Sir Keith Smith

Lieutenant Sir Keith Smith K.B.E. was born on 20 December 1890 to Andrew and Jessie (nee Macpherson) in metropolitan Adelaide. Married in 1888, Andrew and Jessie brought up their sons Keith, Ross and Colin on Mutooroo Station where they gained skills in riding and bushcraft.

In 1906 the family moved to Andrew Smith's home in Moffat, Scotland, where the brothers studied at Warriston School for two years. The family returned to Australia in 1908 and the brothers attended Queen's School and St Peter's College.

World War One saw all three brothers enlist. Keith's applications were rejected twice due to health. After undergoing corrective surgery and a hazardous ship's journey to England, at his own expense, he was accepted by the R.F.C. where he became an instructor of pilots and navigators. By the close of the war he had flown over 443 hours, but did not see active service.

In 1919 a prize of £10,000 was offered by the Australian government for the first aviator to fly from Engalnd to Australian within 30 days. Keith, assistant pilot, and his brother Ross, pilot, decided to enter and formed a crew with two mechanics, James Bennett and Walter (Wally) Shiers. Vickers Ltd were persuaded to supply a Vimy bomber for the flight.

After overcoming considerable pre-flight obstacles the Smith brothers and sergeant mechanics left Hounslow, England at 9.05 a.m on 12 November 1919. Although Ross' pre-flight plans were to prove unrealistic, the flight landed at Fanny Bay, Darwin, at 3.00 p.m. on 10 December 1919, some 52 hours short of the 30 day deadline set by the competition. The drama and adventure of the flight is well illustrated through reference to the other four competitors, all of which crashed, four of the fourteen aviators not surviving the attempt.

The continuation of the flight from Darwin to the mainland cities was in itself a saga of considerable difficulties, including numerous forced landings. The Australian public received the airmen enthusiastically. Numerous congratulations were received from notables including King George V, Lloyd George and W.M. Hughes. Both Ross and Keith were awarded K.B.Es. The sergeant mechanics Bennett and Shiers were made lieutenants and a bar added to their A.F.Ms.

Sir Keith and Sir Ross returned to Mutooroo with their parents prior to Ross touring Australia giving lectures on the flight. A similar tour of England enabled preparations to be made for a world flight. Vickers Ltd. made available a single engine Viking amphibious craft. By early April 1922 pre-flight planning was almost completed and a tentative date of 20 April set for the flight to commence. On 13 April the Viking was formally handed over to Sir Ross at Brooklands, England, by Captain Cockerell, a Vickers test pilot. In front of a considerable crowd of onlookers, including Sir Keith, Sir Ross and Bennett were killed in an accident later attributed to 'death by misadventure' by an inquest and later by a confidential report of the Accidents Committee.

Sir Keith decided not to proceed with the world flight having been persuaded that a greater contribution to aviation could be made through association with Vickers Ltd.

In 1924 Sir Keith married Anita Crawford, daughter of D.N. Smith of Adelaide.

Sir Keith provided valuable service to Australian aviation, particularly in the period 1946-55, when he was head of the Vickers organisation in Australia, vice-chairman of the British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines, and a director of Qantas and Tasman Airways.

Sir Keith died of cancer at St Vincents Private Hospital, Darlinghurst, at the age of 64, on 19 December 1955. He is buried near his parents and brother Sir Ross at the North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, Adelaide.

For a full biography of Sir Keith Smith visit his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry.