Guide to the Papers of Norman 'Val' St Leon, 1937-2016

Summary

Collection number:

MS 10322

Creator:

St Leon, Norman 'Val', Capt

Extent:

(18 ms boxes + 2 large folio boxes + 2 medium folio boxes + 1 folder + 8 sound AV carriers + 1 digital carrier)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as 'Papers of Norman 'Val' St Leon', National Library of Australia, MS 10322, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part not available for research until 2096. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises papers, correspondence, cards, recorded interviews and photographs relating to Norman 'Val' St Leon's working life. The bulk of the original consignment relates to St Leon's employment as a navigator and pilot with Qantas, and his career in the RAAF during the Second World War. Included in corespondence is a Christmas card St Leon sent to his father while serving with the RAAF in North Africa in 1941. These cards provide further insight into St Leon's experience in wartime aviation as well as providing an example of the kinds of material that was produced for members of the RAAF to send home.There is also a large amount of written material from his Master of Letters, and essays and lectures written on aviation, particularly in relation to Qantas' industrial agreement. The recorded interviews are with Margaret Throsby of ABC Radio on the internal pilot's strike, Bill Bulson of 2MBS, Ron Yates, former CEO Qantas, Don Gray of Qantas, and Bert Smithwell, also of Qantas. This collection includes a recording of a Boeing 747 SIM checkout and flying training session.

Biographical Note:

Born at Erskineville in 1921, the only child of Norman and Vera (nee Lee) St Leon, he was given the middle name of "Valentine", after his mother's birthday, February 14. He became known as "Val". The fourth generation of a circus family, Val grew up travelling from town to town in a horse-drawn cart. The Great Depression precipitated the break-up of the family circus and Val returned to Sydney with his mother.He began attending school regularly at 10. Leaving Bondi Commercial School at 15, with prizes for English, science and athletics, he joined Coote Jorgensen, a firm of engineers at Mascot, as an apprentice fitter and turner. Before he could complete his indentures, however, war broke out in Europe.

In October 1940, St Leon boarded the Aquitania, to join a troopship convoy bound for the Middle East. There followed 15 months on active service with No. 3 Squadron of the RAAF in North Africa and Syria. During the retreat from Benghazi, the Hurricane-equipped squadron narrowly escaped annihilation when the crack Italian Ariete Armoured Division surrounded its remote aerodrome.St Leon's initial posting to the Operational Training Unit, RAAF Mildura was followed by another to RAAF Oakey in 1943 where, by now a 21-year old sergeant, he organised the Allison Overhaul Division, leading 400 men in overhauling the Allison aircraft engines supplied to the RAAF under the Lend Lease program. At war's end, St Leon was a flight sergeant in the world's fifth-largest air force, yet the emerging field of civil aviation seemed to hold greater promise. Taking a few days leave, he visited the Rose Bay offices of a little airline called Qantas hoping to find "some sort of a job". It looked a distinctly "Mickey Mouse" affair but, discharged from the RAAF on August 14, 1946, St Leon joined Qantas the next day.

The following year in his new role as senior flight engineer, he entered the Lockheed factory at Burbank, California, along with other Qantas crewmen, to train and take delivery of the new Lockheed Constellation 749. They left Sydney by ship but returned several months later by air, landing four "Connies" in Qantas livery at Mascot after a 33-hour flight by way of Honolulu, Canton Island and Nadi. The new aircraft and their smartly uniformed, seven-man crews, were enthusiastically greeted by thousands of Sydneysiders.

Qantas expanded rapidly in the post-war period although air travel remained beyond the reach of most Australians for years to come. The Kangaroo Route between Sydney and London – the ancestor of today's QF1 – took up to a week to complete with overnight stops in places such as Singapore, Cairo, Rome and Paris. Three stewards and one hostess looked after the Constellation's 60 passengers, typically comprised of politicians, senior bureaucrats and corporate executives. Patricia Burke, from Innisfail, north Queensland, was one of the first nine hostesses employed by Qantas. St Leonand Patricia married in 1950 at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.

St Leon retrained as a navigator before transferring, in 1956, to his first flight duties as a second officer on the Lockheed Super Constellation 1049. From that point, he mastered, and eventually captained, each of the aircraft acquired by Qantas: the Lockheed Electra, the Boeing 707 and then, finally, the jumbo-sized Boeing 747, the aircraft that truly opened up the prospect of international air travel to most Australians.

He conceived and built two family homes, at Chatswood and Wahroonga. In the 1970s, he restored a derelict New England grazing property to viability. In 2004, he was admitted as a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. In 2005, he received the degree of master of letters for his dissertation on the struggle of Australia's airline pilots for professional status. In 2014, he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his services to aviation and the community.

St Leon died in 2016, and is survived by Patricia, his wife of 65 years, their three children, Mark, Jane and Anthony, and eight grandchildren.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Society and culture
Professions

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-vn7501077).

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 St Leon family. 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 'Papers of Norman 'Val' St Leon', National Library of Australia, MS 10322, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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