Guide to the papers of Norman 'Val' St Leon

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MS 10322

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Created: 2017

Collection Summary

Creator
St Leon, Norman 'Val', Capt
Title
Papers of Norman 'Val' St Leon
Date Range
1937-2016
Collection Number
MS 10322
Extent
5.37 metres (18 ms boxes + 2 large folio boxes + 2 medium folio boxes + 1 folder + 8 sound AV carriers + 1 digital carrier)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
Special Collections (Manuscripts)

Introduction

Scope and Contents

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.

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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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

Finding Aid Source(s)

Please note: This finding aid may comprise or contain descriptive information provided by donors, researchers and/or volunteers.

Abbreviations

Note that in the finding aid and/or the collection, the abbreviations VSL and PSL refer to Val St Leon and Patricia St Leon.

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.

Item Descriptions

Class 1. Consignment received 2017, 1937-2016

The collection comprises papers, correspondence and photographs relating to Norman 'Val' St Leon's working life. The bulk of the collection relates to St Leon's employment as a navigator and pilot with Qantas, and also his career in the RAAF during the Second World War. 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.

Series. Miscellaneous papers

Correspondence, clippings, brochures, Qantas menu, 1952-2011 (File 1) - Box 1
Trade qualifications, CV, letters of recommendation, ratings, certificates, 1937-1985 (File 2) - Box 1
Bellevue Hill Public School anniversary book, expired passport, correspondence, clippings, 1977-2009 (File 3) - Box 1
Correspondence, clippings, 1982-2013 (File 4) - Box 1
Correspondence, sales agreements, clippings, 1978-2013 (File 5) - Box 1
Cards - birthday, well wishes, anniversary (File 6) - Box 1
Cards - birthday, well wishes, anniversary (File 7) - Box 2

Series. Interviews and stories

Living History-AFAP (Australian Federation of Pilots) Captain NV St Leon, 2007-2010 (File 8) - Box 2
Copy of NLA Oral History transcript - interview with Val St Leon (VSL), 1986 (File 9) - Box 2
Accounts written by VSL on memorable incidents during his career as a civilian pilot (File 10) - Box 2
Folder entitled Flight Engineers; stories on VSL's time in the air (File 11) - Box 2
Short stories from VSL recounting amusing incidents during his career as a pilot and flight engineer (File 12) - Box 2
Series of essays from VSL recounting amusing incidents during his career as a pilot and flight engineer (File 13) - Box 3
Series of essays from VSL recounting amusing incidents during his career as a pilot and flight engineer (File 14) - Box 3
Correspondence; draft submission by VSL for Labour History Qantas and its pilots 1946-67: The pilots struggle for professional status, 2008 (File 15) - Box 3
Index Book with handwritten notes and ideas for chapters; essays from VSL recounting amusing incidents during his career as a pilot and flight engineer (File 16) - Box 3

Series. Health

Medical records and correspondence, 1967-2015 (File) - Folio-Box 4

Series. Civil documentation

Travel documents; Aviation licenses; embossed leather wallet; Aeronautical handbook; diary/appointment/address book; aviation notebook, 1947-1988 (File 17) - Box 5
Log Book no 3; flight computer instrument; metal micrometre instrument - machinists measuring tool (File 18) - Box 5
Airline pilots' (Qantas) agreement; notes, clippings and journals relating to VSL's time at Qantas, 1972-1996 (File 19) - Box 5
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's Memorial Lecture; copy of paper 'Why is there an Us versus Them divide at Qantas?' by Peter Walton, 1990 (File 20) - Box 5
Qantas Flight Crew (Long Haul) certified agreement EBA 6, 2003-2004 (File 21) - Box 6

1 x special format carrier of same title removed and rehoused to Digital Carriers Box 18

Qantas Long Haul Flight Crew EBA 6 Agreement, 2003-4 (Item NLA.MS-DM000987) - Digital-Carriers-Box 18
1 item, AIPA, Data CD
Red folder entitled Route Check Info (File 22) - Box 6
Photographs, staff travel information, 2000-2001 (File 23) - Box 6
Log Books 1 and 2 (File 24) - Box 6
Folder entitled Aerodynamics and Performance, 1970 (File 25) - Box 6
Dossier of Qantas Historical Documents; Operations Manual -Avalon L/R Instrument Coupled Approach (File 26) - Box 7
Flight engineer panel diagram; correspondence, miscellaneous papers; poster of cockpit interior B-747 (File 27) - Box 7
Collective bargaining perspectives; meteorological information, 1965-1993 (File 28) - Box 7

Series. Aviation

Notes on different types of aircraft; correspondence; notes on Qantas (File 29) - Box 7
Folder on Weather Theory (File 30) - Box 7
Retained Information Flight Engineers (File 31) - Box 7
Chart Melbourne Visual Terminal (File 32) - Box 7
Typescript of the Battle of Milne Bay; personal notes, photocopied colour phots of family (File 33) - Box 8
Don Gray AFAP Monograph (File 34) - Box 8
Folder entitled Electronics/Theory of Flight; Spitfire/Rolls Royce/Whittle (File 35) - Box 8

Series. Lectures

The Constellation Lectures; Part 1 - the C69-L749 Flight Engineering, and Part 2 L1049-L1649 Piloting (File 36) - Box 8
RAeS Lecture, Qantas Vs Pilots - the Qantas Strikes, 2009 (File 37) - Box 8

Special Format material removed; 1 x CD 'RaES Lecture Qantas Vs Pilots' removed to Digital Carriers Box 18

RaES Lecture Qantas Vs Pilots, 2009 (Item NLA.MS-DM000988) - Digital-Carriers-Box 18
1 item, TDK, Data CD

Words and slides

Lockheed Constellation L1049 (File 38) - Box 8
B707 Endorsement Blues; Ground Effect (File 39) - Box 8
Constellation L749(a) lecture (File 40) - Box 9
Miscellaneous lecture notes (File 41) - Box 9

Series. Photographs and journals

Loose photographs and clippings; notebook; 2 photograph albums, 1940s-1960s (File 42) - Box 10
1 photograph album; aviation journals, 1948-2001 (File 43) - Box 11

Series. RAAF

2 volume 'Tee Emm'; RAAF Training Memorandum (File 48) - Box 12
RAAF service papers; enlistment, discharge, paybooks, certificates, 1943-2008 (File 49) - Box 12
Pilots Handbook for Operation and Maintenance; Allison Engines Operation Maintenance and Overhaul Handbook, 1940 (File 50) - Box 12
3 Squadron newsletters, 1965-2016 (File 51) - Box 13
Spiral bound copy of 'Ground Crew, A Middle East Diary' by Felix W Sainsbury (File 52) - Box 13

Desert Air force in North Africa October 1940-July 1943

Bound copy of 'No 2 OUT RAAF Mildura and No 8 OUT RAAF Parkes' by John Lever (File 53) - Box 13

A history of RAAF Fighter Pilot Operational Training Units

Published copy of 'Secrets Revealed' by Peter Muller and John Hutchison (File 54) - Box 13

No 3 Sqn RAAF 75 proud years 1916-1991

Published copy of 'P-40 Warhawk in World War II Colour' by Jeffrey Ethell (File 55) - Box 13

Series. Associations and societies

The Royal Aeronautical Society (File 56) - Box 13
The Royal Aeronautical Society (File 57) - Box 13
Association of Retired Airline pilots; funeral programmes of various friends (File 58) - Box 13
Pathfinder Force papers (File 59) - Box 13
Masonic Lodge papers (File 60) - Box 14
Various other professional organisations (File 61) - Box 14

Series. Civil documents

Papers relating to the advertising and sale of VSL's Wahroonga property (File 62) - Box 14
Personal papers; birth certificates, passports, DVA health care cards (File 63) - Box 14
Lifetime memories - mourning book of VSL's funeral (File 64) - Box 14
Papers of VSL's personal companies, 1978-1980 (File 65) - Box 14
Papers of VSL's personal companies, 1984-1998 (File 66) - Box 15

Series. Master of Letters, Central Queensland University (CQU)

Papers, correspondence relating to VSL's studies at CQU, 2003-2004 (File 67) - Box 15
Spiral bound dissertation of VSL, 2003 (File 68) - Box 15

Twenty Tumultuous Years; the confrontations between Qantas and pilots

Draft of dissertation, 2005 (File 69) - Box 15
Various essays by VSL for his Master of Letters (History) course at CQU (File 70) - Box 15
Papers, correspondence, notes relating to VSL's university studies, 2005-2006 (File 71) - Box 15
University essays, correspondence with lecturers (File 72) - Box 16

Special format material removed; 4 x CD's removed and rehoused to Digital Carriers Box 18 - ABC Capricornia 2006; Community Radio 4 You Rockhampton; M Litt 2008; A Struggle for Profess Status Lecture

ABC Capricornia, 2006 (Item NLA.MS-DM000989) - Digital-Carriers-Box 18
1 item, ProDisc Australia, Data CD
Community Radio 4 You (Item NLA.MS-DM000990) - Digital-Carriers-Box 18
1 item, Techworks, Data CD

Rockhampton 98.5 FM

M Litt, 2008 (Item NLA.MS-DM000991) - Digital-Carriers-Box 18
1 item, Compact Disc Recordable, Data CD

Kinglo

A Struggle for Professional Status Lecture (Item NLA.MS-DM000992) - Digital-Carriers-Box 18
1 item, Imation, Data CD
Spiral bound draft copy of dissertation (File 73) - Box 16
Draft of dissertation (File 74) - Box 16
Correspondence with pilots and lecturers; essay from university, 2003-2004 (File 75) - Box 16
Graduation programme, essay, notes, clippings on Francis James, 1989-2009 (File 76) - Box 16
Leather bound master copy of dissertation (File 77) - Box 16
Cards of congratulations on graduation; essay (File 78) - Box 16
De-framed collection; graduation and aircraft photographs; Royal Meteorological Society; Master of Letters; Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society; International Curmudgeon Society Certificate; Australian Institute of Company Directors' admission certificate; Institute of Automotive Mechanical Engineers; Institute of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineers; Order of Australia; various wall plaques of aeronautical organisations, 1947-2014 (File 79) - Folio-Box 17
Scrapbook; plastic bag containing funeral order of service and newspaper clippings; VSL's personal notebook/diary (File 80) - Folio-Box 18

Series. Patricia St Leon

Copies of the Qantas hostess club magazine 'Jetcetera'; Published copy of 'The Queen's Club' ; copies of 'Black and White', the magazine of the Royal Blind Society, 1985-2010 (File 81) - Box 19
Invitations to formal events (File 82) - Box 20
A History of The Queen's Club; travel brochures ; small notebook of VSL (File 83) - Box 20
Copies of the Qantas hostess club magazine 'Jetcetera', 1970's and 1980s (File 84) - Box 20
Correspondence (File 85) - Box 20

including letter from Nancy-Bird Walton to Patricia St Leon 2008

Diaries, address book and childhood Prayer Book of Patricia St Leon (File 86) - Box 21
Diaries of Patricia St Leon, 2000-2012 (File 87) - Box 21

Series. Order of Australia

Correspondence from VSL nominating others for Order of Australia (OA) (File 44) - Folio-Box 22
Papers relating to VSL's OA (File 45) - Folio-Box 22
Clippings and correspondence relating to VSL's OA (File 46) - Folio-Box 22
Order of Australia (paper) award in presentation folder; Australian flag folded and stitched, from funeral service of VSL (File 47) - Folio-Box 22

Class 2. Consignment received 2021, 1941-2016

This consignment comprises greeting cards to and from Norman 'Val' St Leon including a Christmas card sent to his father while serving with the RAAF in North Africa in 1941, plus memorial cards, 2 black and white portrait photographs in a locket, letter and printed materials relating to Qantas and female pilots in the air services.

Series. Miscellaneous papers

Greeting cards, photographs, ephemera, 1941-2016 (File 88) - Box 2

File comprises greeting cards to and from Norman 'Val' St Leon including a Christmas card sent to his father while serving with the RAAF in North Africa in 1941, plus memorial cards, 2 black and white portrait photographs in a locket, letter and printed materials relating to Qantas and female pilots in the air services.

Class 3. Consignment received 2021, c. 1975-2009

This consignment comprises recorded interviews and other audio material. The 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. The other audio material relates to the funeral service for Mal Timms (ex-RAAF).

Interviewed by Bill [Bulson] for 2MBS, c. 1990 (Item NLA.SAVA000261) - Cassette-Box SAVA 8

1 item, TDK D90, Compact cassette tape

Interview with Ron Yates, former CEO Qantas, January 2004 (Item NLA.SAVA000263) - Cassette-Box SAVA 8

1 item, TEAC 120, Compact cassette tape

Boeing 747 SIM checkout & Flying training, c. 1975 (Item NLA.SAVA000264) - Cassette-Box SAVA 8

1 item, TDK D90, Compact cassette tape

Interview with Don Gray (Qantas), 8 July 2003 (Item NLA.SAVA000265) - Cassette-Box SAVA 8

1 item, Sony 60, Compact cassette tape

Interviewed by Margaret Throsby, ABC Radio, c. 1990 (Item NLA.SAVA000266) - Cassette-Box SAVA 8

1 item, C30, Compact cassette tape

"Val St Leon gives his views on internal pilot's strike."

Interview with Bert Smithwell (Qantas), 30 July 2003 (Item NLA.SAVA000267) - Cassette-Box SAVA 8

1 item, Sony 60, Compact cassette tape

Capt N V St Leon

Funeral service for Mal Timms (ex-RAAF), c. 2000 (Item NLA.SAVA000268) - Cassette-Box SAVA 8

1 item, 90, Compact cassette tape

Return of 707/138 YHEBA City of Canberra, n.d. (Item NLA.SAVA000269) - Shelf-Short 05-02-01

1 item, TDK HS, Consumer formats – VHS etc

"Unknown recording" written on post it note on case.

Today Show, "Qantas Pacific Anniversary", 50th Anniversary First Jet Service, YHEBA 29th August 1959, 7 August 2009 (Item NLA.DMA000015) - Digital-Carriers-Box DMA 1

1 item, Data DVD (any content of recordable DVD-R)

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