Guide to the Papers of Charles Kingsford-Smith, 1917-1935

Summary

Collection number:

MS 209

Creator:

Kingsford-Smith, Charles, Sir, 1897-1935, Meikle, W., Mr., Department of the Interior, and Collett, B.

Extent:

1.25 metres and (6 folders + 1 framed picture + 1 folio item + 1 small phase box)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Charles Kingsford-Smith, National Library of Australia, MS 209, [item number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers of Charles Kingsford-Smith include the following items: the log of the Southern Cross kept by Charles Ulm on the flight across the Pacific from Oakland, California to Brisbane, 31 May-9 June 1928; the log of the Southern Cross from Australia to New Zealand and back, 1928; the log of the Southern Cross covering flights between 3 April 1931-7 January 1934; the log of the Southern Cross VH.USU port engine, 3 April 1931-13 May 1935; part of the log of the Australia-England flight, September-October 1931 (5 loose pages); and pilots' flying log books, 27 March-13 July 1917, kept by Kingsford-Smith while he was in No. 8 Reserve Squadron Royal Flying Corps. Also included are photographs, radio messages from the Southern Cross, 1928, registration certificate no. 210 for aircraft Fokker F7 VH.USU, dated 20 September 1934 and leaflets seeking information on the disappearance of Kingsford-Smith in 1935.

Biographical Note:

Charles Edward Kingsford-Smith was born in Brisbane in 1897, the seventh and youngest child of William Charles Smith, banker, and Catherine Mary, née Kingsford. He was educated both in Vancouver, Canada and Australia at St Andrew's Cathedral School, and at Sydney Technical High School. At 16 he was apprenticed to the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. Ltd (now CSR Limited).

In February 1915 Kingsford-Smith enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces, having previously spent three years with the Senior Cadets. He embarked with the 4th Signal Troop, 2nd Division Signal Company, on 31 May as a sapper, serving in Gallipoli and later as a dispatch rider in Egypt and France. In October 1916, as a sergeant, he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps. After training in England, he was discharged from the A.I.F. and commissioned as second lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps, in March of the following year. He was appointed flying officer in May and in July joined No. 23 Squadron in France. Wounded and shot down in August, he was awarded the Military Cross 'for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty'. After promotion to lieutenant in April 1918 he served as an R.F.C. flying instructor.

In 1919 Kingsford-Smith and his friend Cyril Maddocks piloted joy-flights in England as Kingsford Smith, Maddocks Aeros Ltd. In the subsequent year Kingsford-Smith travelled to America and worked in Hollywood as a stunt pilot. Returning to Australia in 1921, Kingsford-Smith worked with the Diggers' Aviation Co., then for Norman Brearly's Western Australian Airways Ltd. On 6 June 1923 at Marble Bar, Western Australia, he married Thelma Eileen Hope Corboy.

Identifying the potential for air transport in Australia, Kingsford-Smith, together with fellow pilot Keith Anderson, raised funds to purchase two Bristol Tourers, and in 1927 they joined with Charles Ulm to form Interstate Flying Services in Sydney. After unsuccessfully tendering for an Adelaide-Perth mail service, the partners launched a series of promotional demonstration flights. On the first of these, in June 1927, Kingsford-Smith and Ulm flew around Australia in 10 days and 5 hours. Following on from this flight, Kingsford-Smith and Ulm sought and obtained support for a trans-Pacific flight from the New South Wales Government, Sidney Myer and Californian oil magnate, G. Allan Hancock. In a second-hand, refitted Fokker plane, the Southern Cross, Kingsford-Smith, Ulm and two American crewmen, Harry Lyon and Jim Warner, took off from Oakland, California on 31 May 1928. Flying via Hawaii and Suva before arriving in Brisbane, Kingsford-Smith, Ulm and their crew completed the historic crossing in 83 hours and 38 minutes. Kingsford-Smith was subsequently awarded the Air Force Cross and was appointed honorary squadron leader, Royal Australian Air Force.

Kingsford-Smith and Ulm undertook a number of promotional flights in 1928, demonstrating the feasibility of regular passenger and mail services across the Tasman. In 1929 they set out to fly the Southern Cross to England to order a fleet of four aircraft which became the basis for their short-lived inter-capital air service, Australian National Airways. Poor weather over north-west Australia forced Kingsford-Smith to land on the flats of the Glenelg River estuary on 1 April 1929. The search for the downed aircraft and crew had a tragic outcome when pilots Keith Anderson and Robert Hitchcock perished. Kingsford-Smith, Ulm and crew were found on 1 April 1929. The flight to England resumed in June and was completed in a record time of 12 days 18 hours.

He divorced in May 1929, and married Mary Powell on 10 December 1930 at Scots Church, Melbourne. Throughout 1930 Kingsford-Smith undertook a series of record-breaking flights, including an east-west crossing of the Atlantic in June and a solo flight from London to Darwin in October.

In 1932 Kingsford-Smith was knighted for services to aviation. The following year he established a flying training school in Sydney, Kingsford Smith Air Service, but sold out in 1935. On 6 November 1935 Kingsford-Smith, with J.T. Pethybridge, took off from England, aiming for another record-breaking flight. The plane and both fliers were lost somewhere off the coast of Burma. Kingsford-Smith was survived by his wife, Mary, and son, Charles.

Kingsford-Smith's contribution to civil aviation was posthumously honoured by the featuring of his portrait on the Australian $20 note, the naming of Sydney's airport and by a memorial to him, Taylor and Ulm at Anderson Park, Sydney.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

• Howard, Frederick. 'Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles Edward', in Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol 9. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp. 599-601.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The papers of Charles Kingsford-Smith have been progressively added to by a number of donors since the initial donation of the trans-Pacific flight logbook of the Southern Cross by Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm in 1928. The names of donors can be supplied on application to the Manuscripts Branch.

Arrangement:

The papers are an artificial collection, drawn from several sources, and the arrangement has been imposed by the Library. In 2009 the finding aid was published online and amended slightly to more accurately reflect the existing physical arrangement of the collection. Each item has been individually numbered (1-32) and folder numbers have been removed.

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

Selected items from the collection have been digitised and are available online through this finding aid.

Indexed terms

Names:

Department of the Interior

Conditions Governing Access:

Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn730280).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Charles Kingsford-Smith, National Library of Australia, MS 209, [item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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