{{Short description|Singaporean bomber pilot (1920–2024)}} {{Family name hatnote|Ho|lang=Chinese}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Captain | name = Ho Weng Toh | image = Ho-Weng-Toh.png | caption = Ho in the late 1940s | native_name = 何永道 | other_names = Winkie | birth_date = 1920 | birth_place = Ipoh, Perak | death_date = 6 January 2024 (aged 103) | death_place = Singapore | spouse = Augusta Rodrigues ({{abbr|m.|married}} 1949; died 1977) | children = 3 }} '''Ho Weng Toh''' ({{Zh|c=何永道}}; 1920 – 6 January 2024), also known as '''Winkie''', was a Singaporean World War II bomber pilot for the Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional) (sometimes called the "Flying Tigers") and later a pioneer pilot for Singapore Airlines.
== Early life == Ho was born in a small town in Ipoh, Perak in 1920 to a shoe shop merchant from China. He was the sixth of six children. He had his primary and secondary education in Malaysia but managed to attend university as his uncle was a rich tin miner.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Daud |first=Sulaiman |date=4 August 2018 |title=The amazing story of S'pore's last surviving Flying Tiger — Part I: beating the odds to join the Air Force |url=https://mothership.sg/2018/08/ho-weng-toh-singapore-flying-tiger-war-pilot-part-1/ |access-date=27 April 2024 |website=mothership.sg |language=en}}</ref> thumb|Ho during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.|left He attended St. Stephen's College in Stanley and Lingnan University in Hong Kong in 1941 whilst the Japanese invaded China.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Woon |first=Wallace |date=7 January 2024 |title=Flying Tiger and pioneer SIA pilot Ho Weng Toh dies, aged 103 |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/flying-tiger-and-pioneer-sia-pilot-ho-weng-toh-dies-aged-103 |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref> He later escaped with his fellow students from China after enduring the Japanese occupation for a few months by bribing bandits to take them across the border.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ho |first=Olivia |date=21 August 2019 |title=From war memoirs to poetry: The seniors turning to book publishing in their 80s and 90s |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/from-war-memoirs-to-poetry-the-seniors-turning-to-book-publishing-in-their-80s-and |access-date=27 April 2024 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref>
He stated that he had also seen the bombing of Kai Tak Airport.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=7 January 2024 |title=WWII Flying Tiger pilot Ho Weng Toh dies at 103 - Focus Taiwan |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202401070004 |access-date=25 April 2024 |website=Focus Taiwan - CNA English News |language=en-US}}</ref> Ho left Hong Kong and went to Guangzhou where he saw a poster for air force recruitment.<ref name=":2" /> He then became a trainee pilot for the Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional) in 1942 and trained with other pilots in Arizona.<ref name=":1" />
== Career == thumb|212x212px|Ho in the early 1940s during World War II. After his training, Ho was sent on missions as a B-25 Mitchell bomber pilot and performed over 18 missions in occupied China during World War II and returned to Ipoh when he was done.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Woon |first=Wallace |date=31 October 2022 |title=Experiences of pilot who fought in WWII can still inspire: CMG editor-in-chief |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/community/experiences-of-pilot-who-fought-in-wwii-can-still-inspire-cmg-editor-in-chief |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref> After the war, Ho was stationed in Hankou, Wuhan as an instructor.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Tribute to Capt. Ho Weng Toh: The amazing story of S'pore's last Flying Tiger |url=https://mothership.sg/2024/01/capt-ho-tribute/ |access-date=25 April 2024 |website=mothership.sg |language=en}}</ref> He later went to Shanghai and became a commercial pilot for Central Air Transport Corporation.
After the fall of Shanghai, he and Augusta left and went to Singapore in 1951, where he joined Malayan Airlines and later became a pilot for Singapore Airlines after Malayan Airlines split. He worked at Singapore Airlines for 30 years<ref name=":3" /> and retired in 1980 as a chief pilot of Singapore Airlines' Boeing 737 fleet.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Li |first=Winnie |date=24 September 2023 |title=Short film on S'pore's last surviving Flying Tiger, Captain Ho Weng Toh, featuring Richie Koh to be released in Dec. 2023 |url=https://mothership.sg/2023/09/flying-tiger-short-film-ho-weng-toh-richie-koh/ |access-date=27 April 2024 |website=mothership.sg |language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life == Ho had been living in Singapore since 1953 till his death in 2024. Ho met Portuguese Augusta Rodrigues during his stint in Shanghai and they got married on 5 May 1949.<ref name=":4" />
Their son was born in Guangzhou and daughter in Hong Kong. They later all got Singaporean citizenship.<ref name=":4" /> His wife died in 1977 of lung cancer.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ho |first=Olivia |date=19 August 2019 |title=From war memoirs to poetry: The seniors turning to book publishing in their 80s and 90s |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/from-war-memoirs-to-poetry-the-seniors-turning-to-book-publishing-in-their-80s-and |access-date=21 February 2025 |work=The Straits Times}}</ref>
In 2019, he released a book titled ''Memoirs of a Flying Tiger: The Story of a WWII Veteran and SIA Pioneer Pilot'' from the advice of George Yeo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nazren |first=Fasiha |date=6 January 2024 |title=Captain Ho Weng Toh, one of the last surviving Flying Tigers, dies aged 103 |url=https://mothership.sg/2024/01/captain-ho-flying-tiger-pass-away/ |access-date=26 April 2024 |website=mothership.sg |language=en}}</ref> In 2023, a short film called ''Flying Tigers'' based on his life was released and he was portrayed by Richie Koh.<ref name=":5" />
Ho died on 6 January 2024 at the age of 103.<ref name=":0" />
== In media ==
Captain Ho's wartime endeavours were featured in Channel News Asia's 2020 documentary ''Forgotten Heroes'' <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvULFXcmvTo</ref>.
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:1920 births Category:2024 deaths Category:Singaporean men centenarians Category:Malaysian emigrants to Singapore Category:Malaysian people of Chinese descent Category:Singapore Airlines people Category:Alumni of Lingnan University (Hong Kong) Category:World War II bomber pilots Category:Chinese World War II pilots Category:Naturalised citizens of Singapore Category:Singaporean aviators