Piper was commissioned into the Royal Air Force on 6 July 1936. He served in the Second World War as a flight commander with No. 15 Squadron RAF but was shot down in July 1941 and spent a year as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III. After the war he became Officer Commanding, RAF Schwechat in Austria in 1946, wing commander – flying at RAF Gatow in 1948, and a member of staff in Administrative Plans Directorate at Headquarters Middle East Air Force in 1951. He went on to be Station Commander, RAF Dishforth in 1953, group captain – plans at Headquarters RAF Transport Command in 1955, Director of Operational Requirements (Air) at the Air Ministry in 1958, and Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, Headquarters Near East Air Force in 1960. His last appointments were as Air Officer Commanding, No. 38 Group RAF in 1962, Commandant of the RAF Staff College, Bracknell, in 1965 and UK Permanent Military Deputy to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) in 1966.Rosier, p. 235 before retiring in 1968.
