Lieutenant Leonard Thomas Eaton Taplin was an Australian World War I flying ace.
22 Facts About Leonard Taplin
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Leonard Taplin then transferred to the Western Front and was credited with 12 official aerial victories.
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On 8 May 1907, while living in Malvern, the ten-year-old Taplin broke his arm playing leap frog at school.
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Leonard Taplin 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.
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Leonard Taplin stated he was a natural born British subject.
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Leonard Taplin listed his father, Charles Eaton Taplin, as next of kin, but added Mrs D Taplin of Charing Cross, London as a second next of kin.
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Leonard Taplin applied for transfer to the Australian Flying Corps.
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Leonard Taplin had not been in B Flight of the unit too long when he was in a crash near Khan Yunis.
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Leonard Taplin's observer perished in the wreck, and Taplin was seriously injured.
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However, Leonard 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.
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Leonard Taplin decided to hold the joystick with his knees and dismantle the camera to clear its jam.
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Leonard Taplin drove him away with a burst of 30 rounds of machine gun fire, then completed repair of the camera and completed his mission.
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On 5 March 1918, Leonard Taplin left the Middle East for duty piloting a Sopwith Camel with No 4 Squadron AFC at Redlington, France.
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Leonard Taplin 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.
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When his speeding Camel hit a rut and broke its landing gear axle, Leonard Taplin unfastened his safety harness and exited the crash-in-progress post haste.
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Leonard Taplin began usage of Sopwith Camel number 1407; he would score 10 victories with it.
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Leonard Taplin recovered with his left hand, then downed the Fokker that was his final win.
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Leonard Taplin 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.
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The stunned Leonard Taplin tumbled to 1,000 feet altitude, followed by two Germans.
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Leonard Taplin crashed several hundred yards short of the German front lines and was taken prisoner.
21.
Leonard Taplin joined Norman Brearley's fledgling Western Australian Airlines as a pilot for Australia's first scheduled airline.
22.
Leonard Taplin supplied electricity to the town, and served as both its butcher and undertaker.