On 20 June 1930, a young Australian aviator, Eric Hook, took off from England in his Gypsy Moth biplane in an attempt to beat Bert Hinkler’s then record flight time of fifteen days to Darwin. Hook had attended Newington College from 1914 to 1916. Accompanied by Jack Matthews, who had worked as Hinkler’s mechanic, Hook flew across Europe and the Middle East to India. They left Aykab in Burma for Rangoon on 3 July.

Nothing further was heard until Matthews staggered into a local village. Due to an engine failure, they had made a forced landing deep in the jungle. The plane was wrecked but they were unhurt. Struggling through the jungle in monsoonal rains for several days, Hook became ill. When he was too weak to walk, he persuaded a reluctant Matthews to go on to seek help. It was not until the end of July that a search party found Hook’s body. He was buried in Prome, a nearby town.

On Sunday 10 August, a memorial service was held in the Stanmore Methodist Church, which served as Newington College’s chapel. Eric Hook’s father, mother and brother attended, but his young wife and two sons were still in England. The Headmaster, Rev. Charles Prescott, delivered the address and noted Hook’s ‘quiet, determined manner, which had made him liked and respected by all his schoolfellows.’ Reflecting on the objects, ideals and ambitions which prompted young men to make these flights, he noted: ‘We do not know what motive prompted Eric Hook. Let us give him credit for the best. He has a place among the heroes and martyrs of aviation.’ Hook’s more famous Australian contemporaries — Hinkler, Kingsford Smith and Ulm — would all die flying during the next five years.

Eric Hook was undoubtedly brave, perhaps even foolhardy. In a letter to his parents sent not long before the fateful flight, he declared: ‘Nothing is going to happen. I feel sure of success.’ Referring to a previous flight, he said: ‘I did it to show that years of experience are not essential to a pilot. During the war pilots were turned out in a hurry, and were forced to do dangerous things, and I do not think the world is breeding less courageous men to-day.’

 Mr David Roberts
College Archivist