I have just finished reading Peter Fitzsimons new book “Charles Kingsford Smith and those magnificent men”. What a wonderful read and I cannot believe as an “older Australian” that I did not learn more about this adventurer when at School, certainly know a bit about Bert Hinkler and even the Red Baron, but not so much about “Smithy”. Another shock for me was how many outstanding men lost their lives trying to fly.
My recommendation would be for this book to be read in every Senior classroom and well we may appreciate how innovative, tough and resilient our Australian men are and were.
I quote from the synopsis:
"Sir Charles Kingsford Smith is one of Australia’s much loved heroes.
In an action-packed life, the indomitable “Smith’ went from fighting as a soldier among the carnage of Gallipoli and the Western Front, to taking to the skies against the likes of the Red Baron – for which he won the Military Cross for gallantry – before becoming the greatest peacetime aviator of his generation.
Along with Charles Ulm, he was the first man to conquer the Pacific by air, the first to fly across the Tasman Sea, the fastest man to fly from England to Australia and the first pilot to circumnavigate the globe by crossing the equator.
With typical flair, FitzSimons also tells the story of the several breakthroughs, some of which were discovered in Australia, which laid the foundation for the Wright Brothers’ success in 1903; the first flight across the Channel in 1908; Germany’s Red Baron terrorising the Allies in 1917-18 before being shot down by an Australian; Ross and Keith Smith’s breakthrough first flight from England to Australia in 1919; the formation of Qantas in 1921; Lindbergh’s stunning vault between America and Europe in 1927; the Great Centenary Air Race, the loss of the Southern Cloud; the saga of Bert Hinkler and much, much, more".
