The funeral for Arthur Joplin, the last wartime pilot of Bomber Command's famed 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, was held in Auckland today. Photo / Supplied
The funeral for Arthur Joplin, the last wartime pilot of Bomber Command's famed 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, was held in Auckland today. Photo / Supplied
The world’s last surviving pilot of the famed World War II “Dambusters” squadron, who helped sink one of Hitler’s prized battleships, has died.
Auckland-born Arthur “Joppy” Joplin died peacefully at Edmund Hillary Retirement Village in Remuera last Tuesday, aged 99.
Joplin had volunteered for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in early 1943 while war raged in Europe and across the Pacific and after training as a pilot was posted directly to Britain as a 20-year-old on active service.
Together with fellow New Zealander bomb aimer Lofty Hebbard, he was posted to Bomber Command’s elite 617 Dambusters squadron, one of only six crews to do so.
When he turned up, Joplin was overwhelmed by “all the medal ribbons, high rankers and famous names”.
“Here I was in the flash Petwood Hotel with the stars of Bomber Command,” he recalled.
On seeing Joplin’s bare ribbon patch, his ground crew made a mock DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) from perspex and wire, saying, “Everyone else has a gong and you now have one too”.
Arthur Joplin's wartime crew. Photo / Supplied
Joplin, who would be awarded the Legion of Honour by the French Government for his wartime service, flew his first operational mission on August 17, 1944 to bomb the U-boat base at La Pallice, in southwestern France.
It was after the famous, audacious raids in Germany’s Ruhr Valley, which used revolutionary bouncing bombs to strike devastating blows behind Nazi lines.
On October 29 1944, Joplin and his crew flew against the Nazi battleship Tirpitz for the first time.
After the loss of sister ship Bismarck, Tirpitz had been moved to the security of fjord anchorages in Norway.
Even while moored and being refitted, the vessel represented an ever-present threat to the Arctic and Atlantic convoys.
To have enough fuel to do the round trip, the Lancaster’s mid-upper turret, the front guns, the armour plating around the pilot and half the ammunition for the rear turret were removed. Extra fuel tanks were fitted inside the fuselage and MK24 Merlin engines with paddle props were installed.
Even so, carrying a 12000lb Blockbuster bomb, the flight of more than 12 hours was at the edge of the Lancaster’s range.
With the Tirpitz still afloat, a further operation was mounted on November 12. This time they got a clear view of the ship and bombed from 15,200 feet (4600m).
Britain’s wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill described the sinking of the Tirpitz as the most significant naval success of the war.
The crew flew a further three operations before joining a visit to Politz on December 29 – the first night raid undertaken by Joplin’s crew.
On returning, they were advised that their base at Woodhall Spa and other Lincolnshire airfields were fogged in and they should divert to Ludford Magna, an airfield equipped with FIDO (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation).
But the device had not been lit for the returning aircraft and with no visibility for landing, Joplin’s Lancaster crashed, killing two crewmen. Joplin broke both legs and never returned to flying.
Fellow pilot Benny Goodman, who had joined the squadron on the same day as Joplin, would later say, “Give my regards to Joppy and tell him the crash was not his fault.”
After the war, Joplin returned to New Zealand to work in his father’s knitwear business.
In 1953 he married Bette (Betty), who died in 2014. They have no descendants.
A death notice posted in the Herald at the weekend paid tribute to the “loved husband of the late Betty” and “dear friend to many, always remembered with love and laughter. Rest in peace”.
Around 6000 New Zealanders served as volunteers in Bomber Command. One in three did not survive, with Bomber Command having the highest casualty rate of all the Allied services.
