Sir Ross Macpherson Smith KBE, MC & Bar, DFC & Two Bars, AFC (4 December 1892 – 13 April 1922) was an Australian aviator, who, along with his brother, Sir Keith Macpherson Smith, became the first pilots to fly from England to Australia, (in 1919). Both parents were born in Scotland; his father became a pastoralist in South Australia and the boys boarded in Adelaide, at Queen's School and for two years, in Scotland. Capt. Ross Smith (left) and observer with their Bristol F.2B Fighter, in Palestine, February 1918. He enlisted in 1914 in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment, landing at Gallipoli 13 May 1915. In 1917, he volunteered for the Australian Flying Corps. He was later twice awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross three times, becoming and air ace with 11 confirmed aerial victories. In 1919, he and brother Keith, Sergeant Jim Bennett and Sergeant Wally Shiers flew from Hounslow, England, on 12 November 1919 in a Vickers Vimy, eventually landing in Darwin Australia on 10 December, taking less than 28 days, with actual flying time of 135 hours. The four men shared the £10,000 prize money put forward by the Australian government. Ross Smith was killed (along with Sergeant Bennett) while testing a Vickers Viking amphibian aircraft on 13 April 1922. The bodies were transported to Australia and Smith was given a state funeral and later buried on 15 June at the North Road Cemetery, Adelaide.
Honours and awards (gazetted) Ross Macpherson Smith Ross Macpherson Smith was awarded the following honours: Military Cross Service Army Rank Lieutenant Unit 67 Sqn RFC (3rd LH) Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 11 May 1917, page 4594, position 4 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 27 August 1917, page 1828, position 8 More information about a Military Cross (Wikipedia) Bar to Military Cross Service Army Rank Lieutenant Unit 67th Sqn AFC Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 26 March 1918, page 3744, position 1 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 7 August 1918, page 1661, position 5 More information about a Bar to Military Cross (Wikipedia) Distinguished Flying Cross Service Army Rank Captain Unit AFC Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 8 February 1919, page 2046, position 2 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 23 May 1919, page 901, position 2 More information about a Distinguished Flying Cross (Wikipedia) Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross Service Army Rank Captain Unit AFC Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 8 February 1919, page 2034, position 1 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 23 May 1919, page 901, position 9 More information about a Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross (Wikipedia) 2nd Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross Service Army Rank Captain Unit AFC Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 8 February 1919, page 2033, position 1 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 23 May 1919, page 901, position 10 More information about a 2nd Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross (Wikipedia) Air Force Cross Service Army Rank Captain Unit AFC Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 3 June 1919, page 7034, position 5 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 6 October 1919, page 1465, position 31 More information about a Air Force Cross (Wikipedia) Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Service Army Rank Captain Unit AFC Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 26 December 1919, page 15954, position 1 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 15 April 1920, page 576, position 1 More information about a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Wikipedia) Hejaz Order of the Nahda - 4th Class Service Army Rank Lieutenant Unit AFC Conflict First World War Date of London Gazette 1 April 1920, page 4022, position 6 Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 8 July 1920, page 945, position 13
Wonder if he forgot about this ?? Captain SIR ROSS MACPHERSON SMITH, of Stephen Terrace, Gilberton, South Australia, the hero of the flight from England to Australia, who, with his brother, was knighted for the achievement, and who was killed in a flying accident at Brooklands on April 13, 1922, left £438 personal estate in England, in addition to property in South Australia. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923 - 0756.html?search=Ross Macpherson Smith Here's a picture of the plane !! http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2008/05/weekend-wings-19-greatest-air-race-of.html
Sir Keith Smith had been an observer in Handley Page O/400s in the war, so had the necessary navigational skills for the record breaking flight. He later played a major role in the airline business in Australia, but died in 1936.
I found a bit more on Ross Smith. This is a contemporary account of his death. It says he was killed near Croydon aerodrome, not Brooklands as in the post above. However, I would take contemporary newspaper accounts with a pinch of salt. For one thing, Bennett was a Sergeant on the Australia flight. This article says he was a Lieut. He could have been commissioned in the meantime, but this would have been rare for a mechanic. Here is the citation for the second bar to his DFC: Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) Second Bar Capt. Ross Macpherson Smith, M.C., D.F.C. (Australian L.H. and Australian F.C.). (EGYPT) On 19th October this officer, with Lieut. A. V. McCann as observer [in a Bristol F2B of 1 squadron AFC], engaged and drove down an enemy two-seater [a DFW]. As it appeared to land intact he descended to a low altitude and, with machine-gun fire, forced the occupants to abandon the machine; he then landed alongside it, and while his observer covered the enemy officers he set light to their machine and completely destroyed it. To have effected a landing in an unknown country, many miles in rear of the enemy's advanced troops, demanded courage and skill of a very high order.
