SIR CHARLES KINGSFORD SMITH

1. SIR CHARLES KINGSFORD SMITH By Jeremy Jones

2. INFORMATION Charles Kingsford Edward Smith: Born – 9th February 1897; Hamilton, Brisbane, Queensland He was the youngest of seven children, and born to William Charles Smith and Catherine May Kingsford From 1903 to 1907, his family lived in Vancouver, Canada When he returned to Australia, he attended St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney He then studied electrical engineering at Sydney Technical College He was twice married: His first marriage was to Thelma Eileen Corboy on 6 June 1923, and divorced in 1928. His second marriage was to Mary Powell on 10 December 1930. They had one son, Charles Arthur Kingsford Smith.

3. WORLD WAR I In 1915, he enlisted in the AIF and served at Gallipoli. He initially preformed duty as a motorcycle dispatch rider (delivers urgent military messages between headquarters and military units), but then tranfered to the Royal Flying Corps, becoming a pilot in 1917. In August 1917, while serving with No. 23 Squadron, was shot down and required amputation of a large part of his left foot. For his efforts in the war he was awarded the Military Cross. On 1st April 1918, along with other members of the Royal Flying Corps, he was transferred to the newly established Royal Air Force.

4. POST WWI As he was demobilised in England, in early 1919, he joined Tasmania Cyril Mannocks, to form Kingsford Smith, Mannocks Aeros Ltd, providing joy airplane rides in North England. Later Kingsford Smith worked as a barnstormer (airplane acrobatics) in the US, before returning to Australia in 1921, becoming a barnstormer, also flew airmail services (QANTAS), he then became a commercial pilot’s license.

5. QANTAS In 1920 a company called Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service, or better known as QANTAS, began operating as a airmail service in western Queensland. Airways Limited was established in 1921 with Kingsford Smith being hired as one of the five pilots.

6. RECORD BREAKING FLIGHTS The Southern Cross Kingsford Smith and crew member Examples of these included: At 8:54 am on 31st May 1928, Kingsford Smith, and his crew, left California, on a plane named the Southern Cross, to fly to Australia, to make the first trans-Pacific flight. The flight was in three stages; California to Hawaii, then to Fiji, and through to Brisbane, landing there on 9th June. At 2:00 pm on 10th September, Kingsford Smith, and his crew, left Sydney to Christchurch in New Zealand., completing the first successful trans-Tasman flight, as New Zealanders John Moncrieff and George Hood had attempted the flight previously, but were lost.

7. DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH Kingsford Smith and co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge were flying the Lady Southern Cross from India to Singapore, as an attempt to break the record flight from England to Australia. During this flight they disappeared over the Andaman Sea in the early hours of 8th November 1935. their bodies were never found.

8. LEGEND Charles Kingsford Smith was regarded as a aviation legend within Australia, with many flocking to see his departures and arrivals, his stunts, and to greet him on the completion of many record breaking flights. He was regarded as a pioneer of flying, conquering the isolation of Australia.

9. Charles Kingsford Smith was knighted on 3 June 1932 by the Australian Governor-General Sir IssacIssacsfor services to aviation and later was appointed honorary commodore of the Royal Australian Air Force The major airport of Sydney,  was named Kingsford Smith International Airport in his honour. His most famous aircraft, the Southern Cross, is now preserved and displayed in a purpose-built memorial to Sir Charles Kingsford Smith near the International Terminal at Brisbane Airport. Kingsford Smith sold the plane to the Australian Government in 1935 for £3000 so it could be put on permanent display for the public. The plane was carefully stored for many years before the current memorial was built. Kingsford Smith Drive in Brisbane passes through the suburb of his birth, Hamilton. Another Kingsford Smith Drive, which is located in the Canberra district ofBelconnen, intersects with Southern Cross Drive. Opened in 2009, Kingsford Smith School in the Canberra suburb of Holt was named after the famous aviator, as was Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith Elementary School in Vancouver, Canada. He was pictured on the Australian $20 paper note (in circulation from 1966 until 1994, when the $20 polymer note was introduced to replace it) to honour his contribution to aviation and his accomplishments during his life. He was also depicted on the Australian one-dollar coin of 1997, the centenary of his birth. Albert Park in Suva, where he landed on the trans-Pacific flight, now contains the Kingsford Smith Pavilion. A memorial stands at Seven Mile Beach (New South Wales) commemorating the first commercial flight to New Zealand. Qantas named its sixth Airbus A380 (VH-OQF) after Kingsford Smith.[32] KLM named one of its Boeing 747s (PH-BUM) after Kingsford Smith. [edit]