Fiji to Honour Kingsford Smith and Ulm

Grey River Argus, 17 February 1949, Page 8

Fiji to Honour Kingsford Smith and Ulm

SYDNEY, Feb. 12. The Air Force Association is anxious to have commemorated the first landing place of the Southern Cross in Fiji. It will urge the Federal Government to adopt the design of the Sydney .artist, Miss Mary Edwards, for a memorial statue. Air Force Association Federal treasurer, Mr Harry Hartman, said last night: “We want to have suitably marked this spot of earth made famous for all time by Kingsford Smith and Ulm.

“They blazed a trail and the Fijian landing'was the crucial point. American pilots, even towards the end of the war, with their vastly improved planes and navigational aids, told us how they marvelled at the achievement of these two Australians in making that landing. “At their take-off in California, Americans have erected a monument, but it is important that this spot in Fiji should be marked forever.” World tourists could not understand why there was nothing save local memory to indicate the famous landing place of the Southern Cross. Officials at Suva said they were confident that the Fijian Government would contribute very generously to the cost of a suitable memorial. The design envisages a statue 30ft high, with a bronze symbolic figure of a Fijian youth in gala dress.