Charles Kingsford Smith and Those Magnificent Men

by P Fitzsimons

  6ibid.

  7Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from the RAF Station in Eastchurch, Kent, 12 January 1919, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  8Hughes, Aneurin, Billy Hughes: Prime Minister and Controversial Founding Father of the Australian Labor Party, John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane, 2005, p. 77.

  9Hughes, William, cable to Australian Cabinet, sent from Paris, 18 February 1919, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  10New York Times, 1919.

  11Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents in Sydney, sent from Hitchin, 17 April 1919, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  12Fokker, Anthony, Flying Dutchman, George Routledge & Sons, London, 1932, p. 229f.

  13ibid., p. 241.

  14Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents in Sydney, May 1919, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  15Blackmore, L.K., Hawker: A Biography of Harry Hawker, Airlife, Shrewsbury, 1993, p. 160.

  16‘Hold Thanksgiving Services at Hawker’s Old Home’, The Times, 27 May 1919.

  17‘Hawker Saved—A Mid-Atlantic Rescue’, The Times, 26 May 1919.

  18‘Mr Hawker’s Own Story—Why the Machine Came Down’, The Times, 27 May 1919.

  19‘Hawker Saved—A Mid-Atlantic Rescue’, The Times, 26 May 1919.

  20‘Mr Hawker’s Own Story—Why the Machine Came Down’, The Times, 27 May 1919.

  21Blackmore, op. cit., p. 25.

  22‘London Gives Airmen an Uproarious Welcome’, New York Times, 28 May 1919.

  23Hawker, Muriel, H.G. Hawker, Airman: His Life and Work, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1922, p. 266.

  24‘A Great Welcome to the Airmen, Mobbed by Cheering Crowds, Royal Reception To-Day’, The Times, 28 May 1919.

  25ibid.

  26ibid.

  27‘London Gives Airmen an Uproarious Welcome: Ovation all the Way from the North, Huge Crowds Acclaimed Them, Acclaimed by Australians’, New York Times, 28 May 1919.

  28Williams, Sir Richard, These Are Facts: The Autobiography of Air Marshall Sir Richard Williams, Australian War Memorial and the Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1977, p. 114f.

  29Gall, Jennifer, From Bullocks to Boeings: An Illustrated History of Sydney Airport, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1986, p. 9.

  30Ellison, op. cit., p. 25.

  31Gall, op. cit., p. 11.

  32Fysh, Sir Hudson, Qantas Rising: The Autobiography of the Flying Fysh, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1966, p. 68.

  33ibid., p. 52.

  34‘Australian Flight, Captain Wilkins Leaves’, Daily Telegraph, 24 November 1919.

  35Thomas, Lowell, Sir Hubert Wilkins: His World of Adventure, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1961, p. 114.

  36‘“Kangaroo” Farewell’, Daily Telegraph, 25 November 1919.

  37Kingsford Smith, Elsie, letter to her parents, sent from Menlo Park, California, 10 November 1919, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  38http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hawker

  39Fysh, op. cit., p. 69.

  40Haynes, Jim and Dellit, Jillian, Great Australian Aviation Stories: Characters, Pioneers, Triumphs, Tragedies and Near Misses, ABC Books, Sydney, 2006, p. 124.

  41Eustis, Nelson, Australia’s Greatest Air Race: England—Australia 1919, Rigby, Adelaide, 1977, p. 42.

  42‘Douglas and Ross, Details of Crash’, Daily Telegraph, 17 November 1919.

  43Swinson, Arthur, The Great Air Race, Cassell, London, 1968, p. 17.

  44Sheil, Beau, Caesar of the Skies: The Life Story of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Cassell, London, 1937, p. 31.

  45‘Airmen Bushed’, Daily Telegraph, 15 December 1919.

  46Haynes and Dellit, op. cit., p. 119.

  47ibid., p. 165.

  48‘Last Stage, Messages for Ross Smith, Australia’s Tribute’, Daily Telegraph, 10 December 1919.

  49Swinson, op. cit., p. 18.

  50‘The Pathfinders’, Daily Telegraph, 13 December 1919.

  51ibid.

  52Fysh, op. cit., p. 86.

  53ibid., p. 93.

  54Lindsay, Alan (director), Air Australia, Village Roadshow Entertainment, Sydney, 2007.

  55ibid., interview with Mary Cottrill, the daughter of Paul McGinness.

  56Love, Nigel B., The Autobiography of Nigel B. Love (Part One), Aviation in Australia, 1915-1923, self-published, Sydney, ca. 1968.

  Chapter Seven: Homeward Bound

  1Gunn, John, The Defeat of Distance: Qantas 1919–1939, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Queensland, 1988, p. 85.

  2Kingsford Smith, Elsie, letter to parents, sent from Oakland, California, 15 February 1920, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  3Mackersey, Ian, Smithy: The Life of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Little, Brown, London, 1999, p. 49.

  4While these numbers do not, in fact add up, that is the way they appear in the Ellison Collection.

  5This figure in the Ellison Collection actually says $22,000, but it is an error.

  6Ellison, Norman, Flying Matilda: Early Days in Australian Aviation, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1957, p. 258f.

  7Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from California, 20 September 1920, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  8Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles, My Flying Life: An Authentic Biography Prepared under the Personal Supervision of and from the Diaries and Papers of the Late Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Andrew Melrose, London, 1937, p. 20.

  9Kingsford Smith, Elsie, letter to parents, sent from San Francisco, 3 November 1920, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  10Sprigg, C. St John, Great Flights, Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, 1936, p. 68.

  11Gunn, op. cit., p. 23.

  12ibid., p. 21.

  13Fysh, Sir Hudson, Qantas Rising: The Autobiography of the Flying Fysh, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1966, p. 97.

  14ibid., p. 99.

  15‘Locklear Killed in Flying for Film’, New York Times, 4 August 1920.

  16Kingsford Smith, Elsie, letter to parents in Sydney, sent from San Francisco, 12 November 1920, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  17Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from San Francisco, December 1920, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  18Sheil, Beau, Caesar of the Skies: The Life Story of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Cassell, London, 1937, p. 36.

  19Pearce, Sir George F., speech, 17 September 1920, Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 93, p. 4717; second reading of the Air Navigation Bill, 4 November 1920; Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 94, pp. 6231-5.

  20Hughes, William M., speech, 9 September 1920, Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 93, p. 4389f.

  21Gregory, H. (MP), letter to the prime minister, 10 August 1920, Congressional Research Service, A2, file 1920/3061.

  22Pearce, Sir George F., letter to the prime minister, 18 April 1921, Congressional Research Service, A2717, Vol. III, Folder 11, file note, CRS A1195.

  23Brearley, Sir Norman, Australian Aviator, Rigby, Adelaide, 1971, p. 66.

  24Sheil, op. cit., p. 38.

  25From what Catherine Kingsford Smith told Norman Ellison (Mackersey, op. cit., p. 51).

  26Wixted, Edward P., The Life and Times of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith: An Illustrated Chronology, private source, Queensland, 1996, p. 14.

  27Fysh, op. cit., p. 104.

  28Gunn, op. cit., p. 34f.

  29Fysh, op. cit., p. 105.

  30ibid., p. 108.

  31Mackersey, op. cit., p. 53.

  32Wixted, Edward P., The Last Flight of Bert Hinkler, Vantage Press, New York, 1992, p. 10.

  33Mackenzie, Roy D., Solo: The Bert Hinkler Story, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1979, p. 43.

  34ibid.

  35‘Mr Hawker Killed, Crash in Trial Flight’, The Times, 13 July 1921.

  36‘How Mr H
awker Died, Not Strong Enough to Fly’, The Times, 18 July 1921.

  37Hawker, Muriel, H.G. Hawker, Airman: His Life and Work, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1922, p. 318.

  38Ellison, op. cit., p. 283.

  39Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Wellington, 20 July 1921, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  40Ellison, op. cit., p. 284.

  41Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Wellington, 4 August 1921, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  42‘Aerial Service. Geraldton to Derby. Major Brearly Successful’, Western Mail, 4 August 1921.

  43‘Aeroplane Service Between Geraldton and Derby, Western Australia, Conditions of Tender’, Daily News, 13 June 1925.

  44Kingsford Smith, Elsie, account of her brother’s life, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  45http://www.spiritsofansett.com/legends/brealey.htm

  46Brearley, op. cit., p. 81.

  47http://www.spiritsofansett.com/legends/brealey.htm

  48Gunn, op. cit., p. 50.

  49Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Perth, 3 December

  1921, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  50Lindsay, Alan (director), Air Australia, Village Roadshow Entertainment, Sydney, 2007.

  51ibid.

  52Gunn, op. cit., p. 51.

  53Fysh, op. cit., p. 113.

  54‘Preparations for the Flight’, Adelaide Advertiser, 14 April 1922.

  55‘A Brother’s Grief’, Adelaide Advertiser, 17 April 1922.

  56‘Ross Smith Killed While Testing Machine’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 April 1922.

  57‘A Great Airman’, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 April 1922.

  58Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Carnarvon, 3 May 1922, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  59Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Port Hedland, 1 September 1922. Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  60Davis, Pedr, Kookaburra: The Most Compelling Story in Australia’s Aviation History, Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1980, p. 98.

  61Ellison, op. cit., p. 291.

  62Edwards, Hugh, Gold Dust & Iron Mountains: Marble Bar and Beyond, East Pilbara Shire, Western Australia, 1993, p. 162.

  63Brearley, Norman, letter to Charles Kingsford Smith (Western Australian Airways letterhead), 23 May 1922.

  64‘Problems of Defence, Isolation and Development; What Civil Aviation Could Do to Help’, Aviation Historical Society of Australia Newsletter, Vol. 6 No 3, 1991, pp. 50-55.

  65Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Broome, 19 November 1922, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  Chapter Eight: Thelma

  1Ellison, Norman, Flying Matilda: Early Days in Australian Aviation, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1957, p. 287.

  2Fysh, Sir Hudson, Qantas Rising: The Autobiography of the Flying Fysh, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1966, p. 128.

  3Mackersey, Ian, Smithy: The Life of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Little, Brown, London, 1999, p. 71.

  4Fysh, op. cit., p. 127.

  5Gunn, John, The Defeat of Distance: Qantas 1919–1939, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Queensland, 1988, p. 86.

  6Edwards, Hugh, Gold Dust & Iron Mountains: Marble Bar and Beyond, East Pilbara Shire, Western Australia, 1993, p. 163.

  7Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Port Hedland, 26 October 1922, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  8Hazlitt, Lesley, Just Call Me Jack, Lexington Avenue Press, New South Wales, 2004, p. 60.

  9ibid.

  10Byrnes, Paul, Qantas by George! The Remarkable Story of George Roberts, Watermark Press, Sydney, 2000, p. 83.

  11Ellison, op. cit., p. 48.

  12ibid., pp. 49-50.

  13Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Broome, 19 November 1922, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  14Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Broome, 31 December 1922, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  15Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Geraldton, 7 February 1923, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  16Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Port Hedland, 3 May 1922, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  17Brearley, Norman, letter to Charles Kingsford Smith, sent from TSS Katoomba, 12 November 1922.

  18‘An Airmail Suggestion’, Aeronautics, May 1921.

  19Joy, William, The Aviators, Shakespeare Head Press, Sydney, 1971, p. 102.

  20Kingsford Smith, Charles, cable to parents, sent from Marble Bar, 9 June 1923, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  21ibid.

  22Edwards, op. cit., p. 164.

  23ibid., p. 163.

  24ibid.

  25ibid., p. 165.

  26Mackersey, op. cit., p. 74.

  27ibid., p. 75.

  28Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, 21 November 1923, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  29Edwards, op. cit., p. 163.

  30Nasht, Simon, The Last Explorer: Hubert Wilkins—Australia’s Unknown Hero, Hachette Livre Australia/Hodder, Sydney, 2007, p. 125.

  31Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, 23 November 1923, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  32Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, 15 February 1924, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  33Davis, Pedr, Kookaburra: The Most Compelling Story in Australia’s Aviation History, Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1980, p. 16.

  34Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, 15 February 1924, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  35Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, 27 March 1924, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  36ibid.

  37Edwards, op. cit., p. 165.

  38Stannage, John, Smithy, Oxford University Press, London, 1950, pp. 18–19.

  39Kingsford Smith, Elsie, account of her brother’s life, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  40ibid.

  41ibid.

  42Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Carnarvon, 22 June 1924, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  43Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Carnarvon, 23 June 1924, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  44Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Carnarvon, 22 June 1924, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  45Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, sent from Carnarvon, 15 February 1925, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  46Thomas, Lowell, Sir Hubert Wilkins: His World of Adventure, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1961, p. 184.

  47Wilkins, Hubert, letter to a Mr Byrne, sent from New York City, 29 October 1936.

  48Kingsford Smith, Charles, letter to parents, 26 July 1925, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  49Thomas, op. cit., p. 159.

  50ibid., p. 160.

  51ibid., p. 161.

  52ibid., p. 164.

  53Lindbergh, Charles Augustus, The Spirit of St. Louis, Tandem Publishing, London, 1975, p. 12.

  54Berg, A. Scott, Lindbergh, Putnam Adult, New York, 1998, p. 66.

  55Lindbergh, op. cit., p. 124.

  56ibid., p.16

  57Joy, op. cit., p. 50.

  58Lindsay, Alan (director), Air Australia, Village Roadshow Entertainment, Sydney, 2007.

  59Fysh, op. cit., p. 177.

  60Ellison, op. cit., p. 52.

  61‘A Flight with Smithy, The First Woman to Fly from Perth to Sydney L
ooks Back on the Epic Journey’, Australian Women’s Weekly, 5 November 1969.

  62ibid.

  63Kingsford Smith, Elsie, op. cit.

  Chapter Nine: Pioneers Away…

  1Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles, My Flying Life: An Authentic Biography Prepared under the Personal Supervision of and from the Diaries and Papers of the Late Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Andrew Melrose, London, 1937, p. 21.

  2Thomas, Lowell, Sir Hubert Wilkins: His World of Adventure, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1961, p. 175.

  3ibid., p. 176.

  4ibid., p. 177.

  5Berg, A. Scott, Lindbergh, Putnam Adult, New York, 1998, p. 91.

  6Cross, James Giblin, Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero, Clarion Books, New York, 1997, p. 40.

  7Berg, op. cit., p. 104.

  8ibid., p. 101.

  9Kingsford Smith, Elsie, account of her brother’s life, Ellison collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  10Rogers, Ellen, Faith In Australia: Charles Ulm and Australian Aviation, Book Production Services, Sydney, 1987, p. 14.