Guest Speaker:
Denis Smith, OAM
at 2 pm on Saturday 15 April 2023
when Denis Smith presents...
Denis' interest in Sunderland flying boats was through his uncle Percy Smith, who was in the RAAF from 1938. In 1939 just prior to WWII, his uncle was part of the RAAF 10 Squadron who went to England to fly nine brand new Sunderlands back to Australia, where they were to be stored at Rathmines near Newcastle.
War broke out just as they arrived in England, so Australia loaned all nine Sunderlands and their crews to RAF Coastal Command, where they would seek and destroy U-boats, mainly in the North Atlantic. Denis will show actual film footage of the crew arriving in England, flying Sunderlands and sinking U-boats.
In peace time, flying boats operated from Rose Bay. A trans-Tasman service began in April 1940 which, at its peak, saw a fleet of four Sandringhams making the seven hour crossing to Auckland. Services to Lord Howe Island, Fiji and Tahiti were introduced using Sandringhams, Hythes, Solents, Sunderlands and Catalinas.
The final commercial flight from Rose Bay – an Ansett service to Lord Howe Island – left on 10th September 1974, closing a brief but important chapter in Australia’s aviation history. The site of the Rose Bay flying boat terminal is today used by a company offering joy rides in a float plane.
As always, please keep an eye on our website in case of any last-minute changes.
The venue is Gordon Library Meeting Room No. 1, in the Old Gordon Public School, which adjoins the Gordon Library, 799 Pacific Highway, Gordon (corner Pacific Highway and Park Avenue).
It’s just a 5-minute walk from Gordon Station.
For a map and parking information, see our Contact page.
