Last flight of Charles Kingsford Smith
By the early 1930s, Charles Kingsford Smith had achieved international fame for his pioneering in long-distance flights, and had been knighted for his contribution to the development of Australian aviation.
In 1935, at the age of 38, he was in poor health but remained determined to prove that aviation was the future of global transport. He arranged for the plane, the Lady Southern Cross, to be shipped to England. From there, on 6 November 1935, he and his co-pilot, J.T. Pethybridge, set out on another record-breaking flight to Australia. Tragically, the aircraft and both men were lost—believed to have crashed into the sea off the coast of Burma while flying at night toward Singapore.
If you can give any information…which will help to find them you will receive a large reward of money
A report from the Air Commodore of the Royal Air Force, Far East, shows that every effort was made to locate the missing aviators, including offering a reward for any useful information. The inclusion of these papers in the probate records of Charles Kingsford Smith likely relates to establishing legal proof of death and therefore enabling the granting of probate.
Kingsford Smith was survived by his wife and son and left an estate valued for probate at £12,875.
Probate packet in the State Archives Collection
The papers below are from the probate packet for Charles Kingsford Smith, which was granted on 25 May 1936 [NRS-13660-16-2458-Series 4_212687]
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