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{{Short description|Australian aviator (1892–1922)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2017}}
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|license_place=
|air_force= [[Australian Flying Corps]]
|battles=
{{tree list}}
* [[First World War]]
** [[Gallipoli Campaign]]
** [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]]
*** [[Battle of Romani]]
{{tree list/end}}
|rank= [[Captain (land)|Captain]]
|awards= [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<br/>[[Military Cross]] & [[Medal bar|Bar]]<br/>[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] & [[Medal bar|Two Bars]]<br/>[[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|Air Force Cross]]
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'''Sir Ross Macpherson Smith''', {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|MC1|DFC2|AFC}} (4 December 1892 – 13 April 1922) was an Australian aviator. He and his brother, [[Keith Macpherson Smith|Sir Keith Macpherson Smith]], were the first pilots to fly from England to Australia, in 1919.
 
==BiographyEarly life==
Smith's father migrated to Western Australia from Scotland and became a pastoralist in [[South Australia]]. His mother was born near [[New Norcia, Western Australia]], the daughter of a pioneer from Scotland. The boys boarded inat [[Adelaide]], at Queen's School, North Adelaide]], and for two years at [[Warriston School]] in [[Scotland]].<ref name=ADB>{{cite webAustralian Dictionary of Biography |author= John McCarthy |title= Smith, Sir Ross Macpherson (1892–1922) |workid2= Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher= National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |url= http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/smith-sir-ross-macpherson-8529 }} This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, (MUP), 1988.</ref><ref name=bio>{{cite web |author= John McCarthy |url= http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-heroes/smith.htm |title= Sir Ross Macpherson SMITH KBE MC & bar DFC & 2 bars AFC |publisher= Digger History }}</ref>
 
==Military service==
[[File:RossObserver, Smithpilot, and Bristol Fighter F2B aircraft.jpg|left|thumb|Capt. Ross Smith (left) and observer with their [[Bristol F.2B Fighter]], in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], February 1918.]]
Smith 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 (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] three times, becoming an [[air ace]] with 11 confirmed aerial victories.<ref name=ADB/><ref name=bio/>
 
Smith was pilot for [[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'', Chapter 114.
 
==The Great Air Race==
Smith and his brother Keith, Sergeant James Mallett (Jim) Bennett and Sergeant Wally Shiers, flew from [[Hounslow Heath Aerodrome]], England on 12 November 1919 in a [[Vickers Vimy]], eventually landing in [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] Australia on 10 December, taking less than 28 days, with actual flying time of 135 hours.[https://ntl.nt.gov.au/story/great-air-race] The four men shared the £10,000 prize money put forward by the Australian government.<ref name=ADB/><ref name=bio/>
In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £A10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to [[1919 England to Australia flight|fly from Great Britain to Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Corbett |first=Greg |date=2023-07-04 |title="A Wonderful Achievement" - Ross and Keith Smith's Historic Flight to Australia in a Vickers Vimy |url=https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/wonderful-achievement-ross-and-keith-smiths-historic-flight-australia-vickers-vimy |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=State Library Of Queensland |language=en}}</ref> Smith and his brother Keith, Sergeant James Mallett (Jim) Bennett and Sergeant Wally Shiers, flew from [[Hounslow Heath Aerodrome]], England on 12 November 1919 in a [[Vickers Vimy]], eventually landing in [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] Australia on 10 December, taking less than 28 days, with actual flying time of 135 hours.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ntl.nt.gov.au/story/great-air-race |title=The Great Air Race |publisher=[[Library & Archives NT]] |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-date=24 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924045042/https://ntl.nt.gov.au/story/great-air-race |url-status=dead }}</ref> The four men shared the £10,000 prize money put forward by the Australian government.<ref name=ADB/><ref name=bio/>
 
==Later life==
Smith was killed (along with the recently commissioned Lieutenant Bennett) while testing a [[Vickers Viking]] amphibian aircraft which crashed in [[Byfleet]] soon after taking off from [[Brooklands]] on 13 April 1922. The same aircraft type that eventuallyhad also killed [[John Alcock (RAF officer)|John Alcock]], another WW1World War I veteran and pioneering long-distance aviator. Captain [[Stanley Cockerell]], [[test pilot]] for [[Vickers]], had flown Smith and Bennett as passengers on the aircraft's maiden flight earlier that day and testified to the [[inquest]] that the machine seemed to be in perfect working order. The jury returned a verdict of [[death by misadventure]].<ref>"Sir Ross Smith's Death: No Failure of the Machine", ''The Times'', 17 April 1922</ref> The bodies were transported to Australia and Smith was given a state funeral and later buried on 14 June at the [[North Road Cemetery]], [[Adelaide]].<ref name=ADB/><ref name=bio/>
 
==Legacy==
The Australian cricketer [[Keith Miller|Keith Ross Miller]] was named after Smith and his brother.▼
[[File:Sir Ross Smith Memorial Statue B-4974.jpgjpeg|thumb|Sir Ross Smith memorial statue in the [[Creswell Gardens|]], Adelaide Parklands]]▼
▲The Australian cricketer [[Keith Miller|Keith Ross Miller]] (born 28 November 1919) was named after Smith and his brother.
 
Ross Smith Avenue in the [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] suburb of [[Parap, Northern Territory|Parap]] is on the alignment of the [[Parap Airfield|airstrip]] that completed the journey from England to Australia. Their aircraft is preserved at [[Adelaide Airport#Vickers Vimy museum|Adelaide Airport]]. There is a statue of him near Adelaide Oval.
==See also==
 
*[[England to Australia flight]]
Sir Ross Smith Boulevard in the [[Adelaide]] suburb of [[Oakden, South Australia|Oakden]] was named after Smith.
 
==References==
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*[https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/pages/smith-brothers Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, pioneer aviators], State Library of South Australia website including personal papers of Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith
*[http://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/collection/Sir+Ross+Smith+Memorial+Collection Sir Ross Smith Memorial Collection], State Library of South Australia
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/albums/72157712126795033 Album of photographs taken on the first flight from England to Australia, 1919], State Library of New South Wales.
*[https://ntl.nt.gov.au/story/great-air-race The Great Race, Northern Territory Library online feature]
 
<gallery>
File:Vickers Vimy, G-EAOU, first flight from England to Australia, 1919.jpg|Vickers Vimy, G-EAOU, the aircraft flown by Smith in 1919
File:First Flight Monument 1.jpg|First UK-Aus Flight monument in Darwin▼
▲File:Ross Smith.jpg|Ross Smith memorial statue in the [[Creswell Gardens|Adelaide Parklands]]
File:Sir Ross Smith Memorial Statue B-4974.jpeg
File:Ross Macpherson Smith 1922.jpg|1922, seated in the plane in which he died
▲File:First Flight Monument 1.jpg|First UK-AusUK–Aus Flight monument in Darwin
File:Ross Smith.jpg|Ross Smith memorial statue in the [[Creswell Gardens|Adelaide Parklands]]
File:Ross and Keith Smith memorial (Dowie).jpg|Ross and Keith Smith memorial
File:Vickers-Vimy museum.jpg|Museum, Adelaide Airport
</gallery>
 
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[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Warriston School]]▼
[[Category:Australian aviators]]▼
[[Category:Australian World War I flying aces]]▼
[[Category:Australian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]▼
[[Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:PeopleAustralian fromrecipients Adelaideof the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:RecipientsAustralian recipients of the AirDistinguished ForceFlying Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:TestAustralian pilotsrecipients of the Military Cross]]
▲[[Category:Australian aviatorstest pilots]]
▲[[Category:Australian World War I flying aces]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Bars (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Burials at North Road Cemetery]]
▲[[Category:People educated at Warriston School]]
[[Category:People from Adelaide]]
▲[[Category:AviatorsVictims killed inof aviation accidents or incidents in 1922]]
[[Category:Victims of flight test accidents]]
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