Fysh, one of the founding members of Qantas and managing director at the time was quoted as saying: “Getting up out of his chair, a passenger could walk about and, if he had been seated in the main cabin, stroll along to the smoking cabin for a smoke, stopping on the way at the promenade deck with its high handrail and windows at eye level to gaze at the world of cloud and sky outside. Beautiful views from the flying boat could be seen from Sydney Harbour to Singapore”

Lumbering along at a stately 160 miles per hour, the flying boats reduced the time taken to travel from Sydney to England by air to an unbelievable nine days. Significantly faster than a sea journey and three days faster (and oh so much more comfortable) than the much smaller, land-based DH86 biplanes they had replaced. Although fast and efficient, the journey gave passengers an experience that has wholly vanished from international air travel today. A leisurely taste of exotic lands from the comfort of a flying palace that, although part owned by an Australian company, was most definitely British.

But it was all short-lived. With the onset of the World War II, the luxury of sleeping accommodation, cabin crew and all other trappings were stripped from the aircraft to be replaced by guns and bomb racks. The size and versatility that had made these aircraft so attractive in peacetime were to make the same craft indispensable in wartime. For although during the first three years of the war, from 1939 -1942, the empire route from Sydney to London via Singapore remained in operation; the cargo of mail that had been routinely carried was gradually supplanted with loads of ammunition. Important wealthy passengers who had once been carried in luxury were replaced on return journeys by refugees eager to flee the path of the advancing Japanese forces.

Tragedy was to strike quickly though. On the 30th of January 1942, the flying boat Corio was attacked and shot down by Japanese Zero fighter aircraft, while ferrying Dutch refugees from the port of Sourabaya. Only five of the 18 passengers and crew on board survived. Two weeks later Singapore fell; the Empire route was broken. Four days afterwards, the first of the Japanese raids on Darwin caused massive destruction. One of the seaplanes, the Camilla, was moored in the harbour at the time. Avoiding the wrecks of burning and sinking ships, the plane was able to take-off during the raid and managed to escape to Groote Eyelandt, miraculously undamaged.

As the Japanese advanced rapidly through Java, an urgent demand was placed upon the remaining craft – the evacuation of stranded Dutch civilians to Broome and the relative safety of Australian soil. The evacuation was carried out by the Empire Class flying boats of Qantas, as well as by German-built Dornier DO24 flying boats, operated by the Dutch KLM airlines. On 28th February 1942, a large flock of these aircraft rode at anchor off the coast of Broome. When the Japanese attacked, many of these flying boats were still loaded with civilians waiting to be carried south to more populated parts of the country. Some were also refueling; there was little or no chance of escaping the onslaught. Of the 15 flying boats that were moored off the coast at the time, only two survived. Sadly, seventy lives were lost.

It was a dark time in Australian aviation history. The Empire route that had been so successful no longer existed. Even if it had, there were simply not enough aircraft available to operate a regular service. Of a fleet of 10 Empire Class flying boats owned by Qantas, only four remained. Five aircraft were lost as a result of enemy action, one as a result of RAAF action – a landing incident at Townsville. Qantas was left with only two flying boats; the other two had been pressed into service with the RAAF. Apart from a handful of much smaller conventional aircraft, suitable mainly for domestic use, Qantas was largely incapable of delivering either international or internal services. The company did retain however, a collection of flying boat experienced and capable pilots.

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