Why They Won

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 456, 11 September 1928, Page 6

Why They Won

COURAGE THE PILOT Born on February 9, 1897, at Hamilton, Brisbane, SquadronLeader Kingsford Smitlr went to Canada with his family when he was six years old. His education was completed in Sydney, and at the age of IS he enlisted with the Fourth Australian Light Horse Brigade Signal Troop. He w as transferred to the Royal Air Force, and after the war he did flying work in California, later returning to Australia and joining Airways, Ltd., in West Australia. “SPARKS” A NEW ZEALANDER ’ When Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith invited the Defence authorities to select a radio operator to complete the crew of the Southern Cross, Mr. T. H. McWilliams, a Wellington radio expert, who had been superintendent ot' the TJnion Steam Ship Company’s wireless school for several years, got his big chance. As a member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, he saw service in Egypt and France, being seriously wounded in the ankle at Armentieres. Mr. McWilliams was formerly on the staff of the Amalgamated Wireless Company, and he had been radio operator on a number of the Union Company’s ships before he joined the staff of the wireless school. MAN AT THE SEXTANT Mr. H. A. Litchfield, who is 28 years old. served his apprenticeship in the A.U.S.N. steamer Levuka, trading between Sydney and Fiji. In June, 191 G, he joined the Royal Australian Naval Reserve as a midshipman, serving until after the war in H.M.A.S. Brisbane. Later he joined up with the Union Company. He is a native of Cessnock. New South Wales.

Mr. Litchfield first came under the notice of Kingsford Smith as third officer of the Tahiti,on which the airmen went to America last year. Immediately before joining the Southern Cross he was third officer of the Waiotapu.

CO-PILOT ALSO ANZAC Charles T. P. Ulm, who is about the same age as Kingsford Smith, and vho was co-pilot on the flight, also enlisted when he was very young, being only 18 years when he took part in the landing at Anzac. On the first day he was wounded and was invalided back to Australia. Later he re-enlisted and was then sent to France, where he served, except for a time when he was shell-shocked, until the end of the war. After the war he went back to Australia, and there was associated with the vocational training scheme for returned soldiers.

He was with Kingsford Smith in the flight round Australia, and has been with him nearly all the time since then. He added a romantic touch to his own little story by getting married only a few days before he left for America. There are few wives who can boast that their husbands have flown back to them over 7,000 miles of water. POWER THREE-ENGINE PLANE The Southern Cross, a three-en-gine Fokker plane, is a sister plane to the one used by Commander Richard Byrd on his Atlantic flight. It is fitted with Wright whirlwind engines, and is one of the largest planes yet used for ocean flying. SPEED The following are the speeds averaged" by the Southern Cross in its ocean flights:— San Francisco to Hawaii, 86.1 miles an hour. Hawaii to Fiji, 86.5 miles an hour. Fiji to Brisbane, 80.6 miles an hour. Sydney to Christchurch, 82.4 miles an hour. These averages do not take into account any variation from the direct line. WITH UTMOST PRIDE AUSTRALIA HEARS NEWS f United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) need. 2 0.15 a m. SYDNEY, To-day.' Radio details of the Southern Cross tlight are published in all the papers this morning. The latest message appears in one newspaper’s 5 a.m. edition, announcing that the airmen had sighted land, thereby relieving the tension, and causing a feeling of the utmost pride in the intrepid aviators. Most of the signals from the Southern Cross were weak, with plenty of static, but the main fact that all was well with the airmen was often heard by the Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaido and Queensland A class radio stations. The flyers also reported excellent flying conditions. TASMAN AIR MAIL FIRST LETTERS ACROSS The Southern Cross has carried the first air mail across the Tasman. She brought letters from Mr. Bruce to Mr. Coates, and from the Governor General of Australia, Lord Stonehaven to the Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir Charles Fergusson, as well as a limited number of others, ipclud i ing one for Sir Joseph Ward.