Death of Adelaide-born Cedric Howell in 1919 air race; claims aimed at South Australia's Smith brothers as winners
The Martinsyde Type A Mk.I aircraft (top) flown by Cedric Howell and George Fraser in the 1919 England to Australia air race before they were killed after crashlanding in the sea off Corfu, Crete. Bottlow left: Howell, at right, with another World War I Australian air ace Raymond Brownell . Bottom right: The letter by Howell's father Ernest calling for an inquiry into his son's death and a letter to the federal government defence minister from Ross Smith, refuting the father's claims.
Images courtesy Australian War Memorial, State Library of South Australia and Flight Global archive
The death of Adelaide-born World War I air ace Cedric Howell, while competing in the 1919 England to Australia air race had an acrimonious sequel when Howell’s father accused the race winners, South Australian Ross and Keith Smith, of being favourably treated.
Cedric Howell was born in Adelaide in 1896 but moved, aged 10, with his parents, accountant Ernest Howell and his wife Ida, to Melbourne. Educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, Howell enlisted to serve in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916 and was posted with the 46th Battalion to Europe’s western front.
In November 1916, Howell was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps for flight training in the United Kingdom. Graduating as a pilot, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant with No.46 Squadron in France in October 1917 before eight months of flying operations over Italy where he was credited with shooting down 19 aircraft. In one 1918 sortie with one other aircraft, he shot down five German machines and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. This added to his Military Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross.
Howell was discharged from the Royal Air Force in 1919 when the Australian government offered £10,000 to the first aviator to pilot a British or commonwealth-built aircraft from England to Australia within 30 days. Howell accepted an approach by British aircraft manufacture Martinsyde to fly their Type A Mk.I aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce engine, in the race. the offer.
Accompanied by lieutenant George Fraser, a navigator and engineer from the Australian Flying Corps in the war. Howell took off in the Martinsyde for the race from Hounslow Heath aerodrome on December 1, 1919. Poor weather forced a landing at Dijon, France, before the reached Pisa, Italy, the next day with a new tail skid was fitted. By December 6, the duo were in Naples and four days later took off fully fuelled from Taranto intending to reach Africa.
Poor weather altered their plan and they headed for Crete. Their Martinsyde was reported flying over St George’s Bay, Corfu, at 8pm. For unknown reasons, Howell and Fraser tried an emergency landing at Corfu but crashed into sea. Both Howell and Fraser were drowned but only Howell’s body was found and given a funeral with miliary honours in Victoria.
The death stirred Howell’s father Ernest to write a 14-page letter calling for an inquiry while also making strong allegations against the race organisers. Howell’s main claims centred around the organisers deciding to postpone the earliest date at which teams were able to start their race attempt, as well as later delays forced on his son and Fraser. Howell’s letter also claimed the prime minister Billy Hughes had ordered certain alterations to be made to competing aircraft, under the guise of new safety requirements. He also claimed a special favour for Ross Smith, citing “the fact that the payment to competitors … for the delay … was stopped the day the Smiths left England”.
Ross responded to Howell’s accusations in a letter to the government: “There is absolutely no truth or foundation for these charges. I make every allowance for Mr Howell’s grief and mental disturbance due to the tragic loss of his son and have no wish to punish him by the bringing of a libel action against him.” A federal defence department statement refuted many of the most damning allegations but it didn’t examine exactly what caused Howell and Fraser’s aircraft to plummet into the sea.
The wide consensus was that Ross and Keith Smith won the race on merit, thanks to meticulous planning and clever decisions such as having two mechanics. Ross Smith had an inquest into his 1922 death while testing a Vickers Viking amphibian at Brooklands, England. Howell wasn’t given one.
