Leonard Taplin
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Leonard Thomas Eaton Taplin (16 December 1895–8 July 1961) qualified as a flying ace
during World War I. During his service in Palestine
, he helped pioneer the use of aerial photography for cartography
. He then transferred to the Western Front
and was credited with 12 official aerial victories. Postwar, he was an aviation pioneer in Australia, and a leading citizen in his adopted hometown.
, the ten-year-old Taplin broke his arm playing leap frog at school. In an early example of his courage, he first walked home, then a half mile to the doctor's, where he submitted to having the compound fractures of the bones in his arm set without anesthetic.
Taplin attended Prince Alfred College
. After graduation, he took a job as assistant to his elder brother, who was engineer in charge of the Electrical Supply Company in Parramatta. He then joined the Australian Imperial Force
as an engineer on 12 June 1915 so he could serve in World War I. On his enlistment form, he gave his birthplace as Adelaide and his occupation as electrical engineer. He also stated he was a natural born British subject. He listed his father, Charles Eaton Taplin, as next of kin, but also added Mrs. D. Taplin of Charing Cross
, London as a second next of kin.
. He applied for transfer to the Australian Flying Corps. On 8 November 1916, he was accepted for transfer. After pilot's training, he was assigned to 1 Squadron AFC in the Middle East as a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2
pilot. He had not been in B Flight of the unit too long when he was in a crash near Khan Yunis
. On 8 November 1917, while flying BE.2 serial number 4312 on a bombing sortie against Junction Station
, Taplin wrecked the plane. His observer perished in the wreck, and Taplin was seriously injured.
However, Taplin had healed enough by the New Year that he was available to be assigned by General Allenby to a pioneering use of aerial photography for mapping. In January 1918, General Allenby used five Australian pilots from No. 1 Squadron AFC
to photograph a 624 square miles (1,616.2 km²) area in Palestine
as an aid to correcting and improving maps of the Turkish front. Taplin and fellow lieutenants Allan Runciman Brown
, H. L. Fraser, Edward Patrick Kenny
, and L. W. Rogers photographed a block of land stretching from the Turkish front lines 32 miles (51.5 km) deep into their rear areas. Beginning 5 January, they flew with a fighter escort to ward off enemy fighters. Using Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12 and Martinsyde
airplanes, they not only overcame enemy air attacks, but also bucked 65 mile per hour winds, antiaircraft fire, and malfunctioning equipment to complete their task circa 19 January 1918.
On 17 January, during one of these photo sorties at 12000 feet (3,657.6 m), Taplin was plagued by a jamming camera while mapping Nablus
. He decided to hold the joystick
with his knees and dismantle the camera to clear its jam. Once the camera was disassembled, he was attacked by a German Albatros. Taplin drove him away with a burst of 30 rounds of machine gun fire, then completed repair of the camera and completed his mission.
On 5 March 1918, Taplin left the Middle East for duty piloting a Sopwith Camel
with 4 Squadron AFC at Redlington, France. He scored his first aerial victory on 17 July 1918, using Camel serial number C8226 to destroy an Albatros two-seater reconnaissance plane southwest of Estaires
. On 26 July, he was taking off at 0420 hours on a dawn bombing raid with Very flares and a high explosive and a phosphorus
bomb in addition to his usual load of fuel and ammunition. When his speeding Camel hit a rut and broke its landing gear axle, Taplin unfastened his safety harness and exited the crash-in-progress post haste. The ensuing explosion slightly singed the fleeing pilot.
Taplin began usage of Sopwith Camel number 1407; he would score 10 victories with it. On 30 July, he drove a Fokker D.VII
down out of control; the following day, scoring twice, he drove down a Fokker D.VII and drove down another. On 7 August 1918, he set an Albatros D.V
afire in the air south of Laventie
, and became an ace. Two days later, using Camel number D9432, he destroyed a Hannover recon plane north of Marquillies
.
On 1 September, Taplin became a balloon buster
, destroying a German observation balloon over Fromelles
. The next day, he shot down and wrecked a Halberstadt
recon plane east of Aubers
. He then ruined a balloon on the morning of 3 September, and destroyed another that same evening. Two days later, he destroyed his fourth balloon in the morning, and sent a Fokker D.VII out of control in the evening. This dogfight ended his combat career. Outnumbered by a ratio of five or six to one, Taplin and his three squadronmates fell under the guns of German fighters from Jasta 26 and Jasta 27. As the fight began at 15000 feet (4,572 m), Taplin was shot through the right hand by German ace Christian Mesch, breaking Taplin's wrist and causing him to throw his Camel into a stall. He recovered with his left hand, then downed the Fokker that was his final win. He was then hit by another burst of fire that shattered the breech of his machine gun and sliced a shard of shrapnel into his nose. The stunned Taplin tumbled to 1000 feet (304.8 m) altitude, followed by two Germans. After a skirmish with the Germans, which was settled by Taplin shooting down one of the Germans and chasing the other off, Taplin was no longer engaged by his aerial enemies. By now, the Australian was down to 100 feet (30.5 m), coping with a rough-running engine and one-handed piloting, and exposed to ground fire. The wounded pilot and his damaged Camel endured several miles of small arms fire while attempting to return to friendly lines. Taplin crashed several hundred yards short of the German front lines and was taken prisoner.
camp until 1919, arriving home on 23 August 1919. He joined Norman Brearley
's fledgling Western Australian Airlines as a pilot for Australia's first scheduled airline. After Brearley sold out, Taplin settled in Port Hedland and became one of its leading citizens. He supplied electricity to the town, and served as both its butcher and undertaker.
Taplin's divorce from Doreen Taplin was finalized on 15 October 1924; he was ordered to pay 3 pounds 10 shillings alimony weekly until her remarriage.
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
during World War I. During his service in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, he helped pioneer the use of aerial photography for cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
. He then transferred to the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
and was credited with 12 official aerial victories. Postwar, he was an aviation pioneer in Australia, and a leading citizen in his adopted hometown.
Early life
Taplin was born on 16 December 1895, his father was C. E. Taplin, an architect. On 8 May 1907, while living in MalvernMalvern, South Australia
Malvern is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Unley. It borders adjacent suburbs of Unley and Parkside to the north, Highgate to the east, Kingswood to the south and Unley Park to the west...
, the ten-year-old Taplin broke his arm playing leap frog at school. In an early example of his courage, he first walked home, then a half mile to the doctor's, where he submitted to having the compound fractures of the bones in his arm set without anesthetic.
Taplin attended Prince Alfred College
Prince Alfred College
Prince Alfred College is an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, near the centre of Adelaide, South Australia...
. After graduation, he took a job as assistant to his elder brother, who was engineer in charge of the Electrical Supply Company in Parramatta. He then joined the Australian Imperial Force
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
as an engineer on 12 June 1915 so he could serve in World War I. On his enlistment form, he gave his birthplace as Adelaide and his occupation as electrical engineer. He also stated he was a natural born British subject. He listed his father, Charles Eaton Taplin, as next of kin, but also added Mrs. D. Taplin of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
, London as a second next of kin.
World War I
After training in England, Taplin served nine months in France as a sapperSapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
. He applied for transfer to the Australian Flying Corps. On 8 November 1916, he was accepted for transfer. After pilot's training, he was assigned to 1 Squadron AFC in the Middle East as a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2
Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2
The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine two-seat biplane which was in service with the Royal Flying Corps from 1912 until the end of World War I. The "Bleriot" in its designation refers to the fact that, like the Bleriot types it was of tractor configuration, with the...
pilot. He had not been in B Flight of the unit too long when he was in a crash near Khan Yunis
Khan Yunis
Khan Yunis - often spelt Khan Younis or Khan Yunnis - is a city and adjacent refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the city, its refugee camp, and its immediate surroundings had a total population of 180,000 in 2006...
. On 8 November 1917, while flying BE.2 serial number 4312 on a bombing sortie against Junction Station
Junction station
Junction station usually refers to a railway station situated or close to a junction where lines to several destinations diverge. The usual minimum is three incoming lines...
, Taplin wrecked the plane. His observer perished in the wreck, and Taplin was seriously injured.
However, Taplin had healed enough by the New Year that he was available to be assigned by General Allenby to a pioneering use of aerial photography for mapping. In January 1918, General Allenby used five Australian pilots from No. 1 Squadron AFC
No. 1 Squadron RAAF
No. 1 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force squadron based at RAAF Amberley. The squadron is currently being re-equipped with F/A-18F Super Hornet multi-role fighters.-World War I:...
to photograph a 624 square miles (1,616.2 km²) area in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
as an aid to correcting and improving maps of the Turkish front. Taplin and fellow lieutenants Allan Runciman Brown
Allan Brown (aviator)
Captain Allan Runciman Brown was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. During World War II, he was a Wing Commander for the Royal Australian Air Force....
, H. L. Fraser, Edward Patrick Kenny
Edward Patrick Kenny
Lieutenant Edward Patrick Kenny was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.-Reference:...
, and L. W. Rogers photographed a block of land stretching from the Turkish front lines 32 miles (51.5 km) deep into their rear areas. Beginning 5 January, they flew with a fighter escort to ward off enemy fighters. Using Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12 and Martinsyde
Martinsyde
Martinsyde was a British aircraft and motorcycle manufacturer between 1908 and 1922, when they were forced into liquidation by a factory fire.-History:...
airplanes, they not only overcame enemy air attacks, but also bucked 65 mile per hour winds, antiaircraft fire, and malfunctioning equipment to complete their task circa 19 January 1918.
On 17 January, during one of these photo sorties at 12000 feet (3,657.6 m), Taplin was plagued by a jamming camera while mapping Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
. He decided to hold the joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
with his knees and dismantle the camera to clear its jam. Once the camera was disassembled, he was attacked by a German Albatros. Taplin drove him away with a burst of 30 rounds of machine gun fire, then completed repair of the camera and completed his mission.
On 5 March 1918, Taplin left the Middle East for duty piloting a Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
with 4 Squadron AFC at Redlington, France. He scored his first aerial victory on 17 July 1918, using Camel serial number C8226 to destroy an Albatros two-seater reconnaissance plane southwest of Estaires
Estaires
-References:*...
. On 26 July, he was taking off at 0420 hours on a dawn bombing raid with Very flares and a high explosive and a phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
bomb in addition to his usual load of fuel and ammunition. When his speeding Camel hit a rut and broke its landing gear axle, Taplin unfastened his safety harness and exited the crash-in-progress post haste. The ensuing explosion slightly singed the fleeing pilot.
Taplin began usage of Sopwith Camel number 1407; he would score 10 victories with it. On 30 July, he drove a Fokker D.VII
Fokker D.VII
The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
down out of control; the following day, scoring twice, he drove down a Fokker D.VII and drove down another. On 7 August 1918, he set an Albatros D.V
Albatros D.V
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Bennett, Leon. Gunning for the Red Baron. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58544-507-X....
afire in the air south of Laventie
Laventie
Laventie is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A small farming and light industrial town, situated some northeast of Béthune and west of Lille, at the junction of the D166, D173 and D174 roads. Famous for its...
, and became an ace. Two days later, using Camel number D9432, he destroyed a Hannover recon plane north of Marquillies
Marquillies
-References:*...
.
On 1 September, Taplin became a balloon buster
Balloon buster
Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness. Seventy-six fighter pilots in World War I were each credited with destroying five or more balloons, and thus were balloon aces....
, destroying a German observation balloon over Fromelles
Fromelles
-References:* -External links:*** video report from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission*...
. The next day, he shot down and wrecked a Halberstadt
Halberstadt
Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
recon plane east of Aubers
Aubers
Aubers is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is west of Lille.-Heraldry:-References:*...
. He then ruined a balloon on the morning of 3 September, and destroyed another that same evening. Two days later, he destroyed his fourth balloon in the morning, and sent a Fokker D.VII out of control in the evening. This dogfight ended his combat career. Outnumbered by a ratio of five or six to one, Taplin and his three squadronmates fell under the guns of German fighters from Jasta 26 and Jasta 27. As the fight began at 15000 feet (4,572 m), Taplin was shot through the right hand by German ace Christian Mesch, breaking Taplin's wrist and causing him to throw his Camel into a stall. He recovered with his left hand, then downed the Fokker that was his final win. He was then hit by another burst of fire that shattered the breech of his machine gun and sliced a shard of shrapnel into his nose. The stunned Taplin tumbled to 1000 feet (304.8 m) altitude, followed by two Germans. After a skirmish with the Germans, which was settled by Taplin shooting down one of the Germans and chasing the other off, Taplin was no longer engaged by his aerial enemies. By now, the Australian was down to 100 feet (30.5 m), coping with a rough-running engine and one-handed piloting, and exposed to ground fire. The wounded pilot and his damaged Camel endured several miles of small arms fire while attempting to return to friendly lines. Taplin crashed several hundred yards short of the German front lines and was taken prisoner.
Post World War I
Leonard Taplin would not be repatriated from his prisoner of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp until 1919, arriving home on 23 August 1919. He joined Norman Brearley
Norman Brearley
Sir Norman Brearley CBE was a commercial and military pilot and one of the pioneers of the airline industry within Australia.-Aviation career:...
's fledgling Western Australian Airlines as a pilot for Australia's first scheduled airline. After Brearley sold out, Taplin settled in Port Hedland and became one of its leading citizens. He supplied electricity to the town, and served as both its butcher and undertaker.
Taplin's divorce from Doreen Taplin was finalized on 15 October 1924; he was ordered to pay 3 pounds 10 shillings alimony weekly until her remarriage.
Reference
- Franks, NormanNorman FranksNorman Leslie Robert Franks is an English writer who specialises in aviation books on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II.-Biography:...
, Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1: Volume 52 of Aircraft of the Aces. Norman Franks. Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-1-84176-534-1, 978978-1-84176-534-1.