Akash Arora at 01:04, 5 April 2026

2026-04-05T01:04:39Z

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{{Short description|Indian Air Force pilot (1920–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Dalip Singh Majitha
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image =Dalip Singh Majitha.jpg
| caption =
| office =
| term_start = 1940
| term_end = 1947
| president =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1920|07|27}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2024|04|16|1920|07|27}}
| birth_place =
| death_place =
| alma_mater =
| nickname =
| allegiance =
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| unit =
| commands =
| battles = [[World War II]]
| awards =
| children =
| relatives =
| office1 =
| predecessor1 =
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| president1 =
}}

'''Dalip Singh Majithia''' (27 July 1920 – 16 April 2024) was an [[Indian Air Force]] pilot. He primarily served during the [[Second World War]] during which, however, he did not see much active service on account of a long bout of illness during his only posting in the conflict-zone, in Myanmar from 1944. At the time of his death on 16 April 2024, he was the oldest living pilot of the Indian Air Force at the age of 103.

==Early life and education==
[[File:Amrita Sher-Gil and Dalip Singh Majithia.jpg|thumb|left|Painter [[Amrita Sher-Gil]] and Dalip Singh Majithia, 1937, Lahore]]
Dalip Singh Majithia was born on 27 July 1930 in [[Shimla]], now in Himachal Pradesh, [[British India|India]], the youngest son of Kirpal Singh (1891–1944) and his wife Raminder Kaur (1894–1936).{{Sfn|Sundaram|2010a|p=XVII - XVIII}}<ref name="Siddiqui2024">{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Imran Ahmed |date=17 April 2024 |title=Oldest fighter pilot of Indian Air Force Dalip Singh Majithia passes away at the age of 103 |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/oldest-fighter-pilot-of-indian-air-force-dalip-singh-majithia-passes-away-at-the-age-of-103/cid/2013790 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526102438/https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/oldest-fighter-pilot-of-indian-air-force-dalip-singh-majithia-passes-away-at-the-age-of-103/cid/2013790 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |work=The Telegraph (India)}}</ref> His grandfather was [[Sundar Singh Majithia]], making him first cousin once removed of the artist [[Amrita Sher-Gil]].{{Sfn|Sundaram|2010a|p=XVII - XVIII}} In childhood, he was affectionately referred to as "Dipi", or collectively with his brother as "the boys".{{Sfn|Sundaram|2010a|p=192-194}} In the 1920s, both Singh and Sher-Gil grew up in the family home, Majithia House.<ref name=Sundaram.306>Sundaram, pp. 306-310</ref>{{Sfn|Sundaram|2010a|p=306-310}}

Majithia studied at [[Khalsa College, Amritsar|Khalsa College]] in [[Amritsar]], and later at [[Lahore]], where he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree.<ref>{{cite news |title=Who Was Dalip Singh Majithia? India's Oldest Air Force Pilot Passes Away At 103 |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/india/who-was-dalip-singh-majithia-indias-oldest-air-force-pilot-passes-away-at-103-article-109354560 |work=Times Now |date=17 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Majithia learned the basics of flying at the Karachi Flying Club on a [[De Havilland DH.60 Moth|Gypsy Moth]] aircraft. In 1940, he joined the IAF volunteer reserve in 1940 during the [[Second World War]]. On 1 August 1940, he joined the 4th Pilot's Course at the Initial Training School (ITA) at [[Walton Cantonment]] in Lahore, where after three months, he won the best pilot trophy. To continue his advanced training, he was posted to the No.1 Flying Training School in [[Ambala]].<ref name=Siddiqui2024/>

In March 1943, he joined the [[No. 6 Squadron IAF|Number 6 Squadron]] under the command of 'Baba' [[Mehar Singh (IAF officer)|Mehar Singh]] as a flying officer. In January 1944, he was posted in [[Kohat]] as the [[Flight commander|Flight Commander]] of [[No. 3 Squadron IAF|Number 3 Squadron]] and flew [[Hawker Hurricane|Hurricane]] aircraft. Later, he was posted in [[Burma (Myanmar)|Burma (now Myanmar)]] as the Flight Commander of [[No. 4 Squadron IAF|No. 4 Squadron]]. A long bout of illness kept him out of active flying for sometime. When he fell in February 1945, his former squadron mate, Flight Lieutenant [[Asghar Khan]], flew him to a hospital in [[Calcutta]] in a [[North American Harvard|Harvard]] aircraft.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iafhistory.in/2022/07/27/celebrating-the-remarkable-life-of-indias-oldest-surviving-fighter-pilot/|title=DS Majithia: India's Oldest Surviving Fighter Pilot|date=27 July 2022|author=Anchit Gupta|website=IAF History}}</ref>
After that, he served at the [[RAF India|Air Headquarters]]. Later he served as the IAF's [[Liaison officer|Liaison Officer]] to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Service Record for Squadron Leader Dalip Singh Majithia 1615 GD(P) |url=https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/1615 |website=Bharat Rakshak |access-date=2 May 2024 |language=en-gb}}</ref>

On 18 March 1947, he retired from the Indian Air Force. After that, he flew as a private pilot. In 1949, he made history by being the first to land a plane in the [[Kathmandu Valley]]. He conducted the landing of an aircraft in Kathmandu, Nepal on an unprepared piece of land. That site is now the site of the [[Tribhuvan International Airport|Nepal's international airport]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Arora |first1=Sumit |title=IAF Veteran Squadron Leader Dalip Singh Majithia Passes Away at 103 |url=https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/iaf-veteran-squadron-leader-dalip-singh-majithia-passes-away-at-103/ |work=Adda 247 |date=17 April 2024}}</ref> Through his career, he had more than 1,100 flying hours to his name, including on aircraft like Hurricanes and [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfires]]. By his fellow pilots, he was affectionately called 'Maji'.<ref>{{cite news |title=IAF veteran Dalip Singh Majithia dies at 103 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/iaf-veteran-dalip-singh-majithia-dies-at-103/articleshow/109352622.cms?from=mdr |work=The Economic Times |date=16 April 2024}}</ref> He flew for the last time in January 1979.

==Later life==
After retirement from the Air Force, he settled at his family's estate in Sardarnagar, near [[Gorakhpur]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]]. He also ran a successful business venture.<ref>{{cite news |author=Man Aman Singh Chhina |title=Indian Air Force's oldest pilot Dalip Singh Majithia passes away at 103 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/indian-air-forces-oldest-pilot-dalip-singh-majithia-passes-away-at-103-9272874/ |access-date=26 April 2024 |work=The Indian Express |location=Chandigarh |date=16 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref> In March 2021, 100 year old Dalip Singh and his 99 year old wife Joan Sanders Majithia received their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at Sunrise Hospital in Gurugram, along with their 72-year-old daughter Kiran Sandhu and three other family friends in their 70s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Rao Jaswant |title=Gurugram: IAF veteran, 100, and 99-year-old wife inoculated |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/gurugram-iaf-veteran-100-and-99-year-old-wife-inoculated/articleshow/81343683.cms |work=The Times of India |date=5 March 2021}}</ref>

==Personal life==
On 18 February 1947, Dalip Singh married Joan Sanders at his family's estate in Gorakhpur, whom he had met during his service in Melbourne, Australia. She was in the [[Women's Royal Australian Naval Service]] as a code breaker during the war, working in the [[Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne]]. The couple had two daughters, named Kiran and Mira.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smethurst |first1=Sue |title=WWII code-breaker Joan Sanders Majithia turns 100 |url=https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/latest-news-veterans/wwii-code-breaker-joan-sanders-majithia-turns-100 |publisher=Department of Veteran's Affairs, Australian Government |date=28 July 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Majithia family]]
*[[Royal Indian Air Force]]
*[[India in World War II]]
*[[Indian Army during World War II]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Sundaram |first1=Vivan |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings |date=2010a |publisher=Tulika Books |location=New Delhi |volume=1 |pages=1–417 |isbn=978-81-89487-59-1}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sundaram |first1=Vivan |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings |date=2010b |publisher=Tulika Books |location=New Delhi |volume=2 |pages=418–821 |isbn=978-81-89487-59-1}}

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|0vVb55e_OKQ|''NDTV'': "Still Feel That I Am Part Of Indian Air Force": 100-Year-Old Ex-Pilot (2020)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Majithia, Dalip Singh}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Indian men centenarians]]
[[Category:People from Shimla]]
[[Category:World War II pilots]]
[[Category:Majithia family]]

Dalip Singh Majithia - Revision history

Akash Arora at 01:04, 5 April 2026