Kenneth Spring

Kenneth Spring OBE TD
File:File:Kenneth Spring self-portrait.jpg Kenneth Spring in a self-portrait, circa 1946.
Born	1921
Died	1997 (aged 75–76)
Place of birth	London, United Kingdom
Place of death	Oxfordshire
Service/branch	Royal Artillery and Royal Indian Mounted Artillery British Army British Indian Army
Years of service	1941-1975
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/wars	Burma Campaign (Second World War)
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Efficiency Decoration, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939–1945, Burma Star, 1939–45 Star

Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Arthur Spring OBE TD (1921–1997) was a British Army officer, artist and co-founder of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.

Early life and family

Spring was born in Dulwich, London, the son of Captain Albert Spring, a former Royal Flying Corps officer, and the composer, Dorothy Spring. Spring was a descendant of the Suffolk Spring family, and a relation of Lord Risby and Brigadier-General Frederick Spring. He was educated at Alleyn's School and the University of London.

Spring married Doreen Healy in 1947 and together they had two children:

• David Spring (1948-1982), married Elizabeth Gibbs
• Michael Spring (b.1953), married Penelope Johns Taylor

Career

Initially a conscientious objector, Spring's military service started in the Royal Engineers in bomb disposal. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1941, before transferring to the Indian Army. In the Far East, he served in the mounted artillery of the 25th Infantry Division during the Japanese invasion of Burma and the subsequent Burma Campaign. He rose to the rank of captain in 1942. He was briefly captured by the Japanese in Burma, although he escaped and was picked up by an Australian patrol. In 1945, Spring was involved in Operation Zipper, during which the Japanese forces in Malaya surrendered to the Allies. After returning from the Far East at the end of war in 1945, he joined the Territorial Army. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1975, and was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military) that same year. Spring was also awarded the Efficiency Decoration for long service.

Shortly after returning to England, Spring started to teach art at his alma mater, Alleyn’s School, having been coached during the war by Sir William Coldstream, whom he met whilst serving in the Royal Artillery. In 1956, he helped Michael Croft to found the National Youth Theatre. He also taught at Camberwell College of Arts and Goldsmiths, University of London. In the 1960s Spring moved to Oxfordshire to become a master at Bloxham School.

He died on 25 December 1997 in Oxfordshire and is buried in Bloxham. In 2008, a previously unnamed and unascended mountain in East Greenland was named 'Colonel's Peak' in memory of Spring, following the first ascent of the mountain by his grandson, Nathaniel.