Vol. XXXIX, No. 3 WASHINGTON 



March, 1921 



TEE 



NATIONAL 



GEOGKAPMDC 

 AGAZfl 



COPYRIGHT. I 92 1. BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. WASHINGTON. D. C. 



FROM LONDON TO AUSTRALIA BY 

 AEROPLANE 



A Personal Narrative of the First Aerial Voyage Half 



Around the World 



By Sir Ross Smith, K. B. E.* 



DURING the latter phase of the 

 war, while I was flying with the 

 Number One Australian Flying 

 Squadron in Palestine, a Handley-Page 

 aeroplane was flown out from England 

 by Brigadier - General A. E. Borton, 

 C. M. G., D. S. O., A. F. C., to take part 

 in Allenby's last offensive. It was in- 

 tended that this monster aeroplane should 

 be chiefly employed in carrying out active 

 night bombing operations against the 

 enemy. I hailed as good fortune the 

 orders that detailed me to fly it. The re- 

 markable success eventually achieved by 

 this terrible engine of destruction, and its 

 unfailing reliability during the ensuing 

 long-distance flights, inspired in me great 

 confidence and opened my eyes to the 

 possibilities of modern aeroplanes and 

 their application to commercial uses. 



A CHALLENGE IN JEST 



It is in a large measure due to the ex- 

 tensive experiences gained while piloting 

 this Handley-Page machine that I was 

 induced to embark upon and carry to a 

 successful issue the first aerial voyage 

 from London to Australia. In a lesser 

 degree, the undertaking was suggested in 

 a joke. One day General Borton visited 

 our squadron and informed me that he 



♦Copyright. 1921. 



was planning a flight in order to link up 

 the forces in Palestine with the army in 

 Mesopotamia. He invited me to join 

 him. 



There was a further proposal, that 

 after reaching Bagdad we should shape a 

 route to India, "to see," as he jocularly 

 remarked, "the Viceroy's Cup run in Cal- 

 cutta." 



"Then, after that," I replied, "let us 

 fly on to Australia and see the Melbourne 

 Cup," little thinking at the time that I 

 should ever embark upon such a project. 



Just after the Armistice was signed, 

 General Borton decided to start out in 

 the Handley-Page for India. Major- 

 General Sir W. G. H. Salmond, K. C. 

 M. G., C. B., D. S. O., commanding the 

 Royal Air Force in the Middle East, 

 would accompany us and carry out a tour 

 of inspection. 



On November 29, 19 18, we took our 

 departure from Cairo, accompanied by 

 my two air mechanics, Sergeant J. M. 

 Bennett, A. F. M., M. S. M., and Ser- 

 geant W. H. Shiers, A. F. M., both of 

 No. 1 Squadron. It took just three weeks 

 to pioneer a route to India, where we ar- 

 rived, without mishap, on December 10, 

 1918, scarcely a month after the signing 

 of the Armistice. 



by Sir Ross Smith. 



