When Smithy came to Bega – written by Andrew McManus
Introduction
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was one of Australia’s and the world’s great aviators. After serving gallantly in the Australian Flying Corps over the Western Front from 1916-1918, he came home determined to make a career for himself in aviation and to help Australian aviation develop to its potential.
In June 1927, he became the first person to fly from the USA to Australia and in September of the same year, the first to fly from Australia to New Zealand. In 1930, he achieved the first east-west crossing of the Atlantic, against the prevailing winds of the Gulf Stream. “New York gave him a tumultuous welcome”, according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography (to whom the author is indebted for the above information). By 1928, ‘Smithy’ was a national hero, acclaimed in songs such as “Hats Off to our Airmen” and “Kingsford Smith, Aussie is Proud of You.” In 1931, the Post Office released a range of postage stamps bearing his image (the first time a living person had been so commemorated) and in 1932, he was knighted.
Financial problems
Yet, despite the fame generated by his remarkable achievements, by 1932, according to the Dictionary, “Kingsford Smith was almost back to where he had started, selling joy-flights at ten shillings a trip”. In 1931, Australian National Airlines, founded by Kingsford Smith and his co-pilot Charles Ulm, went bankrupt after the crash of two of its aircraft and in March 1932, he crashed the famous Southern Cross on landing after a night flight over Sydney to celebrate the opening of the new Harbour Bridge. As Peter Fitzsimmons puts it ‘….six weeks and £1500 later, he had no choice but to head back out again, through Wellington, Warren Narromine, Dubbo….’ and Bega.
The Wedding, 1929
Smithy was no stranger to Bega. In 1929, he had been the best man at the wedding of his cousin Raymond Kingsford in Bega, where, so the Southern Recorder tells us, he ‘attracted almost as much public attention as the bride’ – a comment the bride must have treasured!
Smithy generously lent the newly-weds his car, a 1928 Studebaker President Straight Eight, of 100 horsepower, valued at 1000 pounds. However, on their return journey from their honeymoon at Genoa, they drove through a bushfire and a tree collapsed across the front of the car, forcing them off the road towards a deep gully south of Eden. The tree crushed the front of the car and trapped the driver’s foot on the brake. They stopped at the edge of the gully. They were rescued by local people and were unhurt. The car was a write-off.
Duck shooting
In February 1932, Smithy, his wife and some friends spent two weeks on holiday in Merimbula during the course of which ‘he went out for ducks about Wallagoot but the birds, no doubt scenting a rival of the air, stepped on it in their best style, keeping well out of reach of the guns of the party. They returned with empty bags’, commented the Nowra Leader of March 11th 1932.
Bombala 1932
In October 1932, however, he came down purely for business. On the 23rd, he landed at Bombala racecourse in the Southern Cross, accompanied by Captain Pat Hall in the Southern Cross Midget. The Bombala Times reported that, after a welcome by the mayor and the Returned Soldiers, “Sir Charles and his companions got to business, and bookings for seats and flights followed in quick succession”. Both aircraft flew from 10.30 am until after 1 pm. “It is estimated, roughly,” said the Times, “that the takings amounted to over £150. Sir Charles expressed himself as being highly delighted with the result. Out of 200 towns visited lately, it was said that Bombala showed the best financial result for a morning session.”
And then it was on to Bega.
Bega takes to the air
“BEGA TAKES TO THE AIR” was the headline in the Bega District News of Monday October 24th. The paper went on to report that “close on 2000 people” attended the landing of Kingsford Smith’s two aircraft:
“Long before the appointed time for their arrival, the roads from Bega and outlying towns were crowded with all kinds of traffic making for Mr B Gowing’s paddock to witness the landing.” Mr Gowing’s paddock was at Jellat Flat, about 7 km southeast of Bega and Kingsford Smith’s was possibly the first use of the paddock as an airstrip, as it was necessary to light a fire in paddock so that the pilots could determine wind direction from the smoke of the fire. The lack of a windsock, a basic landing aid since the early days of flight, suggests that the paddock had not played host to aircraft before, at least not on any regular basis. The District News takes up the tale:
“At fifteen minutes past two the “Southern Cross Midget” was sighted coming along the sky from the west……….Captain Pat Hall landed his plane gracefully then came the “Southern Cross”, all eyes being turned skywards to see the grand old bus and her skilled pilot. She looked great up there in the sunlight, cutting her way through the air and with pride that large concourse of people must have watched for they all knew what Sir Charles and his companions in this plane had accomplished, battling through the elements time and again on their long flights and winning out to make a name for Australia that thrilled its people and the world.”
Smithy brought the Southern Cross down for a perfect landing, says the District News. “The crowd thronged around to obtain a close view of the airman and the plane was inspected from propellers to tail shaft. Shortly afterward, Inspector McIntosh, Trooper Abbott and Constable Pockett escorted the crowd back to a safety zone and the passenger flights commenced.”
Cost of rides
The Bombala Times informed its readers that the charge for a ride in the Southern Cross Midget was 5 shillings for adults and 2 shillings and sixpence for children. In the Southern Cross, adults paid 10 shillings and children 5 shillings. The average weekly wage for males in 1932, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, was £5 and for females, £2. The sum of 10 shillings, then, was a considerable outlay, representing a quarter of a woman’s weekly earnings and a tenth of a man’s. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Average Weekly Earnings survey of 2024 gave a figure of $1,975 which would give a figure of $159 for a flight with Smithy today – though no doubt, most of us would pay much more for the privilege, if it was available. (Interestingly, joy flights from Merimbula airport today range from $155 to $195 – but without Smithy at the controls!)
Souvenir tickets
Those who flew with Smithy received souvenir tickets which featured a photographic portrait of Charles Kingsford-Smith, and a drawing of the Southern Cross with the words “Souvenir Flight in ‘Southern Cross’ piloted by C.E. Kingsford-Smith” (Federation University Australia Historical Collection – Geoffrey Blainey Research Centre). The Bombala Times noticed that “When No. 13 flight was due to begin, the tickets did not bear the supposed unlucky number ’13’, but were marked12a” and asked “Is ‘Smithy’ superstitious, or was he considering his passengers?” The Times concluded: “The next ticket was marked 14 so everything went merrily on.”
Smithy’s expenses
The Bombala Times remarked that “The fares, considering the big expense incurred, were very reasonable”. Commenting on the “big expense”, the Times explained that “ With a staff of nine, it costs about £60 a day (says the Bega District News) before a passenger is taken on the big ‘ship.’ Should you puncture a tyre — and that happens with the Southern Cross on an average once a month — all you have to do is to dip ‘down south,’ bring to light £80, and you get a new one. Then there is benzine, oil, repairs, and a few etceteras to take care of. There would seem to be quite too much ‘dipping’ about the job for most of us.” (Bombala Times 28 October 1932 p1).
The passengers
Despite the cost, there was no shortage of passengers. The Bega District News reported that…..”Right up till 6 o’clock, both planes were kept hard at it to cope with the large number who wished to fly; it seemed that everyone had gone air-minded and wanted to experience the thrill of riding in this famous ‘plane with the gallant airman at the controls.”
“Bega and surroundings from the air was certainly a pretty sight,” said the News.
Uncle Clem
Interestingly, according to the News, “There were more ladies and girls than men and boys in every flight…..” Mr Peter Rogers of Bega told the author that his mother and her sister had been passengers and that his mother had been “very scared” but had made the flight anyway. Mr Rogers’ uncle, who was unmarried and therefore, presumably, had more surplus cash, paid for the tickets. When Mr Rogers’ mother arrived home in the evening, her mother asked: “Who let you up in that contraption?” the reply was: “Uncle Clem”, who then “got the rounds of the kitchen from Gran”.
Monday flights
The News suggested that if the planes had arrived in the morning, they would have had passengers all day and in fact, further flights were arranged for the next day, Monday. The News reported also that a number of people had travelled down from Cooma to Bombala, from where they flew to Bega in the Southern Cross.
Smithy’s takings
The Bombala Times reported on Friday October 28th that the flights in Bega made £200 and the Bega District News claimed that this figure was “an Australasian record in takings in one day” and added “so that puts Bega and Bombala on the map”. The amount raised suggests that, at 10 shillings per flight, at least 400 people took the opportunity to fly. However, since flights in the Southern Cross Midget cost 5 shillings and children could fly for as little as 2 shillings and sixpence, the number of people who flew with either Smithy or Captain Hall was probably much higher. Bega did, indeed, take to the air.
After lunch on Monday, the planes took off for Gundagai. So Smithy flew out of Bega and out of the lives of the locals, who had flown with an Australian legend. Smithy flew on into history: He made the first commercial flight from Australia to New Zealand in 1933 and in 1934, he made the first eastward crossing of the Pacific to the US. Sadly, he disappeared over the Andaman Sea in 1935, attempting to break the England-Australia speed record.
The legacy
The people of Bega and Bombala had had memorable experiences and most had flown for the first time. It is perhaps a coincidence that in 1937, Ad Astra airways built the Shire’s first airfield at Frog’s Hollow and began commercial flights to Sydney. The Bombala Times remarked that “Many (especially, the young people) will remember for many a long day their morning’s outing with Kingsford Smith.” The fact that the story of Smithy’s visit still survives in local oral history suggests that they did.
Australian Dictionary of Biography at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kingsford-smith-sir-charles-edward-6964
Fitzsimmons, Peter, Charles Kingsford Smith and Those Magnificent Men, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2009.
http://archival-classic.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemLarge.aspx?itemID=390371
https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/4ff64eba2162ef0948a7be39