South Australians are being urged to share their family memories and memorabilia of Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, in a bid to create an online community collection as a lasting legacy of the Epic Flight Centenary.
Everything from photos and medallions to stamps and family anecdotes are wanted as part of the Epic Flight Unearthed campaign, with items to be permanently displayed here on the website.
Epic Flight Centenary 2019 ambassador Lainie Anderson says many South Australians have already come forward with memorabilia, photos and stories – from the centenary itself and also from significant milestones since such as the 50th and 75th anniversaries.
“The Smith crew’s pioneering flight from England to Australia was as awe-inspiring in its day as man landing on the moon, so it’s not surprising that many families have passed down stories and souvenirs through the generations,” Ms Anderson says.
“We’ve already discovered beautiful medallions, statuettes and souvenir flags, and one family has come forward with drawings made by Ross and Keith when they were still at school in North Adelaide.
“One lady told us her Dad used to say ‘let’s go for a Vickers Vim’ when they were going for a swim, and we know of family dogs called ‘Vimy’ and car number plates ‘VIMY 19’ – we want to bring all of these anecdotes and items together into a wonderful online collection that celebrates this important part of South Australia’s story.”
To share your story, memorabilia or photos, please email epicflight@history.sa.gov.au or call the History Trust of South Australia on (08) 8203 9888.
Alan Logue at Hutt St Photos (186 Hutt St, Adelaide) has also generously offered to scan any historic epic flight photographs for free – you can simply take your photos into Alan and he’ll scan and pass them on to the Epic Flight Centenary team.