Joy flights, feats and disasters: A journey through 1920s and 1930s aviation in the National Historical Collection

Jennifer Wilson, National Museum of Australia with introduction by Kirsten Wehner, 18 July 2013

I must admit when I first read that, I thought she meant something else.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=202756 Amy Mollison’s flight log in a Percival Gull

In May 1936, Amy Johnson, then known as Amy Mollison, made her last record-breaking flight, regaining her Britain to South Africa flight record in a Percival Gull Six. [image shown] This logbook in the Museum’s collection records Johnson’s record flight: all the way from her test flights with Percival at Luton Airport to her arrival in South Africa.

Back in Australia, one of the main activities behind the progress of aviation was the carriage of airmail, and moves in that area were made quickly. In 1914, visiting French aviator Maurice Guillaux carried the first official airmail from Melbourne to Sydney, then the longest airmail delivery in the world. When Harry Butler returned from service with the Australian Flying Corps in 1919, he flew an airmail delivery from Adelaide to Minlaton, South Australia, stating: ‘The plane was great in War but it will be greater in Peace.’ Between May and October 1920, Harold Treloar was employed by the Sunraysia Daily newspaper to deliver it to locations throughout South Australia. In December of that same year, Sydney retailer David Jones commissioned the first delivery of Christmas parcels by aircraft – as commemorated in this postcard [image shown of David Jones card and 1934 airmail flight cover]

As airmail services expanded across Australia and internationally, it created its own type of collectable product – aerophilately. This example from the collection is a flight cover flown in Faith in Australia by Charles Ulm, as part of the first official airmail delivery to New Zealand from Australia in February 1934.

Another key contributor to aviation’s development during this period was the provision of aerial medical services across regional and remote Australia. [image shown of CWA mural – Nancy Bird] This mixed media artwork subtitled ‘Royal Flying Doctor’ was made by the Darling River Group of the Country Women’s Association of New South Wales. The central features of this artwork are Nancy Bird Walton and her Gipsy Moth aircraft.

Nancy Bird Walton made a significant contribution to Australian aviation, especially for female aviators, founding the Australian Women Pilots association in 1950. In 1935, Bird was hired to operate an air ambulance service in outback New South Wales, including the district of the Darling River Group, which included Broken Hill, Ivanhoe, Menindee, White Cliffs and Wilcannia. It was named the Far West Children’s Health Scheme, and Bird used her own Gipsy Moth aircraft for the service.

[image shown of AAMS transceiver] This transceiver came to the Museum from the Australian Broadcasting Commission, or ABC, with no story as to its exact use, but it is an important example of important equipment developed to support the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In 1928, Reverend John Flynn began experiments for the provision of an aerial medical service to rural and remote areas of Queensland from a base in Cloncurry using Qantas aircraft. In 1934, several state and territory-based operations were amalgamated into a national network, called the Australian Aerial Medical Services, which was renamed Flying Doctor Service in 1942, and received its Royal charter to become the RFDS in 1955.

Young engineer Alfred Traeger began working with Flynn in 1926 in the Northern Territory to develop radio transceivers for the then proposed aerial medical service that would provide support for flying doctors and provide assistance to isolated Australians. The resulting ‘pedal wireless’ was introduced to Queensland in 1929, and Traeger’s time was divided between his workshop and the field where he taught radio operating and Morse code.

[image shown] This transceiver dates from the period 1935 to 1942. It has a switch or switches to move between Morse code and telephony. This unit became standard for many years.

Not only were transceivers indispensable equipment for communicating during medical emergencies, but they also became a key instrument in social communication. The introduction of telephony with this model of transceiver opened regional and remote Australia to what became known as ‘galah sessions’, which were allocated periods during the day when the radio service was use for chatting, sharing news or recipes, and arranging gatherings.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=127928 QSL card

Not surprisingly, the collectors of the world managed to find a side interest in the important work of these transceivers. QSL cards were used to confirm that a listener had heard a particular radio station, with QSL referring to the Morse code shortcut – a Q code – in the form of a question meaning: ‘Do you acknowledge receipt of?’ After a period of time stations realised that they were issuing QSL cards to people who were not actually hearing the station at all but simply collecting QSL cards, no doubt like this particular collector represented [image shown] – you can see his address is in Auckland, New Zealand, but he is still a fan of the Cloncurry Aerial Medical Service.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=68486 Bark painting entitled ‘Spirit Islands’

As the possibilities of Australian aviation cemented themselves, commercial airlines looked increasingly to expand their services overseas. This bark painting by an unknown artist provides a link to one of those expanding networks.

In 1934, Qantas Empire Airways was formed, combining the interests of British Imperial Airways and Qantas for a new England-Australia service. Qantas started the service between Darwin and Singapore with DH86 aircraft but soon introduced flying boats to the service, ushering in a new era of travel.

The painting titled Spirit Islands was originally owned by Fred Gray, the founder of the Umbakumba Aboriginal settlement on Groote Eylandt.

Groote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, a Dutch name meaning ‘big island’. The Aboriginal settlement was established on the shores of Little Lagoon, Port Langdon, on the north-eastern coast of Groote Eylandt in 1938. The location of the settlement was determined by the establishment of the flying boat base on the northern shores of the lagoon. The base was initially created for Qantas Empire Airways as a refuelling facility and was leased to the Shell Company. The Royal Australian Air Force assumed control of the base from 1942, using it until the end of the war when it was completely abandoned.

[image shown - Painting of the Southern Cross by John Allcot] Although Qantas became ‘Australia’s overseas airline’, perhaps the most significant attempt to excite people to the possibilities of aviation was the trans-Pacific flight of the Southern Cross and crew in 1928. Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, with American crew members Harry Lyon and James Warner, became the first people to cross the Pacific Ocean by air leaving Oakland, California, on 31 May 1928 and, via Hawaii and Fiji, landing in Brisbane on 9 June, having completed the 11,585-kilometre crossing in 83 hours, 38 minutes of flying time.

When Kingsford Smith and Ulm travelled to America to pursue their dream of completing the trans-Pacific flight, they were contacted by Antarctic adventurer and explorer Hubert Wilkins. Wilkins believed that he was the owner of the only aircraft at the time that could complete the journey successfully – a tri-motor Fokker aircraft that he had used in some of his Antarctic expeditions. Kingsford Smith and Ulm managed to get the funds together to secure the aircraft, and alterations were made at the Boeing factory in Seattle for the flight.

This is a bit of a look inside the Southern Cross. Some of the photographs in our collection really bring alive the actual conditions.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/austin_byrne_southern_cross_memorial_collection Photo album from the Austin Byrne Southern Cross Memorial collection

This is the cockpit featuring the very large fuel tank, which was put behind the pilot and co-pilot’s seat, not allowing much space for the pilot and co-pilot.

This is the other side of the fuel tank, with the navigator and radio operator’s stations.

There is a great photo of radio operator James Warner at his post. You can see the writing on the Southern Cross fuselage indicating that there is not much between Warner and the outside world – very comfortable flying conditions for an 83-hour journey.

James Warner enlisted in the United States of America Navy in 1911. He served in the western Pacific and China. In 1916, Warner began training a new generation of electricians and radio operators. He became the first chief radioman in the US Navy. After the war, while working as a salesman in San Francisco, Warner heard that navigator Harry Lyon, whom he had served with during the war, was joining the trans-Pacific flight planned by Kingsford Smith and Ulm. At that stage, Warner had not yet flown in an aeroplane, but he joined the Southern Cross crew and began preparing radio equipment for the flight.

Warner’s radio equipment and skills played a key role in the navigation effort for the flight. As summarised, ‘A radio beam would be sent out from Wheeler Field in Hawaii to the US Army’s Crissy Field in San Francisco. If all went well, this meant that the Southern Cross was on course, and Warner would hear a constant reassuring buzz in his headphones.’

Warner’s achievements were widely touted as the first successful continuous radio communication on a long distance flight, and Warner received many accolades from the Australian radio community, including this certificate from the Wireless Institute [image shown of the James Warner collection, medallion and certificate].

Prior to their departure, the Americans Warner and Lyon were required to sign a contract prepared by Charles Ulm. The contracts were created to ensure that the accolades for the successful trans-Pacific flight would go to the Australians, emphasising that Warner and Lyons were hired for the job, but the real work had been done by Kingsford Smith and Ulm. The basis for this arrangement was no doubt related to Kingsford Smith and Ulm’s increasing debts and financial strain, which they hoped would be solved by receiving a government grant at the end of their journey. The contract, a copy of which is in our collection, stated that Warner and Lyon would leave the flight in Fiji, with the journey from Fiji to Australia less demanding on navigation, though this clause was later ignored. The crew members emphasised that their friendship and mutual respect had developed throughout the flight. Warner and Lyon were treated like heroes in Australia as well.

Returning to California, Warner and Lyon were each presented with a gold commemorative medal and $10,000 from the citizens of Oakland. The medal is engraved: ‘OAKLAND CALIFORNIA TO SYDNEY AUSTRALIA; MAY 31 1928; JUNE 10’ with portraits of Lyon and Warner. So they did get quite a lot of attention back in their homeland.

[image shown of Southern Cross arriving in Honolulu – see http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/austin_byrne_southern_cross_memorial_collection] This photo shows Kingsford Smith and Ulm at the centre with a crowd of well-wishers on their arrival in Honolulu. I like this photo because the crew were mostly deaf at this stage of the journey due to the noise of storm and of course the very noisy engines of the aircraft. But they were still faced with many questions and cameras from every angle. So it was an interesting landing.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=71122 Cigarette case

Not surprisingly, Kingsford Smith and Ulm were very glad to reach Australia, and this is a gift presented to Smithy from Ulm, a cigarette case engraved with the simple message ‘We made it’. It is on display for us here today as well.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=136701 Luncheon menu and ‘Hats off to our airmen’

The airmen were instant celebrities. This is just one of the many luncheons presented in their honour, a luncheon at Parliament House in Canberra. Kingsford Smith and Ulm were there presented with honorary appointments in the Royal Australian Air Force. And not forgetting the numerous poems and songs produced in their honour, with some very patriotic sentiments for the time.

Riding on this wave of popularity, Kingsford Smith and Ulm decided to establish an airline company. Australian National Airways Ltd (ANA) was registered in Sydney in December 1928, with Kingsford Smith and Ulm as joint managing directors. The initial vision for the company was to offer pilot training and operate passenger, mail and freight services between cities and towns in eastern Australia. [image shown of ANA prospectus]

Based on the success of their exploits in the Southern Cross, Kingsford Smith and Ulm ordered five tri-motor Avro X aircraft from AV Roe and Co in England for their new company. The Avro X were similar in appearance to the famous Southern Cross. They were actually a version of the Fokker aircraft manufactured by AV Roe under licence from Fokker. The new aircraft were named: Southern Cloud, Southern Star, Southern Sky, Southern Moon and Southern Sun.

In 1928, Australian National Airways called for tenders to construct a large hangar and maintenance workshops at the Mascot aerodrome in Sydney, suitable for their new fleet of aircraft and their intended operations. Kingsford Smith and Ulm decided to travel to England to inspect the aircraft under construction, while also surveying aerial flying routes, and to engage pilots, engineers and support for their venture.

They were forced to make an emergency landing north of Derby, Western Australia, and an aerial search party was sent to try to find the Southern Cross and crew. The Kookaburra, one of the aircraft involved in the search, crashed killing aviators Keith Anderson and Bob Hitchcock. Although Kingsford Smith and Ulm were rescued and eventually continued on to England, the forced landing and the subsequent inquiry damaged their reputations.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=111760 Thornycroft expedition diary

The Museum holds this photographic and written account of the 1929 expedition to recover the bodies of aviators Keith Anderson and Bob Hitchcock from the wreckage of the Kookaburra. It was compiled by the driver of the expedition, Raymond Miles, with the assistance of his daughter. The expedition was undertaken in a British A3 Thornycroft truck, supplied free by the importer of the vehicle. The crew was made up of four men: Frank Nottle; Les Miles as the driver-mechanic; William Berg, a journalist; and Constable George Murray.

On 24 May, the Thornycroft and crew members were transported by train from Adelaide to the rail-head near Alice Springs. The expedition was directed to travel to Newcastle Waters and find the hoof marks of horses left in the ground by the party that had secured the crash site about one month before. That was the way they needed to guide themselves to the crash site. The Thornycroft expedition was also accompanied by four Aboriginal guides. The truck suffered numerous tyre punctures and travelled slowly through the loose sand, but on 11 June found the horse tracks, and eight days later located the Kookaburra wreck. The Thornycroft expedition could not recover the aircraft but cleared a runway in case it could be flown out at a later date. They recovered the bodies of Anderson and Hitchcock and transported them back to Alice Springs and then to Adelaide for burial.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=58545 Paperweight Avro X model

Despite these early problems for the airline, Australian National Airways began regular services in 1930 between Sydney and Brisbane. [image shown] This paperweight of an Avro Ten aircraft was used by Ulm on his desk during that time. Kingsford Smith and Ulm worked vigorously to repair their popularity. Kingsford Smith set off to make a successful east-west crossing of the Atlantic in the Southern Cross and then set a new England-Australia record in the Southern Cross Junior. Ulm capitalised by promoting ANA flights as an opportunity to fly with the famous aviators. The ANA service was promoted as fast, efficient and safe, and by March 1930 had carried over 1000 passengers and 1200 kg of freight. Services were extended to Melbourne and Launceston, with Australian National Airways becoming the first daily interstate airline. The engineering and maintenance staff at the Mascot hangar were also increased, with a staff of 42 working in shifts.

[Image shown of Iris Flynn, Southern Sky] These photographs feature a group of theatre performers travelling between Melbourne and Sydney on the ANA aircraft Southern Sky. The passengers included dancer Iris Browne, wife of the tenor Herbert Browne, en route to board a ship to New Zealand, where they were to perform in several musicals. Iris in seated here beside this wonderful cane chair inside the Southern Sky. It looks pretty basic but these cane chairs were actually the latest in passenger comfort. They had seat pockets which contained reading material, the latest newspapers of the day, and mints to ward off travel sickness. So it was very fancy.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=126990 Southern Cloud clock

On 21 March 1931, ANA’s aircraft Southern Cloud failed to reach Melbourne on a scheduled service from Sydney. It was believed that the Southern Cloud, carrying six passengers and piloted by [Captain Travis W] Shortridge and apprentice Charles Dunell, had crashed in severe weather conditions. Despite the suspension of ANA services and all pilots and aircraft being deployed in extensive search efforts, the tragic disappearance of the Southern Cloud remained a mystery.

The Air Accidents Investigations Committee could not assign a cause for the loss, but made a series of recommendations that led to new airline operating standards, including the adoption of radio communications which made aircraft travel safer for generations to come. The wreck of the Southern Cloud was not discovered until 1958 when Tom Sonter, a carpenter working on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, happened upon the crash site while bushwalking near Kiandra, New South Wales.

Within days of the discovery of the site, hundreds of people visited, collecting many souvenirs. Among the visitors was Canberra political journalist Alan Reid and his son Alan junior. Reid wrote a number of articles about the Snowy Mountains in addition to his regular work covering federal politics. Alan junior brought the clock back to Canberra where he showed it to fellow classmates at Canberra Grammar School. One fellow student, John Boddington, then in grade 8, sensed the historical importance of the relic and bought it from Reid for five shillings.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/southern-cloud-clock Southern Cloud clock collection highlight

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=135697 Tachometer plate and Frank Proust and crash site

Another visitor to the site was Sydney Morning Herald journalist Frank Proust. The searchers found the aircraft’s three engines buried in the ground. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Southern Cloud was hidden in the long grass, where many instruments had been ripped out of the instrument panel by the force of the crash. Many were Byrnet beyond recognition, but the tachometer plate from the instrument panel, which is here [image shown], was found in good condition. Proust took the dial as a souvenir of the crash, and it is actually on display in the Eternity gallery downstairs.

http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/eternity/mystery

[image of Charles Dunell’s licence and photograph] Charles Dunell, the co-pilot who died in the Southern Cloud disaster, began his pilot-engineer apprenticeship with Australian National Airways in 1929, and was part of the company from its beginnings. Dunell moved into the accommodation at Coogee to be closer to his workplace in Mascot, despite misgivings from his family about the dangers of his chosen profession. His family donated Dunell’s licence, shown here and several photographs to the Museum. It is wonderful to have an employee of the National Airways represented in the collection.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=110976 Ellen Rogers photo montage panel>

More images and information in the Ellen Rogers collection highlight: http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/ellen_rogers_collection

Throughout every tragedy and triumph for Australian National Airways, there was company secretary Ellen Rogers, whom Kingsford Smith and Ulm called ‘Rog’. [image shown] This is a photomontage of ANA and its operations made by Charles Ulm and his wife Mary as a gift for Ellen Rogers. This is a photograph of Ellen at the centre of the montage. It also includes an original painted star from the original fabric of the Southern Cross. It was re-covered a couple of times.

Born in Maitland, New South Wales in 1906, Ellen Rogers was just 21 years old and working for Atlantic Union Oil Company in Sydney when the Southern Cross and crew completed their flight across the Pacific Ocean in June 1928.

The Southern Cross had used Atlantic oil and fuel when making its historic flight, so the company assisted the aviators on their return to. As the managing director of Atlantic was away at the time, Rogers was assigned to work with Kingsford Smith and Ulm through their hectic round of public receptions and interviews, and she carried out secretarial duties for the aviators.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=110915 souvenirs, half main bearing and propeller hub

Rogers was given many gifts by her appreciative employers, who I think she kept pretty organised at the time. This half bearing from the centre engine of the Southern Cross was in place for the trans-Pacific, trans-Tasman and Australia to England flights made in 1928 and 1929. The steel bearing was probably removed during the complete overhaul the aircraft received at the Fokker Aircraft Company in Amsterdam, when Kingsford Smith visited there in 1929. The propeller hub, which is also on display here today, was removed from one of ANA’s Avro X aircraft.

[image of William Beausang photo album] The collection also includes material from another ANA employee. William Beausang was born in Ireland in 1900. He travelled to Australia in 1924 and began working with Kingsford Smith as an engineer for Australian National Airways. Like many of those who worked with Kingsford Smith, Beausang had a sense of commemorisation or memorialisation of his time with Australian National Airways, keeping photographs, newspaper clippings and writing poetry about the Southern Cross and her crews. I won’t read any of that today. It’s actually not very good, but the sentiment was there.

A sharp decrease in passenger numbers and financial difficulties attributed to by the Great Depression forced ANA’s directors to suspend all services in June 1931. After several failed attempts to salvage the company, in February 1933 ANA entered voluntary liquidation.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=110950 Ulm’s attaché case

This attaché case was used by Charles Ulm from 1928 until 1934, including his preparations for the Southern Cross trans-Pacific flight. Following the demise of ANA, Ulm continued to promote the benefits and efficiency of air services, establishing a new company, Great Pacific Airways Ltd, to operate a San Francisco to Sydney service. The shipping label on the back of the case is inscribed ‘Olympic/5th October 1934’, recording the details of Ulm’s journey from the United States of America to England to collect the Airspeed Envoy aircraft Stella Australis in which he disappeared flying from California to Hawaii in December 1934 to start his new venture.

[image of Flight manifest, Lady Southern Cross, 1934] Kingsford Smith also continued to promote the future possibilities of air services after ANA by attempting further flight distance and speed records. This simple piece of paper tells an interesting story about a flight made by Kingsford Smith and Patrick Gordon (or Bill) Taylor in the Lady Southern Cross in 1934. Kingsford Smith and Taylor had a long association in Australian aviation. Both had served in the Flying Corps, and Taylor flew as a pilot with Australian National Airways.

Kingsford Smith and Taylor planned to fly together in the 1934 MacRobertson Centenary air race, but modifications to their aircraft named Lady Southern Cross were not completed in time. Disappointed to miss the lucrative air race, which they were hoping to win, and in an effort to reimburse their race sponsors, later that year Kingsford Smith and Taylor decided to fly Lady Southern Cross from Australia to California where they would sell the aircraft. Their flight completed in 51 hours was the first successful west-east crossing of the trans-Pacific.

[image shown] Completed and signed by Kingsford Smith, this simple flight manifest or customs form is a record of the first foreign-registered aircraft and crew to land in Honolulu, as when the Southern Cross had made the journey in 1928, it travelled under American registration. As no paperwork existed at the time for receiving an aircraft, this is actually a shipping manifest that was adapted. ‘Vessel’ has been crossed out on the form and ‘aircraft’ handwritten by Kingsford Smith to make the form more accurate.

From 1935 Taylor operated a succession of Percival Gull Four and Gull Six aircraft on private and charter flying. He became the agent for Percival Aircraft Ltd in Australia. He went on to make many important contributions to Australian aviation.

[photo of damaged Southern Cross propeller, 1935] In 1935, Taylor and Kingsford Smith flew together again, this time in the Southern Cross for what was a rather dramatic adventure. On 15 May 1935, carrying a cargo of Jubilee airmail, Kingsford Smith, Taylor and radio operator John Stannage were forced to turn back to Sydney en route to New Zealand when an exhaust manifold on the centre engine broke off and damaged the starboard propeller. This photograph shows the damage to the propeller [image shown] and there were numerous other problems. In an effort to make it back to Sydney safely, the crew jettisoned some of the cargo, which is bad when it is official royal mail, and Taylor climbed outside of the aircraft to collected oil from the disabled starboard engine, which he then transferred to the port engine. Taylor was awarded an Empire Gallantry Medal for his bravery, and he was possibly a bit crazy but if they wanted to survive, that’s what they had to do. We are lucky enough to have in our collection a fragment of the damaged propeller. [image shown]

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=58400

http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/journeys/gallery_highlights?result_371315_result_page=6#slideshow-gallery propeller fragment and case

We understand that a young Victor Piper was part of the crowd that greeted the aircraft and crew after their hazardous flight, and was given this piece of broken propeller by Kingsford Smith. The propeller fragment is on display just outside this theatre as part of the Journeys gallery.

[image of Andy Thomas and Dawn Casey with fragment] This is a very well-travelled piece of wood. The propeller fragment was actually taken by Australian-born astronaut Andy Thomas on board his Shuttle Discovery mission in March 2001. This is former Museum director Dawn Casey handing the fragment over to Thomas for his trip. Thankfully he brought it back safely.

[image of Kingsford Smith, gifting Southern Cross, 18 July 1935] Following the unsuccessful trans-Tasman flight, plans were made to retire the ageing Southern Cross. It was repaired and then purchased by the Commonwealth government in order to preserve it for the nation, and it is now at the Brisbane airport. As a coincidence, today marks 78 years to the date that Kingsford Smith handed the Southern Cross over to the government.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=22429 Austin Byrne, model of the Southern Cross

It is not surprising that, in these decades, someone would be inspired to create a memorial to the achievements of Kingsford Smith, Ulm and their aircraft the Southern Cross. Austin Byrne was born in 1902 at Newcastle, New South Wales. After his father died, Byrne and his younger brother were sent to St Michael’s Orphanage. Byrne later returned to the family home but left school at the age of 12 suffering severe depression.

In 1914 Byrne saw French pilot Maurice Guillaux fly his Bleriot monoplane to deliver Australia’s first airmail from Melbourne to Sydney, and in 1928 Byrne was at Mascot Aerodrome in Sydney as part of the crowd of thousands that greeted the Southern Cross after the trans-Pacific flight. In 1930, Byrne began constructing this model of the Southern Cross [image shown], dedicating around 5000 hours of his spare time across three years to the project. He intended the model to be a gift to Kingsford Smith on his return after another record-breaking flight from England to Australia. But when Kingsford Smith tragically disappeared, Byrne decided to mount the model on a marble pedestal as part of a tribute to the aircraft and its original crew.

Not stopping there, Byrne decided to create further metal and marble artworks, and established the Southern Cross Memorial, which he toured to New Zealand, America and Holland – all two tonnes of it. I’d like to show you some components of the memorial. They are quite stunning and amazing. Thanks to our photography team for making them look even better.

[Images of the rest of the Byrne memorial objects will be online in the collection highlight soon.] [Globe and Key] This is a globe of the world that Byrne made out of aluminium and mounted on this wonderful pedestal. It features in these studded jewels the paths that the Southern Cross flew. They are all colour coded on this wonderful key. So the journeys trans-Pacific to England, across Australia and over to New Zealand and every city and town that the Southern Cross visited is also represented by a jewel. It is large and very beautiful and shiny.

[Slide – Shrine] Next Byrne created what he called the shrine, which I guess explains itself in a way. This amazing piece of metal in a solid piece of marble features photographs of many of the contributors to the flights of the Southern Cross and inside these doors Byrne also hand-wrote an entire history of the Southern Cross with contributions from the aviators of the period.

He made the book himself. Oddly enough, with all these other pieces he thought that the book was the hardest thing he ever had to make, possibly because he actually shot the kangaroo that he then made the book with. It is bound in kangaroo hide. It is quite extraordinary. He made every single component of each artwork.

[Slide – Book of Remembrance] This is the last piece of the main memorial that he made, the book of remembrance. It is on its receptacle, platform, with three globes which represent the Pacific, the Tasman and the trans-Atlantic voyages of the Southern Cross with portraits of Kingsford Smith and Ulm in place. They are amazing pieces. Byrne in this what he called the book of remembrance encrusted with these black opals representing the Southern Cross in that he placed letters - he wrote to basically every famous aviator from the period who had worked with Smithy and Ulm and got them to write back with tributes. He placed those in this amazing box for people to read.

I will conclude with a quote from Amy Johnson:

The National Museum’s collection paints a very busy picture of aviation during the 1920s and 1930s helping to preserve and remember and the realities and the romanticism that this period inspired. Everything you have seen on screen today is from the National Museum’s collection. The successes and failures of these aviators form the foundation for Australia’s aviation industry. I have enjoyed exploring these stories, and I hope you have today as well. Thank you. [applause]

KIRSTEN WEHNER: Thank you so much, Jen. We are a little bit over time but we probably have time for one or two very short questions. We do have a microphone roving around. I will ask you if you would like to ask a question to put your hand up and call for the microphone so that we can record it. Any questions?

QUESTION: Is it true on the America to Australia flight that they could only communicate from the pilot by a fishing line with a note on the end?

JEN WILSON: That is right, not very efficient but the actual pieces of paper that they passed the messages are actually in the National Library’s collection. It was just the noise of the engine plus that massive fuel tank that was sitting between the navigators and the pilots. That was the only way they could communicate.

QUESTION: Are there any plans for a special exhibition of the museum’s artefacts?

JEN WILSON: Not in the immediate future. There are proposals in place but we are trying to get more and more up online on our website which is through the efforts of these pieces of photography. Then further biographies that are online, so it’s sort of an online exhibition at the moment but we do hope will be out physically some of it will be out physically in the future. Parts of it have been out in the past and, as I indicated, some of it is on display in our galleries at the moment. Fingers crossed but we will get as much out as we can.

QUESTION: Do you have any connection with the Aviation Historical Group in Melbourne?

JEN WILSON: I am a member.

QUESTION: That’s good.

JEN WILSON: They are a wonderful group and have done a lot.

QUESTION: I am just interested to know if the collection has anything more on the Australian women pilots of the 1930s besides Nancy Bird?

JEN WILSON: Unfortunately we are a little bit limited in that area. It’s wonderful to have some material from I guess female contributors and passengers but it’s a little bit light in that area at the moment. We do have some material for later with female contributions on flight attendants and that sort of thing from the 1940s onwards.

QUESTION: So none of the pioneering record breakers?

JEN WILSON: Unfortunately, no. A lot of that material is in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection and also the National Library and Melbourne Museum.

KIRSTEN WEHNER: Let’s finish with Heidi’s goofy anecdote.

QUESTION: I spent a lot of time growing up in Tumbarumba. Recently there has been a beautiful incredibly stunning memorial put up to the Southern Cloud which was rediscovered in 1958. But the truth is all the locals knew where it was; they just didn’t know anyone was looking for it.

JEN WILSON: It’s an interesting moment really. There were a lot of rumours over the years. That’s one of them.

KIRSTEN WEHNER: I think we might draw the session to a close. We are a bit over time. Thank you very much everybody for coming today. Please do take the time to stop and have a look at the objects on display. Finally, I would ask you to join me once again to thank Jen for the fabulous talk. [applause]

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This is an edited transcript typed from an audio recording.

The National Museum of Australia cannot guarantee its complete accuracy. Some older pages on the Museum website contain images and terms now considered outdated and inappropriate. They are a reflection of the time when the material was created and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Museum.

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Date published: 01 January 2018