Bert Hinkler Print Page

A memorial tree plaque commemorates aviator Bert Hinkler. The plaque was placed at the site of a tree planted in memory of Bert Hinkler in 1934. 

Herbert John Louis Hinkler AFC DSM (8 December 1892 – 7 January 1933), better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator and inventor. He designed and built early aircraft before being the first person to fly solo from England to Australia, and the first person to fly solo across the Southern Atlantic Ocean. He married in 1932 at the age of 39, and died less than a year later after crashing into remote countryside near Florence, Italy during a solo flight on another record setting voyage.

In 1934, all State Schools in Queensland were asked to plant a tree in honour of the late Bert Hinkler. The tree would be known as the Hinkler Tree. The Director of Education said the suggestion to plant the trees had emanated from Victorian education authorites and seemed to be favoured by the other States. Arbour Day is observed in Queensland school on the first day in May. Those schools which observe the day will be asked to plant a separate tree in honour of Hinkler.
Cairns Post, 31st January 1934.

Note: Photos of the plaque on the Victorian Heritage Database seem to suggest that the tree has been removed. 

 

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