Person

Smith, Ross Macpherson (1892 - 1922)

KBE MC DFC AFC

Born
4 December 1892
Semaphore, South Australia, Australia
Died
13 April 1922
Weybridge, Surrey, England
Occupation
Aviator

Summary

(Sir) Ross Macpherson Smith and his brother Keith were the earliest of the long distance flyers. They won the Australian government-sponsored England-Australia Race in 1919, flying a Vickers Vimy aircraft.

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Details

Born Adelaide, 4 December 1892. Died Weybridge, near London, 13 April 1922. KBE ca 1920. Warehouseman, G.P. Harris Scarfe & Co., Adelaide; enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force August 1914; served in Gallipoli and Egypt; Australian Flying Corps August 1917-1918, receiving the Military Cross twice and the Distinguished Flying Cross three times; flew from England to Australia with his brother Keith (qv) in 28 days, November-December 1919; planned to fly around the world in a Vickers Viking amphibian in 1922, but died while test-flying the aircraft when it spun into the ground.

Chronology

1914 - 1916
Military service - First World War. Lieutenant, Australian Imperial Force
1916 - 1918
Military service - First World War. Captain, Royal Flying Corps and Australian Flying Corps
1917
Award - Military Cross (MC)
1918
Award - Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
1919
Award - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) - in recognition of valuable service rendered to Aviation by successfully flying from England to Australia
1919
Award - Air Force Cross (AFC)

Published resources

Book Sections

  • McCarthy, John, 'Smith, Sir Keith Macpherson (1890-1955) and Sir Ross Macpherson (1892-1922), airmen' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 654-656. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110674b.htm. Details

Resources

See also

  • Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_s.html. Details
  • Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details

Rosanne Walker

Created: 25 May 2001, Last modified: 21 September 2022

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