Charles Kingsford Smith

In 1923, Charles Kingsford Smith married Thelma Eileen Hope Corboy. However, the couple separated ways in 1929.

In 1930, he married Mary Powell. The couple had a son named Charles.

On 8 November 1935, his plane went missing in the midst of a record breaking attempt to fly from England to Australia. It is believed that the plane crashed in sea near Burma. He was 38 years at the time of his death.

Charles Kingsford Smith was born on 9 February 1897 at Hamilton in Brisbane, Australia. He was the seventh child of banker William Charles Smith and his wife Catherine Mary, née Kingsford.

At the age of six, he along with his family moved to Canada, however, the family returned to Sydney in 1907. In Canada, he attended schools in Vancouver and upon his return to Sydney, he completed his education from St Andrew's Cathedral Choir School.

He later pursued studies in mechanics and electrical engineering from the Sydney Technical High School. He graduated as an electrical engineer at the age of 16.

After completing his studies, he began work at the Colonial Sugar Refining Company as an apprentice engineer. With the onset of the World War I in 1914, he was keen to join the army, but he had to wait until 1915 as he was not yet 18 years old.

Initially he joined in the Australian Army – First Australian Imperial Force and served as a motorcycle despatch rider. In 1917, he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C.) as a pilot. It is while he was serving as a pilot that he realised his passion for flying.

In 1917, during one of his missions, he was shot in the foot by enemy forces and as a result a large part of his left foot had to be amputated. Upon his recovery and return to service, he worked as a flying instructor at the R.F.C.

In 1918, he along with several other team members was transferred to the newly established Royal Air Force. However, citing insufficient navigational experience, he was not allowed to participate in the England to Australia Air race of 1919. At this point he along with his friend began a joy riding flight service in England named Kingsford Smith, Maddocks Aeros Ltd.

He later travelled to the United States of America and worked as a stuntsman for a short period. After failing to find sponsors to support his interest in flying a trans-Pacific flight, he returned to Sydney in 1921.

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith earned fame with the successful trans-Pacific flight from the USA to Australia. He was known to have set records and reset his own records in most of his flights. He is also remembered as an aviator who was the first to complete round-the–world expedition. His other accomplishments include his non-stop flights in Australian mainland and completion of the first ever east to west journey over the Pacific Ocean.