The Qantas Foundation
Memorial Book Set
(shown above: 2 of the 5 in the set)
Considering a special present for someone very difficult to buy for?
The Qantas Foundation Memorial Book Set is a valuable addition to any Austalian's
library. The Flying Kangaroo is an image of Australia known around the world.
From such humble beginnings it has for years represented the pinnacle of
achievement in international aviation.
In five volumes, this is the story of Qantas. So intricately entwined with
the history of this nation has Qantas been throughout this century, it tells
a far bigger story than that of an airline. Each volume has been previously
published and each is a facsimile copy of the original. Each can be purchased
separately, or for a really special gift, the set will be something to be
treasured for years to come.
Publisher: Qantas Foundation
Address: Qantas Founders Outback Museum, P.O. Box 747, Longreach Qld 4730
Australia
Phone 61 (0) 76 583 747 Fax 61 (0) 76 583 767
Single Volume A$19.95
Five volume set A$95.00
Postage: $2 Australian addresses / $4 overseas per book
Taming the North
Author: Hudson Fysh
ISBN: 0 9586705 3 6
On November 2, 1922, in his eighties, dressed with cap and goggles, whiskers
streaming in the wind, amid great excitement, Alexander Kennedy flew into
history. The first passenger on a Qantas regular public transport service,
he continued over the next fourteen years to use the airline to visit the
enormous domain which he helped develop over the previous fifty years.
This biography of Alexander Kennedy was first published in 1933. It has
been republished as the first of the five volumes forming The Qantas Foundation
Memorial Book Set because while it records the life and time of Kennedy,
it makes evident the need for an air service and describes the tough environment
and the people that gave the airline is foundation of strength and vision.
Qantas Rising
Author: Hudson Fysh
ISBN: 0 9586705 1 X
"This is a small beginning, which would develop into one of greatest
services in the world . . . "
Fergus McMaster, 1922
So is launched a world spanning airline that would, in its 75th year, 1995,
win the "Best Airline in the World Award".
An autobiographical account, it describes Sir Hudson Fysh's First World
War years in the Light Horse and Flying Corps, where he linked up with Paul
McGuinness and formed not only a close friendship but a very efficient fighting
team.
It was while travelling thousands of miles over country with no roads in
a T Model Ford from Longreach to Darwin to survey the route for the 1919
London-Sydney air race, Fysh and McGuinness developed their plans for an
outback airline.
The formation of the infant air service, the trials of fund raising, the
setbacks they encountered are personally described and already the hallmarks
of quality and safety for which the airline is so famous can be seen emerging.
Finding aircraft appropriate for the extreme conditions in which they would
fly forced the airline to manufacture their own, the only airline to have
done so.
"Qantas Rising" follows the expansion of the airline, the establishment
of the flying school, the partnership in the establishment of the Aerial
Medical Service (Royal Flying Doctor Service) and the fight to win the contract
to start the Australia to England air service.
Of interest to anyone interested in flying, the history of Qantas is an
important part of the history of Australia this century.
Qantas at War
Author: Hudson Fysh
ISBN: 0 9586705 2 8
In 1938, Short S23 "C" Class Empire flying boats were put into
service and the fantastic advance in passenger comfort was akin to the 747
First Class introduced some years later. Only eleven days to London and
the aircraft overnighted with the passengers with evening dress affairs
that make modern flying look as glamorous as taking the bus. Then came the
War.
Qantas' role as a civil airline in wartime is yet another of those rarely
told chapters of World War II. Keeping the mail lines open to England during
the darkest hours of the war is one of Qantas' greatest achievements and
one that required an effort "above and beyond" by men and machines.
Some did not return.
"Qantas at War" was first published in 1968.
Frontline Airline
Author: E. Bennett-Bremner
ISBN: 0 9586705 4 4
This is the story of a Civil Air Transport organisation at war that from
its earliest beginnings had pledged its services to the nation. For19 years
that pledge had been upheld in times of peace. It was now upheld in times
of war. The men who conceived the airline had served with distinction in
the First World War, and although wearing no official uniform, the men who
served Qantas during World War 11, carried on the company's traditions and
policy of service, some dying so doing.
The personnel involved, whose names recur throughout this narrative, acted
in the course of their duty, making routine reports when duty was completed.
These epics of understatement, dull and prosaic for the most part, take
on other meaning when placed in the context in which they were written.
Keeping the mail lines open, evacuating Singapore, Surabaya and Port Moresby,
being caught in the bombing of Darwin and Broome, hauling guns and ammunition,
hiding behind enemy lines are part of the story of Qantas at war when it
became the Front-Line Airline.
Wings to the World
Author: Hudson Fysh
ISBN: 0 9586705 3 6
By the end of World War II Qantas was operating a mixed fleet and it was
time to expand.
In this book, first published in 1970, Sir Hudson Fysh takes us from the
beginnings of post war expansion and the purchase of all the shares by the
Commonwealth Government, through the introduction of the beautiful Super
Constellations, the inauguration of the first "round the world"
service, into the hotel business and on to the introduction of jets.
Qantas was the first airline outisde the USA to put the Boeing 707 into
service.
Building on the foundations laid in the 1920s, Qantas' impeccable record
of safety, service and innovation ensured its placed as a leader in international
aviation.
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