Popkin family looks up local connection

Yolanda Stewart looks up her father's name on
the Palmwoods Honour Board for the first time.

THE daughter of the man credited with shooting down the notorious World War One flying ace The Red Baron, visited Palmwoods last month and saw for the first time, her father’s name on the local honour board.

Yolanda Stewart who lives on the Tweed Coast, said she had been born 16 years after her father, Sgt Cedric Bassett Popkin, returned from the First World War.

Her older brothers, Cedric and Roland, were briefly enrolled at the Palmwoods State School in 1921 but Mrs Stewart said her parents had made few references to their time in Palmwoods.

Cedric Popkin, a carpenter, was born in Sydney and at age 25, enlisted in Brisbane in May 1916. The only reference to Palmwoods on his enlistment papers is as his wife’s address - "Palmwoods, North Coast Line, Queensland."

On returning from the war, Sgt Popkin spent the remainder of his life on the Tweed Coast and the Northern Rivers District of New South Wales.

Mrs Stewart said she did not know of her family’s life in Palmwoods - for periods between 1916 and 1921 but it appeared her father had travelled with his work as a carpenter.

It is believed his wife, Nellie, returned to family in Murwillumbah after Cedric’s enlistment.

Mrs Stewart said recent reports reaffirming her father’s role in bringing down German air ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen, had prompted her to find out more about his life. And it was only then that she had discovered the Palmwoods connection.

"Dad never talked much about his war experiences but he always knew that he had fired the gun which brought down the Red Baron," she said. "It is good to see his name on the honour board here as we had no idea it existed."

Meanwhile Tweed Shire has been quick to respond to any Palmwoods claim to Popkin.

Tweed Shire Councillor Ron Cooper said it would not be right for Palmwoods to solely claim Sgt Popkin.

"I don’t think we should let Palmwoods get away with claiming Sgt Popkin as their own," he said.

"We won’t be jumping into an argument with them. They can acknowledge him however they like, but I think if he spent most of his life in the Tweed we will be the ones with the big claim."

Sgt Popkin, who died in January 1968, is buried in Brisbane.