The Great Race 1919

From The Eye of Wilkins documentary, this tells the story and shows the images from Wilkins' ill-fated entry into The Great Race eventually won by the Smith brothers - Ross and Keith

When Charles Kingsford Smith – the future great aviator – got ruled out Australian PM Billy Hughes’s Great Race from London to Australia for his inexperience, Wilkins got his chance as a navigator.

Stuck in the mud in France. May have been better perhaps to have stayed that way.

In a refitted Blackburn Great War bomber, the crew set off fourth off the blocks, but problems plagued the flight as soon as it got into the air – with sabotage suspected.

In this extract from The Eye of Wilkins documentary (see our Shop for how to watch the entire film), the best of the images taken and a more complete story of the fiasco is told.

A rare example of Wilkins looking to enhance his photos in the dark room. Here three images taken during the Great Race have been stitched together to complete this grand vista.