Northern Territory Library
The Great Air Race:
London to Darwin, 1919
On 19 March 1919, the Acting Prime Minister Mr W.A. Watts announced that the Commonwealth
Government were offering a prize of £10,000 for the first successful flight to Australia from Great
Britain in a machine crewed by Australians. The conditions of entry allowed that that the flight was
to be completed in less than thirty consecutive days and that the finishing place was to be in the
vicinity of Port Darwin. On 13 June 1919 Prime Minister Billy Hughes announced that he had
decided to postpone the race until September because of the inadequate preparations being made
by contestants for such a long and hazardous journey. The delay enabled the survey and
construction of a reliable and relatively safe route from England to Java.
During October 1919, AFC Lieutenants Wilmott Hudson Fysh, Paul McGiness and mechanic
George Gorham were commissioned by the Defence Department to survey a chain of aerodromes
between Longreach and Port Darwin. The site chosen by Fysh for Darwin’s first landing strip was
located on the Parap Police Paddock near the Fannie Bay Gaol. The surveying of a transcontinental route from Melbourne to Darwin was undertaken by Captain Henry Wrigley and
Sergeant Murphy of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) between 16 November and 12 December
1919.
The prize was won by pilots, Ross and Keith Smith and mechanics, Wally Shiers and Jim Bennett
in a Vickers Vimy (G-EAOU). The bi-plane landed at Darwin on 10 December 1919, twenty-eight
days after taking off from Hounslow Heath, England. This inaugural flight set a record that would
stand until fellow Australian Bert Hinkler flew solo from England to Australia in under 15 ½ days in
an Avro Avian in 1929. On this flight, Ross Smith also carried the first international air mail
delivery to Australia. In addition to reducing travel time, aircraft played an important role in the
surveying and development of Australia’s arid interior.
Local residents welcoming the Vickers Vimy of Ross and Keith Smith.
The fence is the line of the current Gregory Street, Parap. PH0238/1695
Peter Spillett Collection. hdl.handle.net/10070/14374
Department of Arts & Museums
Department
Books
DVD
Ellison, Norman. Flying Matilda: Early days in
Australia’s Aviation. Sydney: Angus and
Robertson, 1957.
NTC 387.70994 ELL.
Ross Smith's flight from London to
Australia. (DVD). Acton, ACT: National Film
and Sound Archive, 2012. NFSA 629.1309
ROSS
Gunn, John. The Defeat of Distance: QANTAS
1919-1939. St Lucia: University of Queensland
Press, 1985.
NTC 387.70659 GUN.
Reports and articles
Hooper, Meredith.
God 'elp all of us: three great flights. North
Ryde, NSW: Methuen, 1986.
NTC 387.70994 HOO
Hooper, Meredith. Kangaroo route: the
development of commercial flight between
England and Australia. London; Sydney:
Angus & Robertson, 1985.
NTC 387.70994 HOO
Maiden, Peter. The sky racers:
the 1919 air race from London
to Australia. Rockhampton, Qld:
Central Queensland University
Press, 2010.
NTC 797.52 MAID
Wilkins, Tony. “A few notes on the Darwin
Civil Aerodrome Parap”, in The Aviation
Institute Journal. 2 (3): Sep – Nov 1984: 1519, 47,79.
NTC PAM 787.736 WIL
Northern Territory of Australia. Annual report
of the acting Administrator for the year
ended 30th June 1920. Goverment Printer for
the State of Victoria, 1921.
NTC PER 351.9429 NORT
Newspapers
“England to Australia by Aeroplane”.
Northern Territory Times and Gazette. 22 March
1919: 21.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3294963
“Flights to Australia. Not till September. Mr
Hughes Decision. Schedule of conditions.“
The Argus, 14 June 1919: 19.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1478634
Price, A. Grenfell. The skies remember: the
story of Ross and Keith Smith. Sydney: Angus
and Robertson, 1969.
NTC B387.70994 (SMI) PRI
Smith, Sir Ross Macpherson. 14 000 miles
through the air. London: Macmillan, 1922.
NTC SP COLL B387.70994 SMIT.
The Sir Ross Smith flight: official souvenir:
My own story of the flight. [Sydney]: Union
Theatres, c. 1920.
NTC SP COLL 629.1309 SIR
Wixted, Edward P.
The North-west aerial frontier, 1919-1934:
some men, women and flying machines seen
in north-west Australia in the pioneering
period and the completion of the Darwin air
link to the eastern states. Springhill, Brisbane,
Qld: Boolarong Publications, 1985.
NTC 387.70994 WIX
North of Capricorn: a history of aviation in
Australia's top end. Canberra: Australian
Government Publishing Service, 1987.
Includes a chapter on the great air race of 1919.
NTC PAM 387.70994 NOR
“Air Race. Excitement growing, Poulet
leaves Delhi. Ross Smith catching.”
The Argus, 26 November 1919: 15.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4648195
“Air Race, Poulet and Smith. One stage
apart.” The Argus, 1 December 1919: 7.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4645071
“Across Australia: Route from Darwin to
Melbourne.” The Sydney Morning Herald, 10
December 1919: 11.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28093164
“HMAS Sydney: Patrolling Air Route.” The
Sydney Morning Herald. (Sydney NSW).
10 December 1919 11.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28093161
“When the Aeroplanes Arrive: Warning to
Sightseeers.” Northern Territory Times and
Gazette, 22 November 1919. 16.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3299239
“The Great Flight: Arrival of Ross Smith.”
Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 13
December 1919: 5-6.
trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3299549
Department
Other Resources
Shepherd, Ray.
Papers, 1900-2004. Research notes and
personal papers mainly about aviation history
and the Northern Territory.
A guide to the manuscripts is available in an
electronic version
www.ntl.nt.gov.au/collections/personal_papers_collec
tion/guide_to_papers_of_ray_shepherd#1-20
View by appointment.
Websites
Australian Aviation Heritage Centre
darwinsairwar.com.au/
Australian War Memorial
The 1919 Air Race.
awm.gov.au/blog/2008/02/13/the-1919-airrace/
Photographs
Historical photographs of Northern Territory
aviation history can be found on PictureNT
and on Picture Australia.
A crowd around the first plane EnglandAustralia which arrived on 10 December 1919
flown by Capt. Ross Smith, Lt. Keith Smith,
Sgt. Jim Bennett, Sgt. Wally Shiers. A Vickers
Vimy G-EAOU, it finished first place in the
Eng-Aus air race, prize 10,000 pounds. Ross
and Keith Smith were subsequently knighted
and the sergeants promoted. PH0200/0185
Mayse Young Collection.
hdl.handle.net/10070/14444
Vickers Vimy G-EAOU finished in first
place, prize 10,000 pounds. Ross and Keith
Smith were subsequently knighted and the
sergeants promoted. Small boy: Winston
Bethridge Topp. PH0200/0229 Mayse
Young Collection.
hdl.handle.net/10070/15693
Street Names
Several of our streets have been named for
people involved with the Great Air Race:
Hudson Fysh Avenue
Ludmilla
McGinness Street
Parap
Ross Smith Avenue
Parap
Shiers Street
The Narrows
McIntosh Avenue
Airport
Henry Wrigley Drive
Marrara
Murphy Drive
Airport
Toupein Road
Palmerston
Capt. Ross Smith on arrival in Darwin from
overseas flight. He is receiving telegrams from
Lieut. Fysh D.F.C. "He seems very pleased in
reaching Australia. He said it was more by good
luck than anything that they succeeded in
getting here at all. PH0155/0167. Percy Brown
Collection.
hdl.handle.net/10070/10617
www.ntl.nt.gov.au
Contact Details
Phone: 1800 019 155
or (08) 8999 7177
Email:
[email protected]
Fax:
(08) 8999 6927
Post:
GPO Box 42, Darwin, N.T. 0801
Location: Parliament House, Darwin
More information and other subject guides available through the NT Library website.