Charles Edward Kingsford-Smith graduated from Sydney Technical Collage as an electrical engineer at the age of 16. Enrolling in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915, he served at Gallipoli and in the Middle East. In 1917, he entered the Royal Flying Corps and received his wings. After only five hours of instruction he was flying solo. Serving in France as a fighter pilot and achieving six aerial victories, he earned the coveted Military Cross for gallantry in action. From 1919 to 1927, he performed at aerial circuses and pioneered commercial aviation service throughout Australia. In 1927 he moved to the United States to purchase and prepare a Fokker tri-motor aircraft which he named the Southern Cross. On May 31st 1928 Kingsford-Smith and his crew took off from Oakland, California and arrived in Brisbane, Australia, via Honolulu and Fiji, eight days later. In succeeding months, piloting the Southern Cross, he made the first non-stop flight across the Australian continent and the first flight across the Tasmanian Sea to New Zealand. In 1929 he completed a round-theworld flight. In 1934 he made the first west to east crossing of the Pacific. In November 1935, flying the Lady Southern Cross on a flight from England to Australia, he and his companion disappeared in typhoon weather over the Bay of Bengal.
Inducted in 1986.
Portrait Location: Near R-44 and B-5 Brougham