Southamptons Around Australia
A major effort undertaken by the RAAF
Southamptons echoed the earlier long range
flightsoftheRAF’sSouthamptonsquadrons
[CoveredinPartTwo].LeavingPointCookon
26 June 1935, Southampton A11-1, command-
ed by Squadron Leader Hempel, undertook
an around-Australia Survey Flight. Hempel’s
crew was Pilot Officer Lance Edmond Burt;
CorporalPercyNeale,rigger;LeadingAir-
craftman John Anthony O’Donnell as fitter
andLeadingAircraftmanAlexanderMagnus
JosephClarkasW/Toperator.Themainpur-
posewastofindpossiblewateraerodrome
fortheproposedEmpireAirMailschemeo
the Australian mainland, notably betwee
Sydney and Darwin, and to look for potenti
emergency alighting areas. This required ex
plorations from Papua New Guinea dow
through the Eastern states, but the flight als
aimedtocircumnavigateAustralia.
AfteranunscheduledstopatMallacoot
duetoengineproblems,theflightrestarte
the following day, heading to Sydney an
somelocalsurveys,beforeheadingnort
again-albeitforcedtolandatMacLea
NSW,duetotorrentialrain,finallyarrivin
inBrisbaneon1July.Thesubsequentstop
(includinglocalsurveys)wereatGladston
Rockhampton, where the tailplane su
tained damage on take off and was repaire
and Bowen, where two overload tanks an
airscrewswerereceivedbyoverlandtrans
portfromPointCook.Theaircraftdeparte
for the Norman River, Karumba, to surve
thewesterncoastofCapeYorkPeninsulao
23July.Thisoverlandflightseriouslycon
cerned Hempel as any forced landing woul
have probably been fatal for the heavily lad
en Southampton’s crew.
ABOVE:...or even when
summer bathing rig was
possible![RAAF Museum Archive]LEFT:Providing gramophone music
whileawayfrombase,seatedonthe
Southampton’s lower centre section,
Corporal Coakley shows one
lesser-known aspect of the
Southampton crews’ independence!
[RAAF Museum Archive]BELOW:Period images of the ground
crew working on the aircraft or engines
arerareinthisera,makingthisshot
notable.[State Library of Victoria]