his wartime injuries and transferred to the

Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. Descended from the Territorial Force ( ...

, becoming honorary lieutenant. He was promoted to acting captain on 17 November 1948 and to honorary lieutenant colonel on 25 April 1974. He was appointed to the committee of the Combined Cadet Force Association, and served as the CO of Alleyn's School CCF between 1960 and 1966. He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration for long service in 1961. Spring relinquished his commission in 1975, and was invested as an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(Military) the same year.

Artist and teacher

After returning to England in 1947, Spring gained an art teaching diploma from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and became a teacher at his alma mater, Alleyn's School. In 1949 he founded the influential South East London Art Group, of which he became chairman, and was closely associated with artists such as Keith Godwin and

Stanley Roy Badmin Stanley Roy Badmin (18 April 1906 – 28 April 1989) was an England, English Painting, painter and etching, etcher particularly notable for his book illustrations and Landscape art, landscapes. Life The son of Charles James Badmin and his wife ...

. In 1953 he was appointed Lecturer in Art at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

. In 1958 he was appointed chief examiner of art by the London University Board and was responsible for the introduction of the new craft syllabus. He sat on the executive committee of the Camberwell Arts Council. In 1956 he was a co-founder, alongside

Michael Croft John Michael Croft, OBE (8 March 1922 – 15 November 1986) was an English actor, schoolteacher, and writer. Based upon his own experience of supply teaching in tough secondary schools, he wrote the controversial 1954 anti-corporal punishment ...

, of the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and charity in London, created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world ...

. He was production manager for the Youth Theatre's first play, ''Henry V'', which appeared at the Toynbee Hall in London in September 1956. He continued to be involved in Youth Theatre productions until 1962. In 1965 Spring moved to Oxfordshire to become a master at

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school of the Public school (United Kingdom), British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham ...

Style

Spring worked in a variety of media, including watercolour, oil, print, and carving in stone and wood. His body of work in watercolour and oil were largely of landscapes, and were in a similar style to S. R. Badmin. Other flat work shows strong affinities with contemporary neo-romantic artists such as John Piper. He was also influenced by Sir

William Coldstream Sir William Menzies Coldstream, CBE (28 February 1908 – 18 February 1987) was an English realist painter and a long-standing art teacher. Biography Coldstream was born at Belford, Northumberland, in northern England, the second son of co ...

, who he met whilst serving in the Royal Artillery and from whom he received tutelage at

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

. His wood carving style was influenced by

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...

and

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American and British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1910. Early in his ...

, and mostly depicted the human form. Spring's woodcutting technique was influenced by

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs, Castle Hedingham and othe ...

Personal life

Spring married Doreen Healy in 1947 and together they had two children: *David Spring (1948–1980), married Elizabeth Gibbs *Michael Spring (b.1953), married Penelope Johns TaylorThePeerage.com (#526614) http://thepeerage.com/p52662.htm#i526614 He died on 25 December 1997 in Sibford Ferris and is buried in

Bloxham Bloxham is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire several miles from the Cotswolds, about southwest of Banbury. It is on the edge of a valley and overlooked by Hobb Hill. The village is on the A361 road. The 2011 Census recorded ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Kenneth 1921 births 1997 deaths Military personnel from the London Borough of Southwark 20th-century British painters British male painters Academics of Camberwell College of Arts Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Burials in Oxfordshire British conscientious objectors English printmakers English watercolourists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Alleyn's School Personnel of the Non-Combatant Corps Royal Artillery officers Royal Engineers soldiers

Kenneth Kenneth is a given name of Gaelic origin. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

World War II artists 20th-century British war artists National Youth Theatre members People from British Malaya 20th-century British male artists People from Dulwich