Ross Macpherson Smith KBE MC DFC (1892 - 1922)

Born 4 Dec 1892 in Semaphore, South Australia (Australia)

Died 13 Apr 1922 at age 29 in Weybridge, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Biography

Ross Smith KBE MC DFC is Notable.

Ross Smith KBE MC DFC was born in the Colony of South Australia (1836-1900)

Sir Ross Smith KBE MC & Bar DFC & 2 Bars AFC, was a pioneer Australian aviator. He served in The Great War firstly as a Light Horseman with the 3rd Light Horse Regiment, including at Gallipoli, and later becoming an ace pilot in the No.1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. In 1919, he and his brother, (Sir) Keith Smith, became the first pilots to fly from England to Australia.

Ross Macpherson Smith

Formative years

Ross MacPherson Smith was born in 4th December 1892 near Semaphore, South Australia (Australia). ^[1] He was the second of three sons of Scottish emigrant, Andrew Bell Smith, pastoralist of Mutooroo Station. His mother, Jessie MacPherson, was born in Western Australia, the daughter of Scottish emigrants. Swapping the freedom of bush living, horse handling and shooting in 1903, Ross attended Queen's School, North Adelaide. ^[2] At Queen's he captained the cricket and football teams and won several athletics competitions; his quiet confidnce and ability to 'get along with others' made him popular. ^[3] In 1906 the family moved to Andrew's hometown, Moffat, for two years, during which time Ross and his brothers attended Warriston School. ^[4] Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain in 1940, was born in Moffat in 1882.

Upon graduating from school, during which time he was a member of the compulsory army cadets, Ross was selected for a five-month tour of Europe and North America with Adelaide's mounted cadet squadron; during which he visited several major armaments factories, military colleges and barracks, and Royal Navy warships. He also witnessed some of the ealiest aircraft to fly in Britain. He wrote to his mother, "... I've made up my mind that if I ever get the chance I would go to war." ^[3] Upon attaining the minimum age, Ross enlisted in the 10th Australian Regiment, the Adelaide Rifles (Militia). Before the outbreak of war in 1914, he was employed as a warehouseman in Adelaide for G P Harris Scarfe & Co. ^[5]

Australian Light Horse

Ross Smith KBE MC DFC is an Anzac who served in World War One.

As soon as The Great War was declared, Ross enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), his young nation's volunteer expeditionary force for the war. ^[6] His older brother, Keith, and younger brother, Colin, also served in the AIF during the war. Ross was allocated as a Trooper to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. Within a fortnight of joining the newly-formed regiment, Ross was promoted directly to Sergeant; such was his experience and obvious leadership potential. Embarking in November 1914, the regiment landed in Egypt, where they trained for warfare. The regiment was deployed, dismounted, to Gallipoli in May 1915 where, amongst other engagements, he saw action at Quinn's Post. Ross took command of the regiment's bombing (grenades) section and was then commissioned in the field as a Lieutenant. He was evacuated with enteric fever in September; re-joining his unit the following March back in Egypt and being given command of the machine gun section. His next assignment was patrolling the oases around Romani where his machine guns were particularly successful in repelling Turkish attacks. ^[3]

Australian Flying Corps

Ross Smith KBE MC DFC was awarded the Military Cross.

Ross Smith KBE MC DFC was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom).

Seeking a change, Ross applied for the newly-formed Australian Flying Corps and was accepted in October 1916 as an observer / gunner, before training as a pilot in mid-1917. He was assigned to the No.1 Squadron (the Royal Flying Corps then insisted on it being called the No.67 Squadron RFC); in Sinai and not Europe as he had hoped. By early 1918 Ross was one of the most experienced pilots in the squadron; his final tally being twelve enemy aircraft shot down. Having been promoted to Captain, he was awarded the Military Cross (MC), on 11th May 1917 ^[7][8] and Bar, gazetted in Canberra on 7th August 1918 ^[9] and Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), on 8th February 1919, ^[10][11] and two Bars, both also gazetted in London on 8th February 1919. ^[12][13] Ross was possibly the only Australian pilot at that time to gain the experience of flying multi-engine aeroplanes on long-distance flights when he was called upon by the commander of RAF Middle East to fly an inspection tour to Calcutta, India. ^[3] A tentative attempt was made from Calcutta to survey by sea an aerial route through to Australia, however, it was abandoned at Timor. ^[5] He was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) on 3rd June 1919. ^[14][15] For his war service Ross was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. He received the Hejaz Order of the Nahda, Fourth Class on 1st April 1920. ^[16]

Ross was pilot for Lieutenant Colonel T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and fought in aerial combat missions in the Middle East. He is mentioned several times in Lawrence's book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ^[2]

Ross and Keith's younger brother, Colin, a Lieutenant in the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion, was killed in action in October 1917 at Flanders.

England to Australia Air Race

When the Australian prime minister announced a prize of £10,000 ($300,000 in 2020 terms) for the first aviator to fly from England to Australia in under thirty days, Ross and Keith, who were both still stationed in England, jumped at the opportunity. They obtained a Vickers Vimy (similiar to the 0/400 bomber that Ross was familiar with) and gathered two AFC air mechanics, Sergeants Jim Bennett and Wally Shiers, also known to Ross and prepared to make history. On 12th November 1919 they took off from Hounslow Aerodrome, despite the weather being 'totally unfit for flying'. Indeed, conditions remained hazardous until they reached Basra (Persia, in today's Iraq) on 22nd November. From Basra to Delhi (India), a distance of 2,575 kilometres (1,600 miles), they spent 25½ hours in the air out of 54. A poor landing-area at Singapore and torrential rain almost brought disaster on 3rd December. Disaster again almost came at Sourabaya (Indonesia) where the aeroplane was bogged and had to take off from an improvised airstrip made of bamboo mats. ^[5]

By 9th December, however, they were at Timor, only 560 kms (350 mls) from the Australian mainland. The crossing was made the next day and at 3.50pm on 10th December they landed in Darwin, Northern Territory. The distance covered in this epic flight was 18,250 kms (11,340 mls), which they covered in just under 28 days with an actual flying time of 135 hours and an average speed of 137kph (85mph). ^[17][5]

Ross and Keith were honoured on 26th December 1919 for the accomplishment by being created Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). ^[18][19] Their mechanics were both awarded Bars to their Air Force Medals and commissioned as officers. ^[5]

Final flight

Sir Ross and Sir Keith next prepared to fly round the world in a Vickers Viking amphibian. Both brothers travelled to England to prepare for the trip and on 13th April 1922, while Ross and their long-serving crew member, Jim Bennett, were test-flying the aircraft at Weybridge, in Surrey, it spun into the ground from 305 metres (1,000 feet), killing both. ^[20] Keith, who arrived late for the test flight, witnessed the accident. ^[5] Ross' body was repatriated to Australia and, following a state funeral, was buried in North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia. ^[2]

Sir Keith was soon afterward appointed Australian agent for Vickers, retaining the connection with the British company until his death in 1955. He remained one of the leading Australian spokesmen on aviation matters and travelled extensively on Vickers' behalf. He became vice-president of British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines, and a director of both Qantas Empire Airways and Tasman Airways. When his widow, Anita, died in 1986, she bequeathed her entire estate (Keith and Anita did not have children) to the development of the Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund, a fund commemorating the achievements of the brothers by 'encouraging scientific study, research and disciplines related to aeronautics and aerospace technology'. ^[21]

The Smith brothers were deservedly amongst the inaugural inductees into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2012. ^[22]

Sources

1. ↑ South Australia Birth Index #512/436 1892; registered at Port Adelaide
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Wikipedia profile: Ross Macpherson Smith; accessed 19 Nov 2019
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Molkentin, Michael. Wartime: Ross Smith's War, Issue 90, Autumn 2020; Australian War Memorial.
4. ↑ South Australian Aviation Museum; accessed 10 Apr 2020
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} McCarthy, John. 'Smith, Sir Ross Macpherson (1892–1922)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988; accessed online 10 Apr 2020
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Ross Macpherson Smith; accessed 10 Apr 2020
7. ↑ Australian Honours: MC; accessed 10 Apr 2020
8. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: MC; accessed 5 Oct 2022
9. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Bar to MC; accessed 5 Oct 2022
10. ↑ Australian Honours: DFC; accessed 10 Apr 2020
11. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: DFC; accessed 5 Oct 2022
12. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Bar to DFC; accessed 5 Oct 2022
13. ↑ War Memorial honours and awards: Second Bar to DFC; accessed 5 Oct 2022
14. ↑ Australian Honours: AFC; accessed 10 Apr 2020
15. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: AFC; accessed 5 Oct 2022
16. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Hejaz Order of the Nahda; accessed 5 Oct 2022
17. ↑ Australian Geographic: Ross Smith, November-December 2019
18. ↑ Australian Honours: KBE; accessed 10 Apr 2020
19. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: KBE; accessed 5 Oct 2022
20. ↑ UK FreeBMD Death Index Jun qtr 1922, vol 2a, page 71; registered at Chertsey
21. ↑ MARRIAGE OF SIR KEITH SMITH TO LADY ANITA; accessed 10 Apr 2020
22. ↑ AAHOF; accessed 6 Oct 2022

See also

• Australian War Memorial: 217 Captain Ross MacPherson Smith; accessed 5 Oct 2022.
• McCarthy, John. 'Smith, Sir Ross Macpherson (1892–1922)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988; accessed online 10 Apr 2020.
• Virtual War Memorial Australia: Ross Smith.
• Wikipedia profile: Ross Macpherson Smith; accessed 19 Nov 2019.
• Ross Macpherson SMITH from the AIF PROJECT website first accessed online on the 14th of September, 2023.
• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 14 September 2023), memorial page for Sir Ross Macpherson Smith (4 Dec 1892–13 Apr 1922), Find a Grave Memorial ID Find A Grave: Memorial #20411488, citing North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, Prospect City, South Australia, Australia; Maintained by peter thompson (contributor 46907735).