Indian Air Force’s oldest pilot Dalip Singh Majithia passes away at 103

Born on July 27, 1920 at Shimla, Squadron Leader Majithia joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) volunteer reserve in 1940 during World War-II, following in the footsteps of his uncle Surjeet Singh Majithia (grandfather of Akali politician Bikramjit Singh Majithia).

His father Kirpal Singh Majithia was a prominent figure in Punjab during the British rule as was his grandfather Sundar Singh Majithia who was associated with the Chief Khalsa Diwan and one of the founders of Khalsa College Amritsar.

Dalip Singh Majithia with his uncle Surjeet Singh Majithia. (Photo courtesy: Majithia family)

Dalip Singh Majithia initially learnt the basic nuances of flying on a Gypsy Moth aircraft at Karachi Flying Club. According to historian Anchit Gupta, Majithia joined the 4th Pilot’s Course at the Initial Training School (ITA) in Walton, Lahore, in August 1940 and three months later he was awarded the best pilot trophy and was posted to the No. 1 Flying Training School in Ambala to continue advanced flying training.

Interestingly, Anchit Gupta points out that Dalip Singh Majithia and his uncle, Surjit Singh, who was approximately eight years his senior in age, were both commissioned together.

In June 1941, Dalip Singh Majithia was assigned to the No. 1 Coastal Defence Flight (CDF) based at St Thomas Mount in Madras, where he spent the next 15 months. “During this period, he piloted a variety of aircraft, including the Wapiti, Hart, Audax, and Atlanta, undertaking missions critical to coastal security such as patrols, convoy escorts, and naval reconnaissance,” says Gupta.

Dalip Singh Majithia and his wife Joan Sanders Majithia. (Photo courtesy: Majithia family)

Later, Majithia was posted to 151 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Risalpur to undergo conversion training on the Harvard and Hurricane aircraft, in preparation for deployment to the warfront.

In March 1943, Majithia joined No. 6 Squadron in the rank of flying officer under the command of the ‘Baba’ Mehar Singh, another famous name in the annals of IAF’s history. In January 1944, Majitjia was posted as Flight Commander of No. 3 Squadron flying Hurricanes. He flew extensively in Kohat where Air Marshal Asghar Khan, a future Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force, was one of his squadron mates. Air Marshal Randhir Singh, who was later awarded Vir Chakra in 1948 also served in the same squadron at the time.

In his next posting, Dalip Singh Majithia was stationed in Burma as Flight Commander of No. 4 Squadron. After a long bout of illness which kept him out of active flying, Majithia served a stint in the Air HQs and later in Melbourne, Australia, as the IAF’s Liaison Officer to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Australia.

It was here that he met his future wife Joan Sanders Majithia who was a code breaker in the Women’s Royal Australian Navy Service during the Second World War. Talented with numbers, Joan was picked to join a top-secret codebreaking unit formally called Fleet Radio Unit Melbourne (FRUMEL), a collaboration between Australian, US and UK naval forces.

Joan Sanders Majithia passed away in 2021 at the age of 100. The couple had two daughters, Kiran and Mira.

After completing his tenure in Australia, Dalip Singh Majithia retired from the Indian Air Force on March 18, 1947, and settled down at his family’s estate at Sardarnagar, near Gorakhpur, in Uttar Pradesh.

In 1949, he made history of sorts when he conducted the first landing of an aircraft in Kathmandu, Nepal, on an unprepared piece of land which is today the site of the country’s international airport. Majithia’s love for aviation continued later in his life even as he ran a very successful business venture.