Guy Menzies

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Australian aviator (1909–1940)

title: "Guy Menzies" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1909-births", "1940-deaths", "military-personnel-from-new-south-wales", "people-educated-at-fort-street-high-school", "australian-speedway-riders", "australian-aviators", "royal-air-force-squadron-leaders", "royal-air-force-personnel-killed-in-world-war-ii", "royal-air-force-pilots-of-world-war-ii", "1931-in-new-zealand", "history-of-the-west-coast-region", "sportsmen-from-new-south-wales", "aviators-killed-by-being-shot-down", "20th-century-australian-sportsmen"] description: "Australian aviator (1909–1940)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Menzies" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian aviator (1909–1940) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

FieldValue
honorific_prefixSquadron Leader
nameGuy Menzies
imageGuy Menzies with propeller (cropped).jpg
captionMenzies in 1931 with the damaged propeller of Southern Cross Junior
birth_date
birth_nameGuy Lambton Menzies
death_date
birth_placeDrummoyne, New South Wales, Australia
death_placeMediterranean Sea
allegianceAustralia
branchRoyal Air Force
serviceyears1939–40
rankSquadron Leader
servicenumber32061
unitNo. 228 Squadron RAF
battlesSecond World War
::

| honorific_prefix = Squadron Leader | name = Guy Menzies | image = Guy Menzies with propeller (cropped).jpg | caption = Menzies in 1931 with the damaged propeller of Southern Cross Junior | birth_date = | birth_name = Guy Lambton Menzies | death_date = | placeofburial_label = | placeofburial = | birth_place =Drummoyne, New South Wales, Australia | death_place =Mediterranean Sea | nickname = | allegiance =Australia | branch =Royal Air Force | serviceyears =1939–40 | rank =Squadron Leader | servicenumber =32061 | unit =No. 228 Squadron RAF | commands = | battles =Second World War | battles_label = | awards = | relations = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/StateLibQld_2_112972_Guy_Menzies.jpg" caption="1931}}"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Australian_aviator_Guy_Menzies_(15456280993).jpg" caption="On 7 January 1931 Australian aviator Guy Menzies crash landed in the La Fontaine Swamp, near [[Hari Hari]] on the West Coast of New Zealand" alt=""] ::

Guy Lambton Menzies (20 August 19091 November 1940) was an Australian aviator who flew the first solo trans-Tasman flight, from Sydney, Australia, to the West Coast of New Zealand, on 7 January 1931.

Family

::quote

::

|title =The (Modern) Wild Colonial Boy.

T. the R. |quote ="At 12.30 a.m. the young aviator glanced at his watch. ‘I think we will make a start now',’ he said. ....A little after 2.30 p.m. word came through that he had landed safely at Harihari, which is close to Herepo."

There was a Wild Colonial Boy,

Guy Menzies was his name,

He cut it in a single day

Deep on the scroll of Fame.

At midnight he was all unknown;

At twenty-five to three

P.M. (New Zealand time) he’d flown

Magnificently on his own

Across the Tasman Sea.

By wire and beam the news they switch,

They flash it to and fro:

"He’s safe at Harihari, which

Is close to Herepo."

There was a Wild Colonial Boy

Some ham and eggs who scoffed

Within an unpretentious joint,

Then coolly sailed aloft.

They deemed the youngster westward-bound;

He scarce was out of sight

Before the ’wildered watchers found

He wouldn’t overland around

The Great Australian Bight.

’Twas east-south-east without a hitch

Till wireless shrilled "Hello!

He’s safe at Harihari, which

Is close to Herepo."

There was a Wild Colonial Boy,

Just old enough to vote,

A name to go with Kingsford Smith’s

Indelibly who wrote.

Then give the lad with Lindbergh place,

And eke with Amy J.,

Who rosea deuceand litan ace,

From shore to shore within the space

Of half a summer’s day.

The moon at Mascot, round and rich,

Beams on him, rising from the pitch,

And ere the sun is low

He’s safe at Harihari, which

Is close to Herepo.

|source =The Bulletin, 14 January 1931. |align = right |width = |border = |fontsize = 90% |bgcolor = |style = |title_bg = |title_fnt = |tstyle = |qalign = |qstyle = |quoted = |salign = |sstyle = The eldest of the five children of the medical practitioner Guy Dixon Menzies (1873–1947), and Ida Mabel Menzies , née Lambton (1881–1975), Guy Lambton Menzies was born at Drummoyne, New South Wales, on 20 August 1909.

Siblings

His younger brother, Ian Lambton Menzies (1912–1941), who served in the RAAF, died on 18 April 1941 in an aircraft accident near Ravenswood, Queensland, and about 100 kilometers south of Townsville.

Guy's other three siblings were: Betty Lambton Menzies (1915–1980), later Mrs. William A. Horsley, medical practitioner Bruce Lambton Menzies (1917–2021), and Kathleen Audrey Lambton Menzies (born 1921), later Mrs. Joseph S. Henderson.

Marriage

Menzies married Mrs. Marcia Ina Grundy (born 1909), née Leslie, in London, on 12 April 1940.

Connolly (2017b) reveals that the 'true story' behind the "mysterious injuries" that Menzies sustained while serving at North Weald and reported in the 1936 press, were that—rather than receiving 'head injuries' from a 40 ft fall from a window—the most significant of the injuries that he had sustained (which were "not wholly consistent with a fall") were two broken kneecaps, of such severity that it was thought for some considerable time that he would never be able to fly again. The injuries that Menzies sustained had been inflicted upon Menzies by, or on behalf of, "one of his fellow officers", Squadron-Leader E.M.F. Grundy (26046), later Air Marshal Sir Edouard Grundy, the "aggrieved husband" of Marcia, with whom Menzies was having an affair. This fact, according to Connolly, explains why the details of the secret, internal, RAF enquiries were never released to the public. According to Connolly, Marcia eventually divorced her husband, who had left England at some time before her marriage to Menzies, which took place some four years after Menzies had been assaulted.

Marcia, and her son Frederick Michael (born 1934), moved to Australia in 1946. Michael went on to join the RAAF.

Education

Menzies was educated at the academically selective Fort Street High School in Sydney.

Speedway

While still a teenager, Menzies was a well-performed dirt-track, concrete track, and speedway motorcycle rider who raced under the assumed name of Don McKay, and was billed as "The Flying Scotchman". A number of other Australian speedway riders, such as Dave Brewster, Ern Buck, Vic Huxley, Bill Kilminster, Charlie Spinks, and Lionel Van Praag also held pilot's licenses.

First solo trans-Tasman flight

The first crossing of the Tasman by air had been achieved on 10–11 September 1928 by Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm in the Southern Cross.

Menzies had gained his pilot's license in 1929, and had flying experience.

The plane Menzies used for his solo crossing was the Avro Sports Avian that Smith had flown from England to Australia, the Southern Cross Junior.{{cite web | publisher = Classic Fighters Charitable Trust | url = http://www.classicfighters.co.nz/marlborough/omaka.htm | title = Omaka Aerodrome History | accessdate = 18 April 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060426044247/http://www.classicfighters.co.nz/marlborough/omaka.htm | archive-date = 26 April 2006 | url-status = dead

Fearing he might be denied permission for the flight,{{cite book | last = Wearne | first = Max | isbn = 9780646451152 | title = The Life of Guy Menzies – The Forgotten Flyer | year = 2005 | publisher = WM Wearne Pty, Limited

Poor weather forced Menzies off course, and after 11 hours and 45 minutes, with the high tides in the area removing any possibility of him making a safe emergency landing on a sandy beach, he crash-landed (at 3:12 PM local time) upside-down in the La Fontaine Swamp near Hari Hari on New Zealand's West Coast, which he had supposed was a meadow.

As soon as it became known that Menzies was heading for New Zealand, Colonel Horace C. Brinsmead - at the time Controller of Civil Aviation in Australia - dispatched a message to the Director of Air Services in the Defence Department in New Zealand. He asked for word about Menzies. "Pilot G. L. Menzies left Sydney at 1 a.m. this morning flying solo in an Avro Avian aircraft G-ABCF with destination New Zealand. This department had no prior knowledge of Menzies’s proposal. I understand he had fuel for 18 hours’ flight. Appreciate earliest advice of news of his arrival in New Zealand." The day after the successful flight Colonel Brinsmead’s New Zealand opposite number replied. "Pilot Menzies made forced landing 20 miles south of Ross 3.12 p.m. yesterday. News of arrival and your cable arrived too late for early advice. Remarkable achievement but hope no more unheralded flights of this nature." A note on the departmental file records the time of the flight as 12 hours 47 minutes. Leslie Jillett, in his book "Wings over [sic] the Tasman" gives the time as 12 hours 12 minutes and the aviator’s mother is reported to have said that his flying time was still half an hour less than that. — The Press, Tuesday, 13 July 1954.

Despite the unfortunate landing, Menzies had broken Smith and Ulm's time by 2½ hours.

Historical marker

An extensive outdoor historical marker with photographs and descriptions is located at GPS coordinates −43.076716, 170.531477 (south latitude, east longitude). The marker is approximately half a kilometre southwest of the actual landing spot (now on private land), which is marked by a pole with wind sock that are visible from the historical marker. News clippings and additional historical details are on display in the lobby of the Hotel Hari Hari, a few kilometres away on the State Highway 6.

Royal Air Force service

Menzies joined the Royal Air Force in 1936, and served as a RAF squadron leader during the Second World War. He was part of the crew of one of the two Sunderlands that rescued the crew of the torpedoed Kensington Court on 18 September 1939.

Death

Menzies and his crew were killed on 1 November 1940, when his Short Sunderland flying boat (N9020) was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea by Italian fighter aircraft while en route from Malta to Sicily. No remains of the aircraft or crew were ever found.{{cite news | author=Madgwick, Paul | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/dick-smith-recreates-first-solo-transtasman-flight/2006/01/07/1136609980878.html | title=Dick Smith recreates first solo trans-Tasman flight | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=8 January 2006 | accessdate=18 April 2006

Commemoration

Menzies is commemorated at the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.

75th anniversary

On 7 January 2006, celebrations were held in Hari Hari to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Menzies's trans-Tasman voyage, and were marked by a re-enactment of the flight by adventurer Dick Smith. He landed at what was dubbed "Hari Hari International Airport".

Notes

References

References

  1. "T. the R.", which stood for "Thomas the Rhymer", was one of the many pen names of Charles Wiltens Andrée Hayward (1866–1950): see Bennett (1983).
  2. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-600632553 'T the R', "The (Modern) Wild Colonial Boy"], ''The Bulletin'', (Wednesday, 14 January 1931, p. 11.
  3. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18019527 Deaths: Menzies] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Tuesday, 1 April 1947, p. 22.
  4. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14998877 Marriages: Menzies–Lambton] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Saturday, 28 November 1908, p. 12.
  5. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PvpjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YeYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=611%2C2351949 Deaths; Menzies] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Thursday, 8 May 1975, p. 30.
  6. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15108647 Births: Menzies] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Saturday, 4 September 1909, p. 12.
  7. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47320052 R.A.A.F. Crash: Pilot and Passenger Killed: Fatality Attributed to Stall], ''The West Australian'', (Saturday, 19 April 1941), p. 11.
  8. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17718290 Deaths: Menzies], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', (Monday, 21 April 1941), p. 8.
  9. [https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=1057059&c=WW2 World War Two Nominal Roll: Flying Officer Ian Lambton Menzies (774)], ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''.
  10. [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5244214&S=1&T=PDF&D=D World War Two Service Record: Flying Officer Ian Lambton Menzies (774)], ''National Archives of Australia''.
  11. [https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1717609 Roll of Honour: Flying Officer Ian Lambton Menzies (774)], ''Australian War Memorial''.
  12. [https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2968758/ian-lambton-menzies Flying Officer Ian Lambton Menzies, Service Number 774, Royal Australian Air Force], ''Commonwealth War Graves Commission''.
  13. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17666749 Country Interest in Wedding: Five Attendants for Bride], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', (Friday, 16 February 1940), p. 4.
  14. John Murphy]], 16 June 2003.
  15. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248018153 U.S. Officers on Leave for Weddings], ''The Daily Telegraph'', (Friday, 25 May 1945), p. 10.
  16. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247487110 Australia R.A.F. Officer to Wed] ''The Daily Telegraph'', Monday, 8 April 1940, p. 1.
  17. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27951539 Marriages: Menzies–Grundy] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Thursday, 6 June 1940, p. 8.
  18. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17839687 (probate notice): Legal Notices] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Tuesday, 9 March 1943, p. 2.
  19. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230299819 Mystery: Airman's Injury: Sydney Pilot: Face Battered] ''The (Sydney) Sun'', Tuesday, 25 August 1936, p. 1.
  20. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244759265 Guy Menzies Mystery: R.A.F. will Inquire] ''The Herald'', Tuesday, 25 August 1936, p. 1.
  21. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132029126 Airport Mystery Unsolved: Guy Menzies' Injuries] ''The (Adelaide) News'', Wednesday, 23 September 1936, p. 5.
  22. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30113072 Guy Menzies: Cause of Accident still a Mystery] ''The Mercury'', Friday, 25 September 1936, p. 3.
  23. In fact, Grundy was sent to New Zealand in an "exchange posting with RNZAF" in June 1937 ([https://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Grundy.htm RAF Biographies: Air Marshal Sir Edouard Grundy (26054), ''rafweb.org'']).
  24. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19370717.2.31 Exchange of Officers: First Arrivals from R.A.F.], ''The Auckland Star'', (Saturday, 17 July 1937), p. 7.
  25. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19400410.2.121.1 Engagements: Grundy–Carr], ''The Evening Post'', (Wednesday, 10 April 1940), p. 14. via paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
  26. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19400608.2.147.5 Air Force Wedding: Guard of Honour], (Saturday 8 June 1940), p. 18. "Evening Post" via paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
  27. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19400608.2.147.5.1 Photo. A guard of honour formed by brother-officers of the bridegroom after the wedding at Wesley Church, Taranaki Street... (photograph)], (Saturday 8 June 1940), p. 18. "Evening Post" via paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
  28. An official notice in the ''London Gazette'' of 2 September 1941, (at [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35263/page/5130/data.pdf p. 5130]), announces that the family name of Frederick Michael Grundy had been changed, by [[Deed of change of name#United Kingdom. deed poll]], to that of Menzies.
  29. [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/996208 Bringing up their Sons in Australia] ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Wednesday, 28 August 1946, p. 6.
  30. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page25077133 Royal Australian Air Force: Air Training Corps (New South Wales Squadron): Cadet Pilot Officer Frederick Michael Grundy Menzies (46562)] ''Commonwealth of Australia Gazette'', No. 31, Thursday, 24 April 1952 p. 2311.
  31. [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232965982 Royal Australian Air Force: Permanent Air Force: Pilot Officer Frederick Michael Menzies (0216042)] ''Commonwealth of Australia Gazette'', No. 19, Thursday, 28 March 1957 p. 980.
  32. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236948043 An "Old Boy" Looks On], ''The (Sydney) Labor Daily'', Saturday, 28 February 1931), p. 1.
  33. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237521486 Advertisement], ''The Labor Daily'', (Friday, 2 December 1927), p. 1.
  34. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136741110 Once a irt-Track Expert he now Stars in Another Sphere], ''The Referee'', (Wednesday, 14 January 1931), p. 22.
  35. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article135339136 Random Jots: Dirt Track Pilots], ''The Referee'', (Wednesday, 5 October 1932), p. 24.]
  36. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58638890 The Tasman Crossed: Young Pilot's Remarkable Feat: A Hazardous Undertaking], ''The (Perth) Sunday Times'', (Sunday, 11 January 1931), p. 28.
  37. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193169634 Forced Down: 'Plane Mishap at Tenterfield], ''The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser'', (Friday, 2 May 1930), p. 4.
  38. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234995171 He'd Fly Over Hell in a Celluloid Bus: Things About Young Guy Menzies that You Haven't Read Yet], Smith's Weekly, (Saturday, 17 January 1931), p. 15.
  39. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246427233 Had Finished His Ham and Eggs So Flew the Tasman: Unknown at Midnight; World Hero a Few Hours Later: Would Not Do it Again for £50,000 Says Hero of N.Z. Flight: Guy Menzies is a Great 'Guy'], ''The (Sydney) Daily Pictorial'', (Thursday, 8 January 1931), p. 3.]
  40. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246427225 Letter Tells of Well-Kept Secret], ''The (Sydney) Daily Pictorial'', (Thursday, 8 January 1931), p. 3.
  41. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/new-zealand-herald/1931/01/08/10 Solo Flight across Tasman: Great Secret Achievement: Sydney to West Coat: Airman lands in Swamp: Slight Damage to Machine] ''New Zealand Herald'', Thursday, 8 January 1931, p. 10.
  42. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19310108.2.26.14 Bright and Fresh] ''The Evening Star'', Thursday, 8 January 1931, p. 12.
  43. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248637489 2000-Mile trip to see Swamp] ''The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph'', Sunday, 4 March 1951, p. 7.
  44. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98345000 Swamp pilgrim] ''The (Brisbane Sunday Mail'', Sunday, 4 March 1951, p. 3.
  45. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19540713.2.46 First Tasman Flight Solo Was Unauthorised] ''The Press'', Thursday, 13 July 1954, p. 8.
  46. Bush, Gemma. (23 July 2019). "Guy Menzies: A Rebel at Heart".
  47. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230307146 Sydney Airman: Escort for the King] ''The (Sydney) Sun'', Wednesday, 5 August 1936, p. 16.
  48. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81511232 Guy Menzies] ''The Northern Miner'', Saturday, 23 November 1940, p. 5.
  49. "Ships hit by U-boats: Kensington Court". Guðmundur Helgason.
  50. [http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=93656 Squadron Leader Guy Lambton MENZIES (32061) of the Royal Air Force] ''rafcommands.com''.
  51. (2019-08-07). "Guy Lambton Menzies: courageous aviator with family links to pioneers of the Hawkesbury".
  52. [https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1810821/menzies,-guy-lambton Squadron Leader Guy Lambton Menzies, Service Number:32061)] ''Commonwealth War Graves Commission'', www.cwgc.org/, retrieved 8 January 2022.

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1909-births1940-deathsmilitary-personnel-from-new-south-walespeople-educated-at-fort-street-high-schoolaustralian-speedway-ridersaustralian-aviatorsroyal-air-force-squadron-leadersroyal-air-force-personnel-killed-in-world-war-iiroyal-air-force-pilots-of-world-war-ii1931-in-new-zealandhistory-of-the-west-coast-regionsportsmen-from-new-south-walesaviators-killed-by-being-shot-down20th-century-australian-sportsmen