Freda Thompson (5 April 1909 – 11 December 1980) was a pioneer aviator, the first Australian woman to fly solo from the United Kingdom to Australia.

Early life

Born at

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a popul ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria to parents Frederick and Martha Thompson. Thompson was educated at

Toorak College Toorak College is an Independent school, independent, inter-denominational, boarding school, boarding and day school for girls, grades 5 - 12 and is co-educational, boys and girls, from pre-school through grade four. The school is located on the M ...

in Melbourne leaving with Honours, Proficiency Certificates Pianoforte and Ice Skating.

Flying qualification and early career

On 28 May 1930 she did Thompson took her first flight as a pilot and later in that year obtained her A Licence. In 1932 she obtained her 'B' Commercial Pilot licence and became the fifth woman in Australia to hold that license. She qualified as a flying instructor in 1933 and was reported as the first woman in the British Empire to obtain instructors licence. In April 1934 Thompson sailed for England to collect a new

De Havilland Moth The de Havilland Moths were a series of light aircraft, sports planes, and military trainers designed by Geoffrey de Havilland. In the late 1920s and 1930s, they were the most common civilian aircraft flying in Britain, and during that time ever ...

Major, which she named ''Christopher Robin.'' It had been fitted with long range fuel tanks for the journey to Australia. Thompson had accumulated over 250 hours of flying experience by this time. On 28 September 1934 Freda left

Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

for the long journey to Australia flying solo. The trip took 39 days with the actual flying time being 19 days. Thompson damaged her aeroplane G-ACUC (VH-UUC) when she made a precautionary landing at Megara, Greece, the flight to Australia was delayed by 20 days waiting for a spare part for a damaged wing. Freda arrived in Darwin on 6 November, and at Mascot, Sydney on 20 November 1934.

WWII

Thompson was commandant of the Woman's Air Training Corps in Victoria from 1940–1942. During the course of WWII she applied to join the

Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve, as well as by the Chief of the Air Staff, who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service ov ...

but did not receive a response and in 1942 she enlisted in the

Australian Women's Army Service The Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) was a non-medical women's service established in Australia during the Second World War. Raised on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units" the servi ...

Later career

Following WWII Thompson bought a de Havilland Hornet Moth, and named it ''Christopher Robin II''. She flew extensively within Australia, and in 1952 to the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. She competed in air races and formation-flying events. She won forty-seven trophies. She was president in 1948 of the

Royal Victorian Aero Club The Royal Victorian Aero Club is an Australian aero club based at Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne. History Founded by pioneer aviators in 1914 at Point Cook, the club is one of Australia's oldest flying training organisations. The Australi ...

. By 1980 she had logged 3330 flying hours.

Death

Thompson died at

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

in 1980 and was cremated.

Awards & Legacy

In 1937 Thompson was awarded King George VI's coronation medal and in 1953 she was awarded Queen Elizabeth II's coronation medal. In 1937 Thompson was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE). Thompson's papers were donated to the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

in 1990, and the collection includes her 1930s air pilot's cap and googles. In 1994 she was honoured by the issue of a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...

, one of a series depicting Australian aviators also including

Stanley Goble Air Vice Marshal Stanley James (Jimmy) Goble, CBE, DSO, DSC (21 August 1891 – 24 July 1948) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served three terms as Chief of the Air Staff, alternating with Wing Comma ...

and

Ivor McIntyre Ivor Ewing McIntyre, (6 October 1899 – 12 March 1928) was a pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He gained national recognition in 1924 when he and Wing Commander Stanley Goble became the first men to circumnavigate Australia ...

Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave, MRAeS, (29 January 18506 July 1915) was a British-born Australian engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer. Biography Lawrence Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, the second son of John Fletch ...

, Sir

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

and Sir

Ross Macpherson Smith Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, (4 December 1892 – 13 April 1922) was an Australian aviator. He and his brother, Sir Keith Macpherson Smith, were the first pilots to fly from England to Australia, in 1919. Early life Smith's father migrated ...

. Thompson was inducted onto the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

in 2001.

Sources

* *Thompson's papers were donated to the

in 1990 her sister, Claire Embling *