Ross & Keith Smith
The Ross Smith Story
Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC & Two Bars, AFC (4 December 1892 – 13 April 1922) was a South Australian aviator. He and his brother, Sir Keith Macpherson Smith, were the first pilots to fly from England to Australia, in 1919.
Early life
The Smith brothers were born in Semaphore, Adelaide, in 1890 and 1892, to Andrew and Jessie (nee Macpherson) in Adelaide.
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Married in 1888, Andrew and Jessie brought up their sons Ross, Keith and Colin on Mutooroo Station S.A. where they gained skills in riding and bushcraft.
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In 1906 the family moved to father Andrew Smith's home in Moffat, Scotland, where the brothers studied at Warriston School for two years.
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The family returned to Australia in 1908 and the brothers attended Queen's School and St Peter's College.
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The youngest brother Colin was born at Semaphore, South Australia , 29 April 1895
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Died of Wounds , Belgium, 6 October 1917, aged 22 years
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Military History
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On returning to Australia, Ross Smith joined the Australian Mounted Cadets and was selected in 1910 to tour Britain and the United States of America as a South Australian representative.
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He then joined the 10th Australian Regiment, the Adelaide Rifles.
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Before the outbreak of war in 1914 Ross was employed as a warehouse man in Adelaide for G. P. Harris Scarfe & Co.
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Smith enlisted in 1914 in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment, landing at Gallipoli on 13 May 1915.
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On 11 August he attained the rank of regimental sergeant major and was commissioned second lieutenant on 5 September.
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Invalided to England in October, he was promoted lieutenant on 1 March 1916 and three weeks later embarked for Egypt to rejoin his old regiment.
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With the 1st Light Horse Brigade, 1st Machine-Gun Squadron, his principal action occurred during the battle of Romani on 4 August 1916.
Ross Smith at Gallipoli
- The British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) stopped the Ottoman army at the Battle of Romani and drove them back to Magdhaba and across the Sinai to Rafa to reoccupy Egyptian territory and secure the safety of the Suez Canal.
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Qualifying as an observer in December 1916, and later as a pilot, Ross served mainly with No.1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (No. 67 Squadron R.F.C.), a general purpose squadron flying a variety of aircraft in defence of the Suez Canal zone.
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In July 1917 he responded to a call for volunteers to join the Australian Flying Corps, the transfer taking effect on 4 August.
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"The detachment of the Royal Flying Corps have rendered very valuable services. They ran great risks in undertaking land reconnaissance, whilst handicapped by inferior types of machines.
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Notwithstanding these drawbacks, they furnished me regularly with all information regarding the movements of the enemy."
- Lieut.-General Sir J. G. Maxwell,
K.C.B., C.V.O., C.M.G., D.S.O.,
Commanding the Force in Egypt.
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In January 1918 his squadron was re-equipped with the Bristol Fighter and designated a fighter squadron. As such the squadron was an important element of General (Lord) Allenby's 1918 offensive and took part in the overwhelming air attacks on the Turkish armies in the Wadi Fara (the Valley of Death).
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"Locked in by steep cliffs and deep valley drops the slow moving convoy was an easy target for RAF planes.
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Two Bristol Fighter aircraft from No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps took their time making every bullet count while strafing the Turks.
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They returned to base and the planes took turns attacking the military column, refueling, rearming and attacking again."
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The result was as chilling as it was decisive, amounting to the complete disintegration of the bulk of the Turkish Seventh Army.
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Above: Turkish field artillery advancing towards the Suez Canal, 1915, attacking across the Sinai. [Imperial War Museum image Q86535]
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Above: Bombing of Wady Fara, the Valley of Death
The attack, having begun at 6.30 - 7 a.m., continued until midday. “The Australian No. 1 Squadron alone dropped three tonnes of bombs and expended nearly 24,000 machine-gun bullets".
In addition to the aircraft under Williams' command, machines from the RAF's 5th (Corps) Wing also took part -- making a total of seven squadrons which were involved in the action.
The panic and the slaughter beggared all description.
-Sydney William Carline
Above: Wady al Far'a (valley) leading to the Jordan River valley of West Palestine.
Below: Handley Page type O - twin-engine heavy bomber of 1918 flown by Captain Ross Smith
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The first Military Cross was awarded while Ross, still an observer, landed in the face of the enemy to rescue a fellow officer who had been brought down.
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Bombing and photography and air to air combats brought the other operational awards.
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By the end of the war Ross had acquired considerable experience flying the twin-engined Handley Page 0/400 bomber which had been attached to the squadron.
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He conducted a bombing raid in the huge Handley Page 0/400 during the Battle of Armageddon (Battle of Megiddo) where he destroyed the critical telephone exchange at El Afule and severely damaged the railway junction.
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The Battle of Megiddo was fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, on the Plain of Sharon, as well as on the Esdralon Plain at Nazareth.
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The battle was the final Allied offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I.
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The grand battle resulted in many tens of thousands of German and Ottoman prisoners and many miles of territory being captured by the Allies.
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Ross Smith had flown the Handley Page 0/400 bomber not only on bombing operations in Palestine but also on long photographic flights.
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He was consequently selected to co-pilot the aircraft in a pioneer flight from Cairo to Calcutta, leaving Cairo on 29 November 1918 and arriving in Calcutta on 10 December.
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A tentative attempt was made from Calcutta to survey by sea an aerial route through to Australia. This was abandoned at Timor.
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He was later twice awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross three times, becoming an air ace with 11 confirmed aerial victories.
Below: The Ottoman Yildirim Army Group's (which contained the German Asia Corps) carts and gun carriages destroyed by Allied EEF aircraft on the Nablus-Beisan road, a significant route in Palestine during World War I. The road was a key location for battles, including the Battle of Nablus in 1918.
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Ross Smith was pilot for T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He is mentioned several times in Lawrence's book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Chapter 114. He is praised in Lawrence’s book for his grit in taking to the skies to drive off enemy aircraft between mouthfuls of breakfast.
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In 1918, T. E. Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, played a crucial role in the liberation of Damascus from the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
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Lawrence and the Arab forces, along with General Edmund Allenby's troops, entered Damascus on October 1, 1918, liberating the city from Ottoman rule. The combined Arab and Australian force, led by Lawrence, were followed by British troops the next day.
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This event marked a significant victory in the Arab Revolt, a rebellion against Ottoman rule that Lawrence had helped to orchestrate, led by Sharif Hussein bin Ali, the Emir of Mecca, and his sons.
Lawrence's influence in supporting and guiding the Arab Revolt is widely recognized, making him a legendary figure in the history of the Middle East.
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His ability to effectively coordinate Arab and British forces and implement successful guerrilla tactics is well documented.
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Lawrence's post-war efforts to gain recognition for Arab self-rule further solidified his legacy as a champion of Arab independence.
Below: 'Lawrence of Arabia' with camel and Enfield rifle, c. 1917
In January 1914, archeologist Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev desert in southern Israel.
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The Negev was strategically important because an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it.
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Woolley and Lawrence published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was their updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources.
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Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
!['Lawrence of Arabia' with camel and Enfield rifle, c. 1917 [772x500].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b01a49_8c833c49e8d44940b4b2ec2c3357e3e2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_600,h_389,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/'Lawrence%20of%20Arabia'%20with%20camel%20and%20Enfield%20rifle%2C%20c_%201917%20%5B772x500%5D.jpg)
The Great Air Race
In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £A10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia.
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Vickers entered a converted Vimy bomber (G-EAOU) (the registration being whimsically said to stand for "God 'elp all of us"), crewed by Captain Ross Macpherson Smith with his brother Lieutenant Keith Macpherson Smith as co-pilot and mechanics Sergeant W.H. (Wally) Shiers and Sergeant J.M. (Jim) Bennett.
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Sir Ross Smith's diary, which details his and his brother Keith's historic 1919 flight from England to Australia, is a primary source for understanding this epic achievement.
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This diary, a notebook kept by Ross Smith, includes diary entries, sketches, and diagrams of potential landing sites.
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It provides a firsthand account of the challenges and triumphs of the "Great Air Race"
Above: Read Ross Smith's Notebook online
Read Ross Smith's Nat. Geog. story online
Below: A short Clip from the movie of Ross Smith’s Flight from London to Iraq which premiered at Sydney Town Hall on 8 June 1920.
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This clip begins with war photographer Frank Hurley's street level clip of Gaza, the buildings of which have been reduced to rubble as a result of the First World War.
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Then are Aerial shots of the snaking Jordan River following its flow into the Sea of Galilee.
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The clip concludes as the team stops at Ramadi battlefield west of Baghdad for a quick refuelling under guard.
At each of the full movie's Sydney screenings, Ross Smith introduced the film.
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Keith Smith’s footage, along with Hurley’s footage of the Australian section, was edited together by Hurley to make the movie.
Above: From onboard the biplane, Frank Hurley films two of the crew looking down over Sydney’s harbor.
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The shot of the waves lapping up against the rocks in this clip is one of the many shots inserted by Hurley to enhance his footage.
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He captures aerial views of Sydney’s inner harbor suburbs including Watsons Bay, Vaucluse, Rushcutters Bay, Double Bay and Rose Bay.
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A large crowd gathers to welcome the crew on its arrival in Sydney, with many raising their hats to the camera.
Above: Click the screen to view the short movie on another page
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England
The Air Ministry allotted the Smiths the letters 'G-E A O U' of which G stood for Great Britain. In view of the long flight the airmen interpreted this marking as 'God 'Elp All of Us'.
"We left on the morning of November 12th, on a clear frosty morning, with a forecast of 'totally unfit for flying'. Reaching the coast of France, we flew into a snowstorm and had to climb to 9000 ft."
"I have never felt so cold or miserable in my life as I did during those few hours. Eventually we reached Lyons and landed. We all turned into bed very early, very tired, but very happy." -
Rome
"It was a frosty daybreak... eastwards the Alps reared up with a maze of glistening snow peaks. Flying over Nice a large crowd had assembled to cheer us up. Our flight to Rome was one long battle against heavy headwinds and through dense clouds. It was not till late in the afternoon that we were above the city of the Caesars." -
Taranto (Italy)
"We left Rome in very bad weather and followed the Appian Way. Flying across the Apennines became extremely difficult with bumps of 400 to 500 feet." -
Suda Bay (Crete)
"The flight was miserable, the driving rain cut our faces and obscured all distant vision. Corfu loomed up in the mist, so I altered the course and flew down the coast of Greece." -
Cairo
"Fortune favoured us and I found the pass in the mountains, and soon we were flying over the coastline. From Suda Bay we flew 650 miles in a non-stop flight of seven and a half hours, completing the first and worst of the four stages of the total journey."
Stage Two of the Race
6. Damascus
"Soon to the straight cut of deep blue water that links north to south -- the Suez Canal. Below, a P&O steamer is heading south. Perhaps she is bound for Australia and will call at Adelaide, my home and destination!"
"As we passed over Kantara, feelings of confidence filled me. We were now entering country I knew with the Light Horse before I began flying."
"Damascus offered a haven of rest. Great was our joy, on touching the ground, to be welcomed by old comrades and to be cared for."
7. Ramadie (Iraq)
"On reaching Abu Kemal we turned southeast, following the course of the Euphrates, passing over fertile tracts and numerous villages."
"Strong headwinds diminished our speed considerably. I was becoming anxious as to whether we could reach Baghdad before dark.
As we flew over Ramadie the sun dipped below the horizon, and we landed on the old Ramadie battlefield. Soon after landing the C.O. of the Indian cavalry regiment came out to greet us, and offered the hospitality of his camp."
8. Basra (Iraq)
"An overnight sandstorm had choked up everything on the plane exposed to the weather, and by the time the damage had been repaired and our tanks filled with petrol it was noon."
"The flight to Basra took just under three hours and Basra we discovered to be a hive of activity. As there was a Royal Air Force depot there, I decided to delay a day or two, and allow Bennett and Shiers (the mechanics) to overhaul and adjust the engines."
"By the time the petrol tanks were full Bennet and Shiers would have the engines finished; we would then fill up the oil tanks with 'Castrol' (castor oil), always a messy job, and we would finish the day very oily."
9. Bundar Abbas (Persia)
"The weather was fine, the flight was mostly uninteresting and I bought the Vimy to a safe landing where the British Consul, the Persian Governor, and a great concourse of interested locals gave us a hearty welcome."
(see photo above).
"The next day I hoped to reach Karachi in a non-stop flight of 730 miles. The treacherous, mountain-scored country, and the isolation from civilisation, in the case of a forced landing, gave one a nightmare."
10. Karachi
"Fortune favoured us with a following breeze and excellent weather. For the last 100 miles we left the coast and flew on a compass bearing until we arrived at Karachi after a non-stop flight of eight and a half hours."
"We had hoped for a good rest at Karachi, but the local Royal Air Force officers had arranged a dinner, and it was not until midnight that we went to bed. Three and a half hours later we were up again."
11. Delhi
"We first noticed Delhi from fifty miles away, a white streak in a haze of green plain. We had established a record by arriving thirteen days after leaving London, and we were welcomed by General McEwan, the RAF chief in India, and by many old friends".
"I regretted that I was unable to reply to their kindly expressions of welcome, as I did not hear them. The roar of the exhausts for nine hours had made me quite deaf for several hours."
"Half the journey was completed."
Stage Three of the Race
12. Allahabad (via Agra, India)
"The Taj Mahal lay below us, dazzling in the strong sunlight -- a vision in marble. It lies like a matchless white jewel in a setting of Nature's emeralds."
"The vast plains of Central India were a great flat tessellation of cultivated patches that gave an impression of the earth being covered with green, brown, and golden tiles. These multi-tinted patches were framed with brimming channels carrying the irrigation waters from the great river."
"Allahabad was reached after four and a half hours. Next morning saw us early on the wing."
13. Calcutta
"We headed southeast and followed the railway to Calcutta."
"Thousands of people had collected on the racecourse, at the far side of the city, to witness our arrival, and when we landed it was with great difficulty that the police kept back the multitude that surged around the machine."
"That night, after the usual overhaul of engines and filling up with petrol, we stayed with friends and slept well."
"We had crossed India and were now more than halfway to Australia."
14. Akyab (Burma)
"I had originally intended flying from Calcutta to Rangoon racecourse in one flight, but as the next day, November 29th, was a Saturday, and a race meeting would be held at Rangoon on that day, I decided to stop at Akyab."
"My brother showed symptoms of great excitement, while Bennett and Shiers waved joyfully from their cockpit and pointed down to the ground. They indicated a small machine near the centre of the field. It was the French pilot Poulet and his tiny Caudron plane."
"In proportion the contrast was reminiscent of an eagle and a sparrow. The Vimy towered above the tiny Caudron, which appeared altogether too frail and quite unsuited for the task of the Race."
15. Rangoon
"No aeroplane had ever landed at Rangoon before, and naturally I was very keen to win the honour for the Vimy."
"For the first 100 miles I followed the coastline southward, after crossing a mountain range, we found the Irrawaddy River. We followed down its course as far as Prome, and from here the railroad guided us on to Rangoon."
"I had no difficulty locating the racecourse, it was a green patch framed by a compact ring of cheering humanity."
16. Bangkok
"A great crowd swarmed over the Rangoon aerodrome and the police and troops were clearing them off prior to our departure."
"The maps we carried of this country were very poor and sadly lacking in detail, but they indicated that a 7000 foot mountain range had to be crossed before reaching Bangkok."
"We flew southeast over country rapidly becoming mountainous; but instead of encountering lofty summits a mighty cloud bank extended before us. The monsoon season was now due, and I concluded that this would be one of the initial storms."
"As we approached the 7000 foot level, the height of the range, we huddled together and held on tight, in anticipation of a crash!"
"After clearing the range and the cloud we burst out into full view of a glorious world, carpeted with trees, 1500 feet below. The sudden transformation was stunning. "
"An hour later and we reached the Mekong River and the haunts of man. Following downstream, we landed at Don Muang aerodrome twelve miles north of Bangkok, after a flight that will live long in my memory."
17. Singora (Thailand)
"We left Bangkok in good weather, and were escorted by Siamese flyers for the first hour. Ahead we saw the rain, and I dreaded what was to come. The rain came down literally like a sheet of water , we had to remove our goggles, and were almost blinded by the rain lashing our unprotected eyes."
"I have never experienced worse flying conditions, and had it been at all possible to land, I gladly would have done so."
"At last we reached Singora, and a glance at the aerodrome showed that at least half of it was underwater".
18. Singapore
"Getting our machine into the air was a questionable problem, but our time for reaching Australia was fast closing in, so we decided to make the attempt."
"Three large patches of water extended across the aerodrome at intervals of about fifty yards. The Vimy bounded forward as soon as we left the water and just managed to gain flying speed and get lift to clear a ditch and scrape over the scrub."
"We then followed the railway line, crossed to the western side of the peninsular, and flew over tin mines and rubber plantations, past Kuala Lumpur, and on down to Singapore."
19. Batavia
"The heat in Singapore was intense and, coming from a cold, English winter, we felt it severely. After a wide sweep above Singapore we headed for the open sea and Java."
"On crossing the Sumatran coast we encountered a headwind and bumpy conditions and one immense vacuum into which we fell made us hold tight."
'That's the equator!' exclaimed my brother, and, sure enough, our dead reckoning told us we had just bumped across the line."
"Numerous small islets, emeralds in settings of turquoise, were passing beneath us. The Thousand Islands, each one beautiful, fringed with a ribbon of beach and set in an exquisite green, the deep blue, combined to make one of the most beautiful sights I have ever looked down upon."
"Reluctantly, we turned from this glimpse of fairyland and soon reached Batavia, city of canals and beautiful avenues."
"Here we were treated with the greatest hospitality and kindness and governor gave orders that we were to be the guests of the government while passing through the Dutch East Indies. I was delighted to learn that several aerodromes had been constructed for our use between Java and Australia."
Stage Four of the Race
20. Surabaya
"The next stage to Surabaya was a short lap, time was not a real concern, and we left at 7.30 am with beautiful weather favouring us. We sped rapidly over fertile tracts of this amazing island, charmed by the unsurpassable beauty that unfolded below, a vast bounteous garden with immense, shapely volcanic cones."
"Nearing Surabaya, flying became very bumpy, and it was no small relief when the town, like a magic carpet of multi-coloured fabric, spread beneath us."
"Heading the Vimy down, we made a low circle above the town, to the amazement of the population that swarmed out into the streets, petrified, evidently by the visitation".
"From above, the surface of the aerodrome appeared to be ideal, but on landing, the Vimy was bogged".
"The engineer of the Harbour Board arrived, who collected a horde of labourers and a large quantity of bamboo matting, and we set to work."
"We had landed at 12 noon and after six hours of hard work under a boiling tropical sun we had the Vimy on a platform of bamboo mats at the end of the aerodrome."
"My brother had a bright idea. Why not construct a roadway of mats to prevent our wheels sinking into the mud?"
"The engines were opened up and we were just gathering speed nicely when some of the sheet were whisked up and blown into the tailplane. This threw the machine out of control and to our dismay, the Vimy was bogged again."
"More matting arrived on a motor lorry, so we made a road about 300 yards long and 40 feet wide and this time pegged it down and interlaced the mats."
"At last we started up the engines, ran along the roadway and then headed on a direct compass course to Bima".
21. Bima (Sumbawa, East Indies)
"Bima aerodrome on the island of Sumbawa was in excellent condition and clearly marked with a huge white cross in the centre which we saw several miles away."
"The local Sultan and the Dutch commissioner met us and proffered the hospitality of a bungalow a couple of miles from the machine."
"We took a cargo of coconuts on board, as the water was unsuited for drinking, and set off in dazzling sunshine."
22. Atamboea (Timor)
"Ten miles inland from the Timor coast we came down on the aerodrome at Atamboea, our last landing ground before Port Darwin, where Dutch officials had thoughtfully arranged our petrol and oil supply close at hand."
"A guard of Dutch soldiers kept watch over the machine while we proceeded with their officers to camp, some six miles away."
23. Port Darwin
"None of us overslept. We were too excited. But a heavy haze lay over the sea and coast, obscuring everything. Soon after 8 am the fog began to thin, and at 8.35, to be exact, I just managed to scrape out of the 'drome."
"Flying low, we approached the coast and pulled ourselves together for the final lap -- the jump across the Arafura Sea that lay between us and Port Darwin."
"The Australian Government had arranged that a warship should patrol the sea between Timor and Port Darwin in case we should need help. At 11.48 Keith nodded ahead and dead on the line of flight we made out a smoke plume of a fighting-ship. It was the HMAS Sydney and we knew now that we had a friend at hand."
"It was just 2.06 pm when we 'observed Australia'. We circled over Darwin and came low enough to observe the crowds and the landing place, and we landed at 3 o'clock, on December 10th, 27 days, 20 hours after taking off from Hounslow."
"The Administrator of the Northern Territory and the Mayor of Darwin were given barely time to make an official welcome before the assemblage, brimming with enthusiasm, lifted us shoulder high and conveyed us to the jail."
"Since leaving London we had not read a newspaper and knew nothing of the interest the rest of the world was taking in the flight."
The prize money was shared between the Smith brothers and the two mechanics. The Smith brothers each received a knighthood for this exploit, and the company presented their aircraft to the Australian government.
SIR ROSS SMITH
Aeroplane Reaches Sydney.
Welcomed by Large Crowds. SYDNEY. — Sir Ross Smith, his brother. Sir Keith Smith, and the two mechanics, Sergeants Bennett and Shiers, completed their flight to Sydney at 10.35 a.m., on Saturday.
The aeroplane left Narromine at 6.55 a.m., and circled over the principal towns en route to Sydney. Thousands turned out everywhere, and waved greetings to the intrepid airmen.
At Mascot aerodrome, Sydney, their arrival was awaited by a tremendous crowd, including the Smiths' parents.
Before landing, the machine flew out to sea, and entered again through Sydney Heads, then coming right up the harbor, and flying low, it circled completely over the city.
The big machine was accompanied by two Avro machines, which acted as an escort from Penrith.
When Sir Ross Smith's machine stopped at Mascot the crowd took possession of the airmen, who were carried shoulder high towards the official enclosure.
Here, after greeting their parents, they were welcomed by Sir George 'Fuller, on behalf of the State Government.
They then proceeded to the Town Hall, under a police escort, and were accorded a civic reception.
The airmen were busy with private engagements on Sunday. They have a great number of functions before them, and will have their time fully occupied before leaving for Melbourne (to meet the Prime Minister).
During Saturday afternoon, Sir Koss Smith called on the Prime Minister, who congratulated him on his achievement. Arrangements were also made in connection with the continuation of the flight to Melbourne.
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Ross and Keith Smith, Mascot, Sydney, 1920
The huge invited crowd welcoming Australian aviators Ross and Keith Smith, at Mascot, Sydney, 1920.
The next proposal, to fly round the world in a Vickers Viking amphibian, ended in disaster.
Both brothers travelled to England to prepare for the trip and on 13 April 1922, while Ross and his long-serving crew member Bennett were test-flying the aircraft at Weybridge near London, it spun into the ground from 1000 feet (305 m), killing both.
Keith, who arrived late for the test flight witnessed the accident. Ross had not flown at all for many months and had never flown this type of aircraft.
The investigating committee concluded that the accident had been the result of pilot error. The flight was abandoned.
The bodies of Sir Ross Smith and Lieutenant Bennett were brought home to Australia and after a state funeral, Smith was buried in Adelaide on 15 June.
Sir Keith Smith was appointed Australian agent for Vickers and retained the connection with this British company until his death.
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See also:
The Great Air Race - NT Archives
Great Air Race - Centenary Picture Gallery
First Flight Across the World - Timeline
Ross and Keith Smith Photo Collection
Biographies: Sir Keith Macpherson Smith
(1890-1955) and Sir Ross Macpherson Smith (1892-1922) - ADB