Darwin marks day of history-making flight
A YEAR after the guns of the Great War fell silent on the Western Front, a former Royal Air Force bomber took off from London.
The World War I Vickers Vimy biplane was described as looking like a chicken house, with few controls and no radio.
But in a feat previously considered practically impossible, 28 days later brothers Ross and Keith Smith and their mechanics James Bennett and Wally Shiers managed to navi- gate the 24,140km journey to Darwin.
Their success made the crew the winners of the Great Air Race and the first to successfully complete the journey between the two cities on opposite sides of the globe by air – just 16 years after the first powered plane took flight.
Today, on the 98th anniversary of the flight, Darwinites will reflect on the historic journey with a ceremony at the Ross Smith Memorial at Fannie Bay.
In marking the occasion, Member for Fong Lim, Jeff Collins, noted that the Darwin the Smith brothers and their mechanics arrived in was a far cry from today’s bustling city, with a population a fraction of the size of the British capital they had left behind.
“Darwin was a very different place in 1919. It had a total population of fewer than 1200 people, smaller than the number of students at Darwin High School today,” Mr Collins said.
“The successful completion of the Great Air Race placed Darwin in the minds of the world.”
Two years out from the centenary of the event, Mr Collins said planning for the 100th an- niversary of the Great Air Race in 2019 had already begun, including consultation with key stakeholders to develop a program of events that reflects the significance of the occasion.
“We’re looking to capture the imagination and interest of the world, as the race did in 1919, and positioning Darwin and the Northern Territory as a place of achievement and innovation,” he said.
Today’s commemoration kicks off at 10.45am and includes a laying of flowers and afternoon tea.
“The race placed Darwin in the minds of the world”