F/Lt PIPA Josef

written by Simon Muggleton

Born on the 13th October 1915, at Lukov in the district of Holesov, Czechoslovakia, he attended the local lower Technical College for three years studying English, French, and Engineering. In 1937 he was called up to the Elementary Flying School at Olomouc, later transferring to the Fighter Pilot School in Prague during 1938, and was then posted to a fighter squadron. When Hitler marched into Czechoslovakia on March 15th 1939, Pipa, like many others, escaped in May, to fight in Poland. In order to hide his true identity he joined the Union of Polish Railwaymen and was given an identity document that showed he lived and worked at Koscierzyna in Pomerania. When Poland was eventually overrun by the Germans, Pipa escaped once more, this time via Rumania, to France, via a Swedish fishing boat on the 30th July 1939.He, like many other Czech pilots, signed on for 5 years in the French Foreign Legion as a private soldier, being sent to Sidi bel Abes in Algeria for training. When war was declared, Pipa was seconded to l’Armee de l’Air and posted to Chartes to join Groupe de Chasse 1/1 and promoted to Sergeant on the 2nd October 1939, and then to Captain on the 11th November. On the 8th March 1940, Pipa was ‘posted to the front line’ where on the 15th May he shared in the destruction of a Do 17 and the ‘probable’ destruction of a Do 215, whilst flying a Potez fighter aircraft. When France capitulated, Pipa left on the 23rd June, escaping via Oran. He reached Casablanca by train, and then by small boat via Morocco to Gibraltar. From here he sailed in a convoy via the Suez Canal and South Africa, arriving at Liverpool on the 12th July 1940. On the 25th July he enlisted into the RAFVR at Cosford as an AC2, being promoted to Sergeant by the 18th September. On the 21st September he transferred to No 6 OTU at Sutton Bridge, where he converted to Hurricanes and was then posted to 43 squadron, at Usworth, on the 4th October 1940. By this time, the Battle of Britain was coming to a close and the squadron remained in the north of England, engaged in day and night patrols, formations and convoy patrols. Pipa was with ‘A’ Flight and took part in eight combats with the enemy during this time. On the 7th October he was awarded the Czech Medal for Gallantry for his previous service with the French Air Force, this also was the first day he flew with the squadron operationally. On the 28th October 1940 he was awarded the Czech Military Cross and promoted to Temporary Flight Sergeant. On April 19th 1941, the squadron was re-equipped with Mark 2 Hurricanes armed with twelve machine guns, which involved more training in flight formations as well as convoy patrols. Many new pilots had been posted to 43 squadron direct from OTU’s at this time and were grateful to pilots like Pipa sharing their experiences with them, of combat both in France, and the Battle of Britain. Because of his high number of flying hours and combat experience, Pipa was retained with 43 squadron, often flying as No 2 to the commanding officer, S/L Tom Dalton Morgan DFC. Between the 5th and 6th May, Pipa completed 14 patrols during which time the Luftwaffe bombed the Firth of Forth. The next night, Glasgow was bombed, and Pipa had completed 11 patrols. On the 29th May, Pipa was one of 15 pilots from the squadron who took off from Prestwick to reinforce the air sector on the return of the Fleet from operations in the Atlantic against the battleship ‘Bismark’. Two days before Christmas 1941, Pipa received congratulations from the AOC 13 Group, and awarded a bar to his Military Cross, as well as being promoted to Flight Sergeant. This bar was awarded for an action on the 14th November, when Pipa was leading Blue Section on an Operational patrol 10 miles east of Blyth. An Australian pilot, Sergeant Williams, (Blue 2) had ditched into the sea, from his Hurricane, after the engine failed. He was seen by Pipa to be without his dinghy and although the weather conditions were bad, Pipa continued to orbit the position of his number 2, and obtained a fix for the Air Sea Rescue. In the cramped space of his cockpit, Sgt Pipa removed his Sutton harness and parachute, extracted his own dinghy, inflated it, and dropped it within fifty yards of the pilot in the sea, who was then rescued some forty minutes later, suffering from severe shock with wounds to his leg and left eye. Pipa made no mention of this exploit on landing, the full facts only coming to light when other members of the squadron visited Sgt Williams in hospital, and he related the events to them! On the 9th December, whilst on patrol over Blyth with Flt Lt May (Flight Commander) Pipa shared in the destruction of a Ju 88 reconnaissance bomber at 7500ft. The enemy aircraft tried to take evasive action flying in and out of clouds, giving return fire from its dorsal and central guns, but after six astern attacks, was seen on fire to crash into the sea. On the 7th March 1942, he was promoted to Warrant Officer (in reserve), and on the 25th April was flying with other pilots led by S/L du Vivier when they shared in the destruction of a Ju 88 off Acklington. The aircraft was seen to crash into the sea on fire and exploded, some of the crew escaping by their parachutes. Two days later, he was posted to 81 squadron, stationed at Hornchurch. He began flying Spitfire Vb’s with blue section, and was engaged on further North Sea Patrols and combats. On the 9th May he was vectored onto a Ju 88 in the Newcastle area with Flt Sgt Reed, but after chasing it 30 miles out to sea they lost sight of it. On the 19th May he was posted to 313 Squadron at Fairlop again flying SpitfireVb’s, engaged on convoy patrols, escorts and Rodeos. On one of these ‘Rodeo’s’ to the St Omer area in early June, his section was attacked at 26000 feet by 15 Me 109’s and FW 190’s. Again, on another escort to bomb Lannien Airfield, the section was attacked on the way home by 10 FW 190’s at 7000 feet. Less than a month later he was again posted, this time to 312 Squadron. Previously the squadron was flying escort to daylight raids on the French coast, but by the spring of ’42 it returned to the offensive with Hurribomber escorts and then a full round of sweeps, Ramrods and Rhubarbs. This was a busy time for the squadron and Pipa was fully engaged, being involved in 15 convoy escorts in the Channel, and 10 escort protection duties for bombers, as well as many ‘scrambles’, Rodeos and Rhubarbs, attacking trains. During one of the many pre-dawn scambles from Bolthead, in the summer of ’42, Pipa ran into some sheep that had drifted onto the runway and were not seen in the dark. His undercarriage was torn off and his tail unit twisted upwards, but the Spitfire remained controllable, landing safely at nearby Exeter. On another occasion Pipa scrambled with Sgt Tony Liskutin (later Squadron Leader DFC AFC, the author of ‘Challenge in the Air ‘) from Bolthead, to intercept four Focke Wulf’s in the Torbay area. With their engines at full boost, a speed of 330 mph was obtained by the Spitfires, but they were to make no impact on the enemy, even though they both ‘sprayed’ the Focke Wulf’s with cannon fire, and seeing black smoke emitted. By this time they were both over the Cherbourg peninsula, and drawing fire from the coastal batteries, eventually, the two of them making the wise decision to pull away from the attack, and head for home. On the 1st August Pipa was promoted substantially to Warrant Officer, and took part in the Dieppe Raid (Operation Jubilee) on the 19th August 1942. This was escorting Hurribombers ,who bombed the armed merchant ships as well as attacking ‘E Boats’ that were in the area. He claimed a Do 217 as being damaged, and emptied the remaining cannon ammunition into an ‘E Boat’, sinking it. During this period he had many engagements with the enemy, often sustaining damage to his aircraft, and on one occasion in September this resulted in a ‘wheels up’ landing. He was recognised again for his actions, by being awarded a bar to his Czech Medal for Gallantry, which was personally given to him by the Czech AVM Janousek, when he visited the squadron, with AVM Orlebar, and General Viest on the 26 September 1942. By the end of his attachment to 312 Squadron, in November 1942, Pipa had been engaged continually on fighter duties since 1939, and this took its toll on him. He was deemed unfit for flying duties and posted to RAF Church Stanton and rested. He was declared ‘operationally fit for flying duties ‘ again on the 1st February 1943, promoted to Pilot Officer, and posted to 313 Squadron on the 4th. The squadron were then engaged on convoy patrols and offensive ops with Ramrods and Rhubarbs. He was awarded a 2nd bar to his Medal for Gallantry on the 5th May 1943, and on June 10th, a Croix de Guerre, for his previous actions during the Battle for France. By this time, the squadron had moved to Scotland, to continue North Sea convoy patrols, and high altitude patrols, against photo-recognisance aircraft using Spitfire VI’s. On the 23rd June, Pipa married a British subject, Marie Lilian Jago, (a professional dancer), who later gave birth to a son, Anthony Joseph, on the 18th July 1944. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 3rd August 1943, whilst the squadron was moved back to the south of England. Here, they were to continue Ramrod patrols, escorting Mitchell and Ventura aircraft in bombing attacks on French ports, along with giving cover to Whirlwinds attacking tactical targets. Again, Pipa was in the forefront of these sorties, always engaging any Me 109’s and FW 190’s. On the run up to D Day, the squadron was engaged on escorting strikes on the V1 sites (Noball) around the Pas de Calais. On the 12th May 1944, Pipa was attached to the 84th Group Supply Unit for two months, returning to 310 Squadron on the 2nd July 1944, who then were engaged on Anti-Diver patrols (V1’s) and the defence of the UK, along with escorting Marauders and Mitchell’s bombing the V1 sites. On the 9th July, Pipa was flying a Mk IX Spitfire NH 692 in the area of Folkestone, Kent when he shot down a V1, which was seen to crash 5 miles out into the Channel. Pipa only stayed with 310 for nine days being then posted to 312 Squadron where he remained until the end of the war. Spitfire IX’s had arrived in January 1944, and these were modified for bombing, whilst the squadron was engaged in bombing Noball sites. After D Day, its main tasks were patrolling the beachhead, and on Ranger sorties. By July, 312 had reverted to the Air Defence of Great Britain along with bomber escort work and Roadsteads. Pipa was awarded the Czech Memorial War Medal on the 7th August 1944. By September 1944, the squadron was on the offensive, flying 687 operational hours of armed recce’s, and Ramrods, bombing oil plants and attacking Big Ben sites (V2’s). On the 13th September Pipa was returning from a Big Ben attack when he saw a Mustang shot down into the sea. He circled and threw out his dingy to the downed pilot, but succeeded only in wrapping the dinghy around his tailplane, and managing to send out a ‘Mayday’ call. The pilot was found and rescued by a Walrus aircraft from Coastal Command. Pipa however, with the handicap of the dinghy, managed to get the Spitfire back home, notwithstanding that longtitudinal control was virtually nil and the aircraft cavorting like a porpoise. He was congratulated by the CO but did not gain any official recognition, as he did for the similar action he performed in 1942. During the Arnham landings in September, 312 squadron were also active in escorting the gliders, and Pipa was flying all day. He was awarded the British 39/43 campaign star on the 31st December 1944. Activity increased from March 1945, whilst escorting Lancaster’s that were bombing many German industrial targets, U Boat and E Boat pens. By the 1st February 1945, he was the Flight Commander of A Flight, and promoted to Flight Lieutenant on the 7th March. On the 11th and 12th March, Pipa flew as escort with the famous 1000 bomber raids to Essen and Dortmund. He was awarded the 3rd bar to his Military Cross on the 22nd March and a 4th bar on the 9th April. By the 19th April 1945, the squadron had flown its last operation on a Ramrod patrol, to Heligoland, in which Pipa took part. He had completed four operational tours amounting to over 700 hours flying fighter aircraft. On the 9th August 1945 he was one of a formation of 36 Spitfires flown by Czech pilots back to Czechoslovakia to become part of the renewed Czech Air force. They were stationed near Prague for two months and then moved to South Bohemia. On the 6th March 1946, Pipa was awarded the Czech Medal of Merit 1st Class, before being released from active service on the 6th May 1946. In July 1946, he returned to England, having gained British Citizenship, and was employed in various jobs, one of these being a pilot for LEC (Fridge manufacturers, in Bognor Regis, West Sussex), delivering spares and ferrying around the owner, Charles Purley. He flew the sedate company Auster aircraft at a steady 80knots, often flying to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight to collect spares from the subsidiary firm sited there, a world away from his hectic ‘Fighter Pilot’ days in the same area! On the 24th July 1951, he rejoined the RAF on a seven year, term of engagement. He attained the rank of Flying Officer in the General Duties Branch, and converted to jets. He spent his final three years service with the RAF as a test pilot with the Maintenance Unit at Wroughton, near Swindon. He was flying and testing Gloster Javelins and Hawker Hunters, also flying Canberras, and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on the 18th May 1956. He transferred to the reserve on the 24th July 1958, relinquishing his commission on the 24th July 1962, retaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Joseph Pipa could not be far away from his love of flying and became interested in gliding, joining the Swindon Gliding Club in 1963 operating from South Marston (Vickers Airfield).With his flying experience, he was able to be used as the air-tow tug pilot, flying an Auster aircraft. After leaving the RAF, along with his wife, he became the owner of a boutique in Newport Street; Swindon named Jago’s (after his wife’s maiden name), living at 3 Croft Road, Swindon. They had another son Henry, (later to become a deep sea diver in Cornwall), and a daughter Julia, with three grandchildren, Amanda, Sarah, and Michelle. He died of heart failure on the 2nd January 1977, at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Swindon, and was cremated on the 6th January, at Kingsdown Crematorium, Swindon, his remains being scattered over South Marston airfield. He has no known memorial.