Ryan MacFarlane, 7, Andrew Crispe, 5, and Meg Crispe, 3, have a look inside the suitcase. Picture: Dean Martin
Source: News Corp Australia
THE long-lost treasures of world-famous aviator Jimmy Melrose, which have been missing for almost 80 years, have been recovered and returned to his home state of South Australia.
The priceless possessions of the record-breaking pilot were recently discovered stuffed in a suitcase in Victoria.
Among more than 30 historic items are Melrose’s white leather flying helmet, Gosport speaking tubes, and a silver engraved cigarette case presented by King George V.
The Advertiser has played a major role in securing for the state the artefacts, which are of international significance. They will go on public display at the South Australian Aviation Museum.
The suitcase, until recently in the possession of Victorian couple, Wayne and Judy Perry, has rarely been opened since Melrose’s death, aged just 22, on July 5, 1936 when the plane he was piloting crashed in Victorian bushland.
Jimmy Melrose is hoisted on to the shoulders of supporters and friends.
The Perrys received the suitcase as part of the estate of a deceased relative.
On opening it, they knew nothing of the amazing feats of Charles James “CJ” Melrose who at 21 was the youngest and only solo flyer to finish the 1934 London to Melbourne Air Race.
The event is regarded as the most demanding and dangerous long-flight race in history.
SA Aviation Museum collection manager, Paul Daw, couldn’t believe his eyes when the suitcase was opened in front of him recently at the Perrys’ home in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley.
The lost treasures of famous aviator Jimmy Melrose (CJ Charles James Melrose) have been found stuffed in a suitcase almost 80 years after his tragic death at the age of 22.
“In life, you have five or six major events and for me this was definitely one of them,” Mr Daw said.
“To find so many of Jimmy’s treasures in such fabulous condition is remarkable and took my breath away. When I walked out of their house with that suitcase, I was literally on cloud nine.”
Regarded as one of Australia’s first international celebrities, Melrose, from one of South Australia’s wealthiest families, was born at Burnside and raised in a mansion on the Esplanade at Glenelg.
The suitcase — and all the historical artefacts once belonging to Charles ‘Jimmy’ Melrose.
Source: Supplied
He died in July 1936, at the age of 22, when his new high-wing monoplane broke up in turbulence over South Melton, Victoria on a charter flight from Melbourne to Darwin.
After his death, the national affection for the handsome, golden-haired flyer, nicknamed “Boy Phoenix” by the press, drew more than 100,000 people to his state funeral in Melbourne.
Women in their thousands, young and old, openly wept as the coffin passed by.
Prime Minister Joseph Lyons led the tributes to “the chivalrous young knight of the air” and offered the nation’s condolences to Jimmy’s heartbroken mother, Hildegarde, on the loss of her only child.
Such was her grief, Hilda could not face dealing with her beloved son’s possessions at his Melbourne residence and asked close family friend, Clive Hamer, who had dinner with Melrose the night before his fateful flight to pack and store them.
Hilda, who died in 1968, never asked for them back.
A close friend of Hamer — a relative of Wayne Perry — took possession of the suitcase on his death around 20 years ago.
Jimmy Melrose was close to his mother Hilda Melrose, who lived at Glenelg. Picture: Holdfast Bay History Centre.
Source: News Limited
Also included in the prized personal belongings, of the “natural athlete and scholar”, are Melrose’s school dictionary from St Peter’s College and a college swimming medal for first place in the 100 yards in 1931.
Several photographs, flying documents and letters all carry the signature “C.J. Melrose”.
The Perrys considered donating the memorabilia to a Victorian museum or offering them for sale until an internet search found an Advertiser article in SA Weekend, written for the centenary of Melrose’s birth on September 13, 2013.
She rang the author, who suggested South Australia as the logical home for the remarkable collection and recommended the SAAM as the best organisation to display it.
“It just made sense to send it back to South Australia for the public to be able to see it all,” Mr Perry, who is suffering severe ill-health, said this week.
“I ran it past the family and I might have had a bit of sway in the final decision — but it just feels the right way to go.”
Jimmy Melrose — his mother’s favourite picture.
Source: Supplied
Mr Daw would not speculate on the value of the collection but said it was “significant”
“There are collectors in the US, England and Australia that would have been interested so we can’t thank the Perry family and The Advertiser enough for thinking of us,” Mr Daw added.
‘This is a big moment for the museum as we are always striving to improve our displays and establish our credibility as a place of national importance.”
The suburbs of Melrose Park in South Australia and NSW, Jimmy Melrose Park on the Glenelg foreshore and James Melrose Rd, bordering Adelaide Airport, are all named after the famous aviator.
Jimmy Melrose: Long-lost treasures of famed SA aviator found in suitcase
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