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Under fire and squeezed into the front turret of an Arvo Lancaster, Eddie Chapman knew he had to get the escape hatch open.
It was June 1944 and the 21-year-old was part of the Royal Air Force’s No. 207 Squadron. He and six others on the bomber plane were shot down by the Germans near Niel-bij-As, close to Belgium, and before he realised there was any reason to panic Chapman was told to jump.
Putting on his parachute, he landed in a canopy of trees, “as sick as a dog and continuously saying the Lord’s Prayer”.
Four made it out alive, but three, including the pilot who “went down with the plane”, died.
Chapman recounted his wartime experience on Thursday as he celebrated turning 100 at his home in Palmerston North.
Warwick Smith/Stuff
No. 207 Squadron from back: John Shaw, Eddie Chapman, Peter Loakes, Jacky Jewell; Front: Frank Haslam, Mike Solly, Arthur Barton. Shaw, Jewell and Solly were killed, Chapman and Loakes became POWs and Barton and Haslam evaded capture after their plane was shot down.
It was a far cry from his time in the RAF, from the age of 16 to 22, and he was surrounded by family, friends and air force personnel, some of whom had travelled from England to honour his service.
Sporting two medals and two stars across his chest, Chapman modestly recalled how he was training to be a pilot, but as he didn’t get his wings was transferred to be a bomb aimer.
It was the squadron’s 11th trip, and they were closing in on the Germany Belgium border.
“But, we never made it.”
He said the Germans knew to shoot the aircraft where it would hurt the most, and after they went down he would spend more than a year as a prisoner of war (POW).
After landing in the canopy, Chapman made his way inland. He knew the closer he got to Germany the more dangerous it was.
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Eddie Chapman holds his card presented from (left) Flight Lieutenant Kieran and Flight Sergeant Smith.
This proved to be true, and soon he was surrounded by what he thought were home guards under a German soldier.
They took him to a village, where all the local kids came to see the air man, and held him in what he thought was a Post Office.
After some time, Chapman and the other prisoners were taken on an arduous journey, marching for up to three weeks at a time.
With little to no food they had to “live off the land” and took shelter wherever they could.
Bombs were going off in Berlin and Chapman said they just hoped “they wouldn’t miss and hit us”.
He was taken to Hasselt and Brussells, and at one time saw a note inside a cell that said: “Peter Loakes has been here”.
One of his fellow squadron members was alive.
Chapman then moved onto Dulag Laft, where he was again interrogated, before he ended up in the last POW camp Luft VII.
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Eddie Chapman celebrates his 100th birthday at home with family including two of his 20 great-grandchildren Jayden Him, 6, (left) and Riharna Him, 8.
Once the war was over Chapman was flown back to England and said he never lost faith he would be able to return home one day.
“It was good to see the White Cliffs of Dover coming up.”
Chapman went to agricultural college, married an “English girl” and moved to New Zealand in the 1950s.
His father had died when he was 9 and with “farming in his blood” he was determined to get his own piece of land.
After leasing 50 acres for five years, they went to a land agent with a proposal to buy a farm with very little money.
After negotiating they moved in and went from “strength to strength” spending several years farming in Aokautere.
Frank Haslam, the son and namesake of a member of Chapman’s crew who survived the crash, said it was an honour to know the centenarian.
His father Frank Haslam Snr had kept in touch over the years after finding Chapman via a telegraph, and he had kept this going after his death.
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Eddie Chapman waits outside with family and friends as the T6 Texan approaches.
Together they had visited the crash site, and he said Chapman and his wife Jill were considered family.
Representatives from the RAF also joined the celebrations and a surprise fly past from a T6 Texan topped off the occasion.
The pilot was Squadron Leader Paul Stockley who previously served in No. 207 Squadron.
Flight Lieutenant Kieran (the RAF forbids publication of personnels’ surnames) presented Chapman with a card, signed by the British High Commission, which thanked him for his service.
When asked how he felt about the birthday and those who had come to see him, Chapman said: “I’m old but not out.”
He was also gifted some new rank slides and other regalia from Flight Sergeant Smith, who apologised for not being able to get a badge with the King’s crown.
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Eddie Chapman takes a look at his war medals as he remembers his time as a POW.
But Chapman happily replied: “She’ll do.”
Amongst those attending the celebrations were Chapman’s own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
His daughter Jayne Roiri said she was proud of her dad and it was “absolutely amazing” to see so many people who wanted to recognise his service.
“We had a surprise party for him on his 80th and I told him we would do another when he turned 100 … and I think he thought I was taking the mickey.”
She said her dad was a “devout” man who read his bible most days and growing up she knew him as a loving, hard-working father who was never “prone to anger”.
“[The RAF] was only 5% of his life, but it had a profound impact.”
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