WWII pilot Max Collett begins his journey to his final resting place. Photo Paul Taylor
WWII pilot Max Collett begins his journey to his final resting place. Photo Paul Taylor
Fellow veterans, friends and family gathered in Napier to say goodbye and observe a poignant flyover dedicated to one of the last surviving wartime Spitfire veterans.
RNZAF Spitfire pilot Max Collett died in Napier on Christmas Day aged 99. He was thought to have been the last living New Zealand pilot of the iconic WWII plane - a man whose extraordinary exploits included sinking enemy submarines in the feared fighter.
Collett was fittingly honoured with a flyover from said legendary British single-seater at the conclusion of his service at Beth Shan Funeral Home, Napier, on Friday, closely followed by flyovers by two wartime biplanes.
Max Collett grew up in Waipawa before joining the Air Force at age 18. Photo Collett Family
His children, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren earlier said they’ll remember him as a family man with a “wicked, fun-loving sense of humour”.
His family believe he may have been the last living Spitfire pilot in New Zealand.
RNZAF Spitfire pilot Max Collett, left, passed away in Napier on Christmas Day age 99. Photo NZME
Dianne Shefford said her father had said that the mark of a successful life was whether or not you produce a good family. ”He was very stoic and he had real integrity and just taught us the values of how to treat people properly.”
Collett grew up in Waipawa before joining the air force at age 18, eventually flying Spitfires with the New Zealand 485 Squadron.
He ended the war as a flight officer with a Mention In Dispatches for being one of two pilots to sink three German midget submarines in a Spitfire - he and Flight Lieutenant T Kearins are thought to be the only two Spitfire pilots to ever sink a submarine during the war.
Max Collet's plane named the "Waipawa Special" pictured here in action during WWII. Photo Collett Family
He was also one of several Hawke’s Bay veterans awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest military medal, in 2014 for contributions to the Normandy landings in 1944.
Alongside his accomplishments, he had a sense of humour about what he did during the war, often joking that he was credited with destroying three aircraft when they were all his own.
An Ohakea-based Spitfire during its flyover at Max Collett's funeral in Napier. Photo Paul Taylor
After the war, he returned to Waipawa and worked as an accountant at the Public Trust, where he met Noeline, his wife for over 60 years before she passed away in 2011. They had four children, Rosemary, Vivienne, Noel and Diane, and have six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, soon to be nine.
The family moved to Napier in 1952, where he continued to work as an accountant until his retirement in his early 60s.
