1. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith By Zoe Herrera (1897-1935)

2. Biography Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was born on the 9 th February 1897 in Hamilton, a Brisbane suburb. Kingsford was added to the family surname in Canada because there were lots of people in their street that had the surname Smith. When he was 18 he enlisted in the AIF and he also served in Gallipoli. As a dispatch rider he went to Egypt and France. He was transferred to the British Royal Flying Corps in 1917. His nickname was Smithy. He also once performed plane stunts for Hollywood silent movies. He quit it because one of his colleages died doing this. One of his famous planes is the Southern Cross.

3. What His Contribution Was Sir Charles Kingsford Smith made a lot of contributions to aviation. He enlisted in the 1 st AIF (Australian Army) and served in Gallipoli for the ANZACs. Smithy also broke a lot of records for Australia and with lots of faith and stamina he is placed among the planet’s best pioneers.

4. Some Of His Accomplishments In August 1928 he flew non-stop across Australia. He was the first person to do this. Also in 1931 Anthony Fokker declared to him ‘the greatest (man) flying in the world today’ In 1932 he was knighted for his contributions to aviation. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith did the first around-the-world flight and was also called the greatest pilot. There is a Sydney suburb called Kingsford that is named after him. The Sydney International Airport is also named after him.

5. His Last Flight In November 1935 Smithy and his co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge left England to go to Australia in the plane Lady Southern Cross. They were on their way to Singapore for their last part of the journey. They never made it. They are believed to have crashed into the coast of Burma. They were last seen at 1:30am on the 7 th of November. Today the memory of him and his amazing accomplishments remain alive through many memorials.

6. Interesting Facts Smithy’s middle name is Edward. He is the fifth son and seventh child of William Charles Smith and Catherine Mary, nee Kingsford. Smithy was twice married, first he was married to Thelma Eileen Corboy on 6 June 1923 and they divorced in 1928. His second marriage was to Mary Powell on 10 December 1930. Together they had one son who was born on the 22 December in 1932. The Southern Cross now displayed in a memorial to Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. He sold the plane for 3000 pounds to the Australian Government in 1935. This was to put it on permanent display to the public.