London's welcome to Mr. H.G. Hawker and Commander Grieve - Aussies to the Fore

The second plane to attempt the non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and the first to fly from west to east in the great race, was the team of Hawker and Grieve. These First World War veterans flew a Sopwith plane, aptly called the Atlantic. It was a land-based biplane of some 350 horsepower.

Part of their plane formed a boat that could be detached in case they had trouble over the ocean. This team took off from a field in Mount Pearl on May 18, 1919, and shortly thereafter, Hawker jettisoned the undercarriage. The wheels were later recovered by local fishermen and are in the Newfoundland Museum in St. John's.

After several hours into the flight, problems began to happen with the wireless, and later, overheating problems with the engine forced them to ditch in the Atlantic some 14.5 hours into the flight. They abandoned their plane and were rescued by the Danish ship SS Mary. Since the Danish ship carried no wireless, their safe rescue could not be reported and no wreckage was found.

There was great joy a week later on the 25th of May, when word was received that the crew of the Atlantic were picked up by the SS Mary. The British destroyer Woolston came to the Danish ship and took the aviators off and brought them to Scapa Flow where they spent the night on the HMS Revenge.

It is recorded that the King of England gave the aviators the Air Force Cross, and the Daily Mail gave them a consolation prize of 5000 pounds.

Newspaper article about their flight:
trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22373092

Newspaper article about their London reception:
trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1472702

Taken on: July 13, 2025

Tags:

london

aussiemobs

mckenzie grieve

harry hawker

aviation

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vintage

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Sets appears in: • Vintage /Historic Australia

Groups appears in: • Trove: Australia in Pictures

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