Charles Kingsford Smith
Australian aviation pioneer who made the first transpacific flight.
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith, known as Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer born on 9 February 1897 in Brisbane. He grew up in Sydney, left school at 16 to become an engineering apprentice, and served in the Australian Army from 1915, first as a motorcycle despatch rider at Gallipoli. He later joined the Royal Flying Corps, earned his wings in 1917, and was awarded the Military Cross after being shot down that year. After the war, he barnstormed in England and the United States before returning to Australia in 1921, where he became one of the country’s first commercial pilots with West Australian Airways.
In 1928, Kingsford Smith made the first transpacific flight, a three-leg journey from California to Brisbane via Hawaii and Fiji. With co-pilot Charles Ulm and crew members James Warner and Harry Lyon, he became a celebrity. That same year, he and Ulm completed the first non-stop flight across Australia, from Melbourne to Perth, and the first non-stop flight from Australia to New Zealand. They founded Australian National Airways, but the airline and his other business ventures failed commercially. He kept flying in air races and attempting new feats.
Kingsford Smith disappeared over the Andaman Sea in 1935 with co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge while trying to break the Australia–England speed record. He was celebrated as a national hero during the Great Depression and received many honours. After his death, Sydney’s main airport was named for him, and he appeared on the Australian twenty-dollar note for decades.
His parents were William Charles Smith and Catherine Mary Kingsford. He was registered at birth as Smith; the family later adopted the surname Kingsford Smith. They moved to Canada in 1903, returning to Sydney in 1907. He attended school in Vancouver, then St Andrew’s Cathedral School and Sydney Technical High School, before apprenticing with the Colonial Sugar Refining Company at 16. In 1907, he nearly drowned at Bondi Beach but was rescued by lifeguards and revived by a nurse.
He married Thelma Eileen Hope Corboy in 1923, divorcing in 1929, and married Mary Powell in December 1930. Shortly after his second marriage, he joined the New Guard, a radical monarchist, anti-communist, fascist-inspired organisation.
During World War I, he served at Gallipoli as a despatch rider, then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. After being shot down
- born
- 9 February 1897, Brisbane, Colony of Queensland
- died
- 8 November 1935, disappeared over the Andaman Sea
- field
- Aviation
- nationality
- Australian
- known_for
- First transpacific flight; first flight between Australia and New Zealand
Lore & Background
Kingsford Smith was born in Brisbane and grew up in Sydney, leaving school at 16 to become an engineering apprentice. He joined the Australian Army in 1915, served as a motorcycle despatch rider at Gallipoli, then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. In 1917 he was shot down, awarded the Military Cross, and lost two toes. After the war he barnstormed in England and the United States before returning to Australia in 1921, becoming one of the country's first commercial pilots with West Australian Airways.
In 1928, with co-pilot Charles Ulm and crew James Warner and Harry Lyon, Kingsford Smith completed the first transpacific flight from California to Brisbane via Hawaii and Fiji in the Southern Cross. That same year he and Ulm made the first non-stop flight across Australia from Melbourne to Perth and the first flight from Australia to New Zealand. They founded Australian National Airways, but the airline and his other ventures failed commercially.
Kingsford Smith married Thelma Corboy in 1923 (divorced 1929) and Mary Powell in 1930. He joined the New Guard, a radical monarchist and anti-communist organization. In 1935, while attempting to break the Australia–England speed record, he and co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge disappeared over the Andaman Sea.
Reader's Guide
Kingsford Smith's significance lies in his pioneering long-distance flights that expanded the possibilities of aviation. His 1928 transpacific flight, in three legs totaling about 11,566 kilometers, demonstrated that the Pacific Ocean could be crossed by air, linking the United States and Australia. The non-stop Australia–New Zealand flight further connected the region. Though his commercial ventures failed, his feats captured public imagination during the Great Depression, making him a national hero. After his disappearance, Sydney's primary airport was named in his memory, and he appeared on the Australian twenty-dollar note for decades. His legacy endures as a symbol of early aviation daring and achievement.
Did You Know?
- He was nicknamed Smithy.
- He nearly drowned at Bondi Beach in 1907 and was revived by a nurse.
- He flew under the Lachlan road bridge at Cowra, New South Wales.
- He joined the New Guard, a radical monarchist and anti-communist organization, after his second marriage.
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