Guide to the Papers of Charles Kingsford-Smith

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MS 209

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Created: 2009

Collection Summary

Creator
Kingsford-Smith, Charles, Sir, 1897-1935
Title
Papers of Charles Kingsford-Smith
Date Range
1917 - 1935
Collection Number
MS 209
Extent
1.25 metres (6 folders + 1 framed picture + 1 folio item + 1 small phase box)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
Special Collections (Manuscripts)

Introduction

Scope and Contents

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.

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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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]'.

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.

Existence and Location of Copies

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

Further manuscript material relating to Charles Kingsford-Smith can be found in the following collections: the Norman Ellison Papers (MS 1882); a chart and receipt from 1933 (MS 7547); the Charles Kingsford-Smith Papers (MS 5918); letters of tribute to Charles Kingsford-Smith (MS 2787); the E.A. Crome Collection relating to aviation in Australia (MS 1925); and newspaper cuttings (MS 5312).

Navigation charts used by Kingsford-Smith in the 1928 crossing of the Pacific are held in the Map Collection (MAP RM 2811/1-7).

The Oral History Collection includes: sound recordings of Kingsford-Smith's arrival in Australia (ORAL TRC 39/1); Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm on their trans-Pacific flight in 1928 (ORAL TRC 39/2); and an interview with the collector Ernest Crome about Kingsford-Smith (ORAL TRC 575/2).

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.

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.

Biographical Reference(s)

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

Item Descriptions

Logbook of the Southern Cross, trans-Pacific flight, 31 May 1928-9 June 1928 (Item Item 1) - Box Shared, Volume Item 1 (MS 209)

Photographic negatives of the logbook of the Southern Cross, trans-Pacific flight, 31 May 1928-9 June 1928 (Item 1a)

'Notes on items of special interest' (Item 1b)

These typed notes describe items of special interest from the Kingsford-Smith papers, including excerpts from the logbook of the Southern Cross trans-Pacific flight.

Logbook of the Southern Cross trans-Tasman flight, [11 September 1928] (Item 2)

Aircraft logbook for the Southern Cross, 3 April 1931-11 December 1933 (Item 3)

Engine logbook of Southern Cross, port engine No. 7418, 3 April 1931-13 May 1935 (Item 4)

Part of logbook of Southern Cross Minor, Australia to England flight, 1931 (Item 5_9)

Five pages of handwritten notes.

Note on envelope (stamped: Sydney) airmail from Charles Kingsford-Smith to Peter Gerald and Bryan Collett, 1929 (Item 10)

Photograph of James Warner, Charles Kingsford-Smith, Harry Lyon and Charles Ulm around a terrestrial globe at Melbourne's 3LO studios (Item 11)

Notes entitled 'The Glean' (Item 12_16)

Four pages of handwritten notes.

Letter from Charles Kingsford-Smith to Jack, discussing the purchase of C.T.P. Ulm's Avian, 1931 (Item 17)

Letters from the Commonwealth National Library and the Department of Defence regarding the transfer of the Registration of Aircraft for the Southern Cross, from Charles Kingsford-Smith to the Commonwealth National Library (Item 18_19)

Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence, Civil Aviation Branch Certificate of Registration of Aircraft, for the Southern Cross (Item 20)

Handwritten notes describing items 22 and 23 (Item 21)

A flyer titled 'Urgent Notice' with text in English, Malay and Chinese, dated Singapore, 1935 (Item 22)

The notice is a request for information relating to the disappearance of Charles Kingsford-Smith and Captain J.T. Pethybridge.

A flyer with text in Siamese and Burmese (Item 23)

The flyer is a request for information relating to the disappearance of Charles Kingsford-Smith and Captain J.T. Pethybridge.

Charles Kingsford-Smith 'Pilot's Flying Log Book', 27 March 1917-14 July 1917 (Item 24)

Kingsford-Smith maintained this log book while a member of the No. 8 Reserve Squadron, Royal Flying Corps.

Map of the Pacific Ocean, 1928 (Item 25) - Map-Folio Item 25

Map of the Pacific Ocean used on Kingsford-Smith's 1928 trans-Pacific flight in the Southern Cross. Signed on 9 June 1928 by crew members Ray Allsop, Chief Engineer, and Thomas A.E. McNeil, Assistant Engineer.

'Outside Line Log' documenting messages received by radio 2BL Broadcasting Station from the Southern Cross during the trans-Pacific flight, 1928 (Item 26-28)

These three pages document messages received between 9:15pm EST on the 4 June 1928 and 11:50am on the 5 June 1928.

'A Memento of the World's Greatest Achievement in Aviation and Broadcasting' (Item 29)

This framed item was issued by 2BL Radio Station to listeners who wrote to 2BL commending their broadcast. Notes relating to the memento are pasted onto the back of the frame.

Cheque payable to Charles Kingsford-Smith for £5000, 1928 (Item 30) - Security-Binder (Shared), Security-Binder Item 30

Cheque payable to Charles Kingsford-Smith for £3000, 1933 (Item 31) - Security-Binder (Shared), Security-Binder Item 31

Framed £1 note, signed by Charles Kingsford-Smith and Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker (Item 32) - Security-Binder (Shared), Security-Binder Item 32

Printed on the mount beneath the framed note is a short paragraph relating the story behind the 'Famous Pound Note'. It reads: 'At a London dinner in 1930, Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith jokingly said that British aviation would not survive unless it acquired the Southern Cross. Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker offered £1, which "Smithy" accepted. The pound note was signed by both parties. Brought to Australia by Captain A.G. Lamplugh, it was presented to Mr Hudson Fysh who in turn presented it to the Minister for Air Services (Mr White) for the inclusion amongst the Kingsford-Smith relics in the National Museum.'


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