POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Fuel cap from 'Southern Cloud' aircraft

Object No. 2001/46/4

The Australian National Airways Avro X aircraft, VH-UMF, "Southern Cloud" was lost with all on board in March 1931 on a regular airline flight from Sydney to Melbourne. The wreckage was not discovered until October 1958 and the fate of the aircraft, its crew and passengers ascertained. The loss of the "Southern Cloud" was regarded as one of Australia's most baffling air mysteries. It was the subject of a major official search for 8 days and an unofficial one for ten. The crash of the "Southern Cloud" claimed the lives of six passengers and two crew: Travis "Shorty" Shortridge (pilot), Charlie Dunnell (co-pilot/engineer), Charles Hood (stage producer), Bill O'Reilly (accountant), Julian Margules (electrical engineer), Hubert Farrall (businessman), Elsie Glasgow (maid), Clara (Claire) Stokes (artist). The "Southern Cloud" artefacts represent a significant era in the lives of two of Australia's most renowned aviation pioneers, Kingsford Smith and Ulm. This era began with the establishment of a sophisticated domestic airservice, Australian National Airways, that covered Australia's east coast from Tasmania to Brisbane. The era ended with the loss of the "Southern Cloud" and the resultant failure of the airline. Ref: Carter, I.R., Southern Cloud, (Melbourne, 1963)