Roll of Honour - Kent - Tunbridge Wells - World War 2

Lionel was a Captain (#108181) with the Royal Sussex Regiment who at the age of 24 died in the Netherlands September 19, 1944 and who was awarded the Victoria Cross. He is recorded at the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery (5. D. 8). He was the son of Leslie Herbert and Sybil Queripel of Tunbridge Wells. His name was added to the war memorial February 24, 2005 at the request of his family and was the last name added to the memorial. Captain Queripel from Warwick Park received his VC for his part in manoeuvres in Arnhem, Holland in September 1944. Captain Queripel and his company were advancing along a main road towards Arnhem clearing a path for the following battalions of the Parachute Regiment. They were under continuous machine gun fire which, at one point, became so heavy that the group split on either side of the road and suffered considerable losses. Captain Queripel at once proceeded to reorganise his force, crossing and recrossing the road whilst doing so, under extremely heavy and accurate fire. As he battled to regroup his men he stopped to carry a wounded colleague to the safety of a first-aid post and whilst doing so was himself wounded in the face. He brushed this aside and gathered his remaining troops together to charge towards the enemy strong point, which consisted of a captured British anti-tank gun and two machine-guns. Despite the fire directed at him, he succeeded in killing the enemy and recapturing the anti-tank gun. As a result of this the following battalion was able to continue their advances towards Arnhem. Later the same day he found himself again under heavy fire with a small party of men. By this time he had received bullet wounds in both arms and regardless of this and the heavy mortar and machine gun fire directed at him, he continued to motivate his men to defy the enemy with their dwindling resources of hand grenades, pistols and rifles. After continued heavy combat he and his men had no choice but to retreat. Queripel ordered his men to withdraw and covered them with his pistol and a few remaining hand grenades. This was the last anyone saw of him. Lionel had been born July 13, 1920 in Winterborne, Monkton, Dorset, England, and had come from a well established and highly decorated military dynasty. His father, Colonel L. H. Queripel was a CMG and had been awarded the DSO. Captain Queripel had been commissioned into the 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment just before the start of WW2. When age 24 Queripel became a Captain in The Royal Sussex Regiment, attached 10th Parachute Battalion, during the war. There are many Regimental memorials to Lionel Queripel, including; the Royal Sussex Book of Remembrance in Chichester Cathedral, the Parachute Regiment Role of Honour at Aldershot, Queripel House the site of 10 Para's HQ at Duke of York's in London, the entrance porch to the village church at Somerby, Leicestershire where 10 Para emplaned and of course the Royal Sussex Museum and airborne museums at Aldershot and Oosterbeek. Recently his school, Marlborough College, has unveiled a VC/GC memorial on which his name is commemorated. In Tunbridge Wells his name, image and information forms part of the Victoria Cross Grove monument in Dunorlan Park which includes the names of 9 other recipients of the VC.