Great 1934 air race to be celebrated on stage

THE rags to riches story of Ballarat-born philanthropist and entrepreneur Sir MacPherson Robertson and his commitment to sponsoring a London to Melbourne air race is being brought back to life on stage.

As part of Ballarat Heritage Festival, theatrical group Legends of the Skies will reprise its successful production of 1934 MacRobertson Trophy Air Race at the Ballarat Airport Mess Hall Theatrette on May 17 and 18.

Targeted for aviation enthusiasts and older citizens willing to sing along with the group during their performance, the show celebrates the famous air race that took place in 1934 as part of Melbourne’s centenary celebrations.

Robertson – the son of a gold miner and a wealthy Australian confectionery manufacturer – agreed to donate £15,000 in prize money on the conditions that the race be named after his MacRobertson confectionery company, and that it was organised to be as safe as possible.

The show premiered last year to mark the 90th anniversary of the race, which attracted 20 entries and was won by English aviators Charles William Anderson Scott and Tom Campbell Black in a time of 71 hours.

Eleven entrants completed the course.

Recognised as a significant event in history, Air Force Association of Victoria Ballarat branch committee member Mark Pilkington said the air race opened people’s eyes to the fact that air travel from one side of the world to the other was achievable.

“Up until 1934, a number of people had flown from England to Australia, including Amy Johnson, but long-distance flying was still considered a bit of a rare feat and a dangerous activity, akin to flying to the moon,” he said.

“Many of the people who did these long-distance flights not only didn’t make it, but in those days there was no way of knowing where they’d crashed or dropped into the ocean.

“This race was really designed to showcase the centenary of Melbourne, but everyone around the world followed it in newspapers.

“One of the real stories was the one about the KLM Douglas DC-2 airliner that participated and was picking up passengers along the way, but came second in the race.

“It had a very big scare over Albury – it got lost and couldn’t find its way through the mountains, but also couldn’t find its way to safety.

“The local town of Albury heard about their plight and used all of the public lighting in the town as a morse code to flash through the clouds, and then had everyone with a car drive down to the local racecourse and create a lit run runway on the course for the Douglas DC-2 to land on.”

Legends of the Skies Theatre was established in 2013 to keep alive memorable and remarkable stories about Australia’s proud history of aviation vision, design, adventure and courage.

The group research, writes and performs all their own work, using music, drama, visuals and theatrical effects.

Mr Pilkington said he was thrilled to see Legends of the Skies bringing the achievements and story of MacPherson Robertson back to Ballarat.

“I know Ballarat is very focused on its gold rush history, but there are other great stories weaved through Ballarat, and this is just one of them,” he said.

“The Legends of the Skies actors really research their characters, but it is not a documentary.

“It is meant to be entertaining and humorous and they do bring larger to life elements to their characters and exploits in these productions.”

Tickets for the three Ballarat shows -7pm on 17 and 18 May and 2pm on 18 May – can be booked via Trybooking. Tickets are $25 or $90 for families.