KNIGHTHOOD FOR AIRMAN

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27375, 14 June 1954, Page 6

KNIGHTHOOD FOR AIRMAN

CAPTAIN P. G. TAYLOR’S CAREER

NOTABLE PACIFIC FLIGHTS

Sometimes described as the modern Magellan of the air. Captain P. G. Taylor, G.C., M.C., one of Australia's most distinguished airmen, has received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours. His most notable achievements include a Pacific flight from Australia to Hawaii in 1934 as navigator and co-pilot with the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in the Lockheed Altair Lady Southern Cross, and the heroiefc action which saved the monoplane Southern Cross and its crew on an attempted Australia-New Zealand flight in 1935, for which he was awarded the George Cross. Sir Patrick Taylor, who is known in

.ustralian and New Zealand aviation ircles as “Bill” Taylor, won the Miliiry Cross when serving with the oyal Flying Corps in the First World far. and later made several long-

range solo flights when engaged in Australian civil aviation. In May, 1935, while the Southern Cross was flying to New Zealand one of the engines went dead, placing great strain on the others. The Southern Cross was returning to Australia in serious difficulty when Sir Patrick Taylor left the cockpit and at great risk climbed across a strut to transfer oil in a vacuum flask from the dead engine to a dying one, enabling the aircraft to land safely. In 1939 Sir Patrick Taylor made the first air crossing of the Indian Ocean in the Catalina flying-boat, Guba, and surveyed an air route for the British and Australian Governments. Qantas Empire Airways now operates a regular service across the Indian Ocean from Australia to South Africa. In 1944 Sir Patrick Taylor made the first air crossing of the South Pacific in the Catalina flying-boat Frigate Bird, surveying a route from Mexico to Australia, via New Zealand, for the Royal Air Force.

During the Second World War Sir Patrick Taylor served with the R.A.F. Transport Command on trans-ocean flights. His last notable Pacific flight was made in 1951, when he surveyed an air route from Australia to South America. In the Catalina flying-boat Frigate Bird 11, presented to him by the Australian Government for his service to Australian aviation, he flew 17,000 miles to Chile and back.