Father and son Chris and Nick Piper travelled to Temora last weekend on a pilgrimage of sorts to visit the Temora Aviation Museum to spend time with the Spitfire display and take part in simulator flights of the iconic aircraft. Chris’s father, Geoffrey ‘Pip’ Piper, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfire pilot during the Second World War as part of the multinational 273 squadron flying combat missions against the Imperial Japanese forces during the Burma campaign. The squadron was comprised of pilots from across the globe including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, South Africa and Burma. Chris and his brother Phil are in the midst of researching and writing a book on their fathers war time experiences flying Spitfire Mk VIII’s with 273 Squadron in India and Burma over the period of July 1944 through to August 1945. Temora Aviation Museum has one of only three Mark VIII Spitfires in the world that are still flying. What started as research trip and a road trip with his son turned into a dream come true as Temora Aviation Museum CEO Peter Harper came to meet Chris and Nick. Mr Harper gave him an opportunity to not only to get up close and personal with the legendary fighter but suggested he sit in the pilot’s seat just as his father had done all those years before. “I just thought that I really wanted to combine a road trip with my son anyway and I thought coming here to Temora, a couple of nights away, spending a day, would be an ideal,” Chris said. “You can do a road trip and actually have a fantastic thing which we'll remember forever. “It was also an added bonus for us having the chance of chatting with Peter Harper and being able to see close up the Spitfire VIII in which my dad flew.” He said it was fabulous to actually be able to sit in the aircraft and was not something he had expected. Flight Lieutenant ‘Pip’ Piper died in 1993 and the two son’s have been piecing together not only their fathers experiences but those of the squadrons history. The squadron operated out of a number of airstrips across British India (Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar), and well as Burma itself (Maunghnama, Ramree Island, and then Mingaladon, just outside of Rangoon). The squadron’s main role was supporting elements of the British XIV Army as it battled down the coastal Arakan region. After being discharged from the RAF in 1946 Flt Lt Piper re-enlisted in either 1948 or 1949 and went on to fly jet fighters and became a flight instructor.
