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Robert Edward Diemert
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Aircraft restorer.
Born at Morden on 4 October 1938, son of Edward John Diemert (1892-1985) and Ann Burke (?-?), his childhood was spent at Manitou and Winkler before moving to Carman. He owned and operated movie theatres at Winkler and Carman. A self-taught engineer, in the early 1960s he began to restore antique aircraft, including a North American Harvard training aircraft used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.
He became internationally known when, between 1963 and 1964, he restored a Hawker Hurricane flighter plane, one of only five left in the world. In 1968, he shipped it to England and flew it in the film “Battle of Britain”. That same year, he acquired the remains of a rare Japanese Aichi D3A-2 (Val) bomber and two Zero fighters from sites on the Solomon Islands and restored them. He was the subject of a 1989 National FIlm Board documentary entitled “The Defender” about an aircraft that he designed himself. In recognition of his work in aircraft restoration, he received a Manitoba Centennial Award from the Manitoba Historical Society (1970) and a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022).
In 1970, he married Elaine Roberts and they had three daughters.
He died on 11 January 2024.
“Rebuilt Hurricane faces its toughest battle,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 June 1964, page 3.
“Confederate Air Force flies Battle of Britain,” Brandon Sun, 25 October 1968, page 13.
“D.O.T. edict fails to halt Val divebomber test flight,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 November 1969, page 3.
“Val bomber, Diemert to part,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 July 1971, page 7.
Obituary, Doyle's Funeral Home.
“Famed Manitoba aviator Bob Diemert remembered as a pioneer who ‘never stopped dreaming’,” CBC News, 19 January 2024.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 February 2024
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