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The Great Air Race |
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1934 was the centenary of the City of Melbourne. Sir Macpherson Robertson agreed to sponsor
an air race between England
and Australia
as a celebration.
The Royal Aero Club of Britain agreed to supervise the race
and the date was set for Saturday 20th October. They did not decide
where the race was to start until the summer and Mildenhall was chosen. The
decision was unpopular in London
as being too far from the capital and not having enough accommodation for the
aviators and their retinues or the international press corps. However Mildenhall
was to be commissioned as an RAF base in the October and had empty
hangars and plenty of take-off area. This was the deciding factor.
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A poster advertising the event in 1934 |
There is plenty of information available about the race
itself but we, at
Mildenhall
Museum,
were more interested in the affect it had on local people.
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To put it in perspective Mildenhall was a small Market Town with a population of
just over 3000. It had no running water, no electricity, no drainage and poor
communications. Agriculture was in a depressed state and the country was only
just emerging from the great depression. The threat of war was hanging once
again over Europe.
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It was in this atmosphere that Mildenhall hit the headlines. It had never seen
anything like it. For the week before the race tankers were bringing fuel,
telephone landlines were being laid for the press corps and the planes and
aviators themselves were arriving.
The excitement was tangible and we have gathered many memories from people who
were youngsters at the time.
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The King and Queen and Prince of Wales visited on the Friday.
Mildenhall was gridlocked with cars as people came from all over the country to
see the dawn start. They came from London in their evening finery and some ladies recall
with wonder the outfits they saw.
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The entry log of the winners, Scott & Campbell Black
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It was not only in Mildenhall that an impression was made
as we have been loaned some very interesting memorabilia for our
exhibition: Jigsaw
puzzles, special maps, games, books, glassware, an amazing variety of things.
We have some commemorative tea towels, part of a limited edition, marking the
75th anniversary of The 1934 Great Air Race, price £3.75 and of the Book
The 1934 Great Air Race by Stuart McKay, price £30, for sale at
the Museum. |
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