S.A. Aviator Harry Butler
Captain Harry Butler, AFC, was a national hero in the early 1920s ; Harry Butler was even a "rock star" of his time, a magnificent man in his flying machine, a pioneering aviator who changed SA forever.
Hailed as a top aviator, his legacy continues to this day, yet he has been largely forgotten.
Harry Butler returned from war with two aircraft and dreams of starting an industry. With his little crimson monoplane, Red Devil, Captain Butler inspired many thousands as he performed aerial shows in support of Peace Loan efforts. He made the first airmail crossing over a significant body of water in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Below: Business partner Engineer H.A. (Harry) Kauper and Captain Harry Butler in front of the Bristol monoplane the 'Red Devil'
Harry's Story
Harry Butler was born to fly, and no obstacles of time or distance were great enough to deter him. Throughout his brief life, the theory and practice of aviation was his ruling passion.
As a boy he caught and weighed his mother’s farm hens, measured their wing span and then released them. Always seeking to learn, always obsessed with the desire to fly.
His limited schooling was received at Koolywurtie where he shared the single teacher on duty with about twenty other children of varying ages. Harry’s devotion to constructing model machines often surpassed his attention to homework, much to his teacher’s dismay. He had no secondary education.
As a very young man his mechanical talent found its outlet on motor bikes, and after disappointment with one second-hand machine, he built his own around an engine imported from England.
Harry becomes an Aviator
Harry Butler showed his enthusiasm and aptitude for mechanics by building models of primitive aircraft while still at school in Koolywurtie; he later accorded farm-work a lower priority than collaboration with a neighbour and lifelong mentor S. C. Crawford in building and flying one of Australia's early aeroplanes.
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Among the February 1915 candidates, Butler alone gained entrance as an aeromechanic to the Australian Flying School at Point Cook, Victoria.
Harry financed his own way to England.
There his skills in the air, and as a mechanic and leader, were quickly recognised and he soon found himself training young pilots for their inevitable dogfights.
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Commissioned three weeks after joining the Royal Flying Corps in 1916, he became fighting-instructor at Turnberry, Scotland, in 1917, and chief fighting-instructor at No. 2 Yorkshire School of Aerial Fighting in 1918.
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“The trainers were extremely important because they were losing so many people,” Navy Captain Les Parsons said. “Of the 14,000 airmen killed, 8500 died in training, so it was pretty important to get the right training.”
Harry became a fight instructor at the School of Aerial Gunnery, Turnberry, Scotland (where he did the first airmail from Glasgow to Turnberry), and Chief Fighting Instructor at the Yorkshire School of Aerial Fighting, training around 2,700 pilots with the Royal Flying Corps.
He also helped to protect the UK through home defence sorties, chasing German planes that dropped bombs on Ramsgate and German zeppelins that had made their way over the English Channel.
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He was mentioned in despatches for his operational service (linked to his part in capturing a German submarine) and received the Air Force Cross for his contribution to pilot training and the war effort.
He alternated teaching with studying German aerial combat tactics over France, and he received the Air Force Cross in 1918.
A photograph of a Bristol F.2B biplane piloted by pioneering Australian aviator Captain Harry Butler while on an anti-submarine patrol off the coast of Scotland in late 1917 or 1918.
At the time Captain Butler was fighting-instructor at the Royal Flying Corps School of Aerial Gunnery and Fighting at Turnberry (now a Trump golf resort !)
Harry at War
This was Captain. H. J. Butler, of Minlaton, S.A....
Harry was never, or very rarely, one of the coterie of rural gossipers who gathered around the big fireside at night and chatted over the day's farming topics. He used to place his hands over his ears and read books on flying.
Early in 1915 this young man at last succeeded in breaking the chains of the family tradition and environment, and went across to the aviation school at Point Cook, Victoria, as an air mechanic.
Harry was not long training at Point Cook, before he saw there was little chance of getting to the front with the fighters on wings, so Harry paid his own passage to England, joined the Royal Air Force, became a group commander and fighting instructor, and returned home with a row of ribbons.
South Australia has lost a good farmer, but gained a dashing young aviator.
Five weeks after he reached England he was sent flying to France, and came back on 'Zeppelin strafing.'
'My duties,' he relaxed a little, 'although nothing to speak of, were to fly over to France, attach myself to a fighting squadron, scrap with it, and see whether the Huns had developed any new tactics, and come back to my school, where I gave instructions in aerial warfare.
My stay in France would extend over eight weeks at a time, and I made seven trips altogether.'
While overseas, Harry Butler wrote often to friends and family, and had letters published regularly in The Pioneer (1898 - 1954) the weekly newspaper published in Yorketown, South Australia. He also suffered from asthma, despite which, wife Elsa said he "smoked like a chimney" - 'Red Devil', p.26, 60.
Below: Captain Harry Butler during his WWI service in the United Kingdom standing by a Royal Flying Corp Royal Aircraft Factory FE2b fighter aircraft. A researcher believes this was taken at the (Auxiliary) School of Aerial Gunnery No. 2, Turnberrry, Ayrshire in Scotland.
''What is the secret of a successful air fighter? Tell me that."
'Luck, pluck, and ability. You've got to have all three or something happens. You got into a tight corner, but, if your turn hasn't come, Providence brings you out safely. That's all about it.
I always say the whole thing is controlled by Providence — He does the guiding.
You want some sort of feeling like that when you are up from 15,000 to 18,000 ft., and some times as high as 20,000 ft.— because these were the altitudes we began fighting in about the middle of 1917— and a mob of Huns catches sight of you.
The Germans never attacked if they saw the odds were against them, but a British flier would go up single-handed and tackle a heap of them.
I've seen that myself over and over again. Of course, it may have been that they wanted to save men and machines, because the chances of a fellow coming through a scrap like that were a thousand to one — more than that, perhaps.
If he had luck he would shoot a few of the enemy machines down and get home with honours, but, if not, the man and the machine would be lost.
Probably the Germans took that into account, but I fancy our chaps always had just that bit of extra daring the other side never had. But don't imagine these Hun fliers were cowards. They were marvellous, brave fellows, lots of them.'
​​​​​​​​​​—Behind Scratch And Won.—
'But the Allies' started behind scratch and beat them in the air?' 'Undoubtedly they did, and, if the armistice had not been signed when it was, the Huns would have got it 'fair in the neck.'
You have heard about the projected bomb attack on Berlin. Well, everything was ready. Five squadrons of Handley-Pages, 20 machines in each squadron, would have started away at 2 o'clock on the afternoon hostilities ceased.
They would lave dropped from 200 to 300 tons of bombs on the Kaiser's capital, and there was nearly a riot among the men who were going when the armistice was announced.
They wanted the officers in charge to wink at the armistice, and let them off. I never saw fellows in such a rage. You think of their bad luck for a moment. On November 9 we had all the squadrons ready, at the back of Bruges, for the job. Then a fog set in, and was so thick that air work was stopped until the morning of November 11.
The 100 machines would have sailed merrily away at 2 p.m., but the armistice was signed at 10 o'clock. Mind you, the Germans might have given us some trouble, too. They were putting some new and more formidable machines into the business just before the war ended. No doubt we would have beaten them, but they might have given us bother.'
---How We Beat Them---
'How did the Allies get their superiority in the air?'
'By superior machines. In the end they were of better fighting quality than those of the Huns, and tremendous care was taken by the British authorities to make the various types as perfect as possible.
Then our fliers were specially selected. In the final months, though, any man who got successfully through his examination was sent over to France, because numbers were wanted, and it was considered that every one would be useful somehow or some where.
Do you know how many machines we had at the start of the war? Only 70, and we finished up with 60,000.
In the end we developed new and wonderful types, and the one known as the Bristol flier was a marvellous factor in the last and final stages of the combat.
While extraordinary advancement was made, and a very reliable engine was manufactured, there is such a wide field of opportunity and experiment here that it may be found in the course of a few years that in 1919, at the end of a great victory in the air, we had still much to learn, and that, so far as some important phases are concerned, the science is still in its infancy.'
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—Nothing to Stop Them.—
'Air tactics have presented dramatic changes?' '
They were always changing in some particular. The big point that we had to learn when we began the aerial battles was how to control the machine. It was a mechanical rather than a tactical consideration.
The standing nose dives were a great source of worry. We did not know properly how to get the machine out of them. Yet, in the end the standing nose dive developed into a method of escape from the Germans.
But when our fellows got, you may say, into, their stride, there was nothing that would stop them. Two or three Huns would scuttle away from one of our squadrons, but I've seen one of our chaps go up and take on 16 of them.
My best pal was shot down in this manner just before the armistice. He tackled 16 machines by himself, and shot down eight. That was Major Callahan, and he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
But the most popular of all the great fliers was an Irishman named Capt. Mannicks, who came from Blackrock near Dublin. He shot down a tremendous number of Hun machines, but he never claimed all he got.
If he went out with another officer and knocked over two he would pass one of them on to him— that's the sort of soul he was. Mannicks had a fine string of ribbons to finish up with, and he deserved every one, and more beside.'
Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Monday 14 July 1919, page 4
Flying Home to Minlaton
—Unique Home-Coming—
The sixth day of August. 1919, will no doubt be recorded in the annals of Central Yorke Peninsula as one of the greatest occasions in its history.
It was on that date that Captain Harry Butler, the daring aviator who had won high distinction during the great War, adopted the novel method of returning to his home at Minlaton by aeroplane.
Capt. Butler had made up his mind before he left London that he would come home by the air route, and great preparations had been made for the event.
Minlaton people took the matter up enthusiastically.
Energetic committees, with Mr. O. E. W. Bruns as Secretary, were appointed, and it was decided to make it the biggest day in the history of the town. The proceeds were in aid of patriotic funds.
The ladies provided abundant food for two meals, and over £120 was taken at the doors. It was estimated that there were nearly 6,000 people on the ground.
It was a great crowd, and all were out to do honor to a bold and daring young man who was returning home to his parents by a route of his own choosing and in his own machine - the particular one that he had used in the world's great Metropolis.
The motorcars were well over 500 in number, and there were nearly 300 horse vehicles, including two trolly-loads of scholars from the Yorketown State School.
The gate receipts totalled £ 135, and the patriotic girls sold £100 worth of buttons. A committee of men under Warrant Officer Crawford had prepared a 50-acre paddock (kindly lent for the occasion by Mr. E. Correll) for the reception of the airman.
The Minlaton Brass Band, under the conductorship of Bandmaster McKenzie, rendered special selections.
Crowd waiting to greet Captain Harry Butler.
Captain Harry Butler and his brother, father, mother and sister
—BY AEROPLANE TO MINLATON—
Capt. Harry Butler, A.F.C. the brilliant South Australian aviator, who arrived in Adelaide recently, will begin his aerial journey across the gulf to his home at Minlaton this morning from a point north of Adelaide, at about 10.30 o'clock.
He expects to reach his destination at 11 a.m. He will carry messages to officials in Minlaton from His Excellency the Governor, who will witness his departure.
Capt. Butler has had a meteoric career as a flying man. Early in 1916 he reached England and joined the R.F.C. as an air mechanic. After three weeks' service he obtained a commission as second lieutenant.
He was subsequently gazetted captain and flight commander, and was transferred to a school of aerial fighting on the coast of Yorkshire.
From group commander he soon rose to be chief fighting instructor at the school, and made many excursions to the western front.
In March, 1917, Capt. Butler was mentioned in despatches, and in December, 1918, was awarded the Air Force Cross.
During his term of office at the school, it is stated, he looped the loop 1,087 times.
After his arrival at Minlaton a welcome home will be tendered to the captain, in which prominent residents of the peninsula will participate. A luncheon will be given, and at 1.30 p.m. Capt. Butler will provide an exhibition of flying.
A second flight will take place at 3.30 pm., and after tea a dance will be held in the institute.
Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Wednesday 6 August 1919, page 6
—THE COURSE—
The route selected was straight 60 miles from the hangar at Dry Creek, a few miles north of Adelaide.
The airman left at 10-40 a.m. and when crossing the centre of the Gulf he was some 15,000 feet up, but gradually descended until he reached Port Vincent, when he was only 1700 feet from the earth.
He struck a head wind blowing over 70 miles an hour, which retarded the machine a good deal and lengthened the journey to nearly two half-hours instead of only one.
He had on board the first aerial mail to Minlaton consisting of over 4,000 cards that had been dispatched by various people to their friends.
The machine, which is a Bristol monoplane fitted with 110 h.p engine, consumed 10 gallons of petrol on the trip across. The length of the monoplane is 28ft, and the distance from the tip of the wings is 34 ft.
—THE ARRIVAL—
The Captain was due to arrive at 11 a.m. but on account of the contrary wind it was 11-35 a.m. before he put in an appearance.
When the small speck in the sky was spotted the excitement was intense. Thousands of hands were pointing upwards. "There he is!" "He's coming!" " Look at it—just like a big hawk !" "Isn't it marvellous!" and hundreds of other expressions.
Both old and young got excited. When high overhead—some 8,000 feet up—the aviator spotted the landing ground with the big canvas T and the smudge fire at the windward end of it.
The impression, on the view-finder of the brain, of that wonderful descent will probably never be forgotten by those who witnessed the unique sight. The machine was wonderfully and skilfully handled.
That first appearance of a man coming down from the skies will be indelibly impressed in the memory. The side rolls and spinning nose dive with the sun shining on the bright red paint made a glorious sight. It was a treat to witness. Truly Harry Butler is "some flier."
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—THE LANDING—
It was more than a novel sight, it was wonderful, to see how gently the machine was manipulated to the earth—in fact it looked like a big moth fluttering along seeking a resting place.
Our same smiling Harry was there and he was soon up and out of the little cockpit of his machine, waving his gloved hand and his happy jovial face wreathed in smiles.
He received a rousing welcome from the assembled multitude. It was a glorious home-coming. Jules Verne wasn't in it and Frank Reade was a long way behind. A motor car brought his parents and brother and sister to him and the Captain, after an absence of four years, was once more united with them.
After the family welcome and handshakes a guard of honor, composed of school children, was formed, and "The Man from the Clouds" was escorted to a special stand. After he had delivered the first aerial mail to the Chairman of the District Council, the official welcome took place.
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Captain Harry Butler A.F.C was officially welcomed to Minlaton on that historic day by the then Chairman of the District Council of Minlaton, Mr Edward Correll, who owned the 20 hectare paddock that served as a landing field.
Mr Correll took delivery of the first two letters to be carried by air to the Peninsula. One was from His Excellency the Governor of South Australia, Sir Henry Galway, and the other was from Mr W.H Langham, the Mayor of Unley.
After Mr Correll had read the congratulatory letters, Mr H.G Tossell, M.P, extended a welcome to Butler, followed by a speech by the Mayor of Yorketown, Dr W.H Russell.
Dr Russell told the large crowd that the Captain was known internationally as “Butler of South Australia” and that he hoped he would “live as long as he wanted and to never want as long as he lived.”
His remarks were followed by those of Mr J Tiddy, Mayor of Maitland.
Harry then gave two breath-taking displays of aerobatics – diving, rolling, looping the loop, side-slipping and soaring to incredible heights, only to reappear in a spinning nose dive.
He was always prodigal with his displays and held nothing back in courage or spectacle.
On August 6th, 1919 he had brought the Yorke Peninsula closer to the outside world when he flew the first airmail over water in the Southern Hemisphere.
After four wonderful days on Southern Yorke Peninsula he set out for Adelaide on August 11th, with two bags of mail and a simple little message.
This was a note prepared by himself, and weighted and dropped from his plane.
As he passed over the little school house at Koolywurtie he released the parcel, and flew on.
The message read – “To my old school and its scholars. I sincerely hope that this little message from the air will bring to you all the very best of luck.”
It was received with delights, and for many years was framed on the wall of the little school room.
A fitting reminder that there are no barriers to fame if the will and determination are of the quality that produces a Harry Butler.
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He reached Enfield 27 minutes after leaving the ground at Minlaton.
The reception party waiting to welcome him included the governor, Sir Henry Galway; the Military Commandant, Brig-General Antill; the Chief Justice, Sir George Murray; Mr Justice Buchanan, and the Mayor of Unley, Mr W.H Langham.
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They were naturally watching the western sky for the plane’s approach, but Harry Butler was always the perfect showman – he suddenly appeared from nowhere at a very great height and threw the Red Devil into a terrifying nose dive from which it seemed impossible to recover.
But a few short metres from the ground he broke out of it and screamed back into the air looping the loop and twisting across the sky.
Then he landed quickly and handed over the mail bags and so closed the door on what must have been for him a magnificently satisfying few days.
Harry's Two Planes
Butler came home to Australia about the 5th July, 1919, and a few weeks later his Bristol M.1C Monoplane (Red Devil), his Avro 504K Biplane (example above) and three 110h.p. Le Rhone rotary engines which could be fitted to either plane arrived in the country under the care of Lt. H.A Kauper, R.F.C., Sergeant-Major Samuel Cecil Crawford and mechanic Leslie Jack Lucas.
Kauper, who was now associated with Butler, originally came from Melbourne. He was another aviation fanatic, and went to England in 1909 where he became a first-class aeronautical engineer and designer.
Together with Harry Hawker (also destined to become famous) he won a Daily Mail prize for the first flight around Great Britain.​
Kauper invented the gear which made it possible for British fighter pilots to fire through the revolving propellers of their planes – without hitting the propellers.
He was a brilliant engineer and Butler was fortunate to have his services during the brief life of their aviation company.
Later, Kauper was a co-worker in the invention of the radio transceivers that are used in the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Harry in Business
Messrs. Freeman & Dunnet, of Ardrossan, in February. 1925, took over the garage at Minlaton formerly carried on by the late Harry Butler (since 1921).
The present plant is quite up-to-date, and the garage undertakes all motor repair and engineering work. The firm controls eight different car agencies, and reports 61 car and motor cycle sales during the past 12 months.
Twelve days later, on August 23rd, 1919, Butler gave another dazzling display of flying at Unley.
He used the Unley Oval as a landing field, and made the huge crowd of over 20,000 gasp each time he came to land on that restricted area.
And on Tuesday, August 26th, 1919, he launched the first Australian Peace Loan in typical fashion.
While speeches were being made in Flinders Street, and having little effect, he arrived overhead in the now famous Red Devil.
He buzzed the delighted crowd and then swept low and threw out quantities of loan pamphlets that were eagerly snatched up as they drifted to the ground. This publicity and promotion work formed the major part of Harry Butler’s flying activity during this period.
The Red Devil was a familiar sight at Glenelg and other seaside towns, skimming over the water, and leap-frogging over jetties.
A special leaflet for the Peace Loan was dropped over Glenelg on September 16th, 1919.
After jetty-jumping trips from Marino to Outer Harbor, Butler would buzz the Adelaide Children’s Hospital, and nurses rushed to place little patients on the lawns to watch the display.
Early in August, the "Harry J. Butler and Kauper Aviation Co. Ltd." was formed, and operated from a hanger at Northfield.
This Northfield air strip was used by the Aviation Company from July 1919 to October 1920.
An aerodrome at Albert Park (purchased by Butler himself) was used from October 1920, until the closing of the Company on September 24th, 1921.
The airfield was subsequently purchased by the Commonwealth Government and used for a time as the Adelaide Airport until the Parafield Aerodrome was completed and put into use.
The original stakeholders in the Company were Butler, Kauper, Mrs Kauper, H.C Richards and Sergeant Major S.C Crawford.
The business of the new Company as set out in its Articles was to be “Manufactures and Importers of Aircraft, Motor Cars and Merchandise, with subsidiary interests as Motor and General Engineers and in Aerial and Passenger Carrying and Advertising Services.”
The very novelty of the enterprise caused it to flourish in its early stages, and there was a strong demand for passenger flights and stunting exhibitions.
To Victor Harbor
The enormous difficulty that he encountered in the way of weather and makeshift air fields is something that reduces the present day observer to a speechless admiration.
He took part in the New Year’s Day activities at Victor Harbor in 1920, and had to contend with a threatening sky and very poor visibility.
Clouds were touching the Adelaide Hills as he took off from Enfield, and he was forced to stay low for the whole of the 35-minute trip.
On New Year’s Day 1920, Captain Harry Butler presented his amazing Red Devil Air Show at the Mount Breckan Country Club in Victor Harbor.
A digital reinterpretation of the Red Devil Air show was animated and projected on the façade of the Victa Cinema during the History Festival from 27 April – 31 May 2019.
Below: Captain Harry Butler's aircraft at Victor Harbor
– Captain Harry Butler's aircraft after landing on the Mt. Breckan estate, January 1st 1920 –
Dr. Douglas is seen talking to Mr. Norman Whiting, Mayor of Victor Harbor.
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Back then the makeshift landing field had been prepared by enthusiastic helpers without the slightest knowledge of aircraft, despite an earlier, preliminary visit from Mr. H.C Richards, who warned them that it was too dangerous, and that they should cancel the flyer’s engagement.
As Butler landed, the Red Devil kangaroo-hopped across the field in great, diminishing bounds – the undercarriage of that Bristol Monoplane was rigid.
But, as always, the show went on, with two displays during the afternoon, and each time the same ordeal of landing on that murderous field.
The delighted crowd took it all as part of the show, only that smiling little man himself knew what he was risking to give the local committee its money’s worth.
Harry Butler’s appeal was not limited to the man in the street. Sir Henry Galway, who was always a good friend to men of courage and enterprise, effectively demonstrated his faith in Butler’s ability by travelling as a passenger in the Avro bi-plane on February 3rd, 1920.
The flight, lasting 40 minutes, took the Governor from Parafield to Mount Lofty, along the foothills to Glenelg, north following the beach to Port Adelaide, then back to Parafield.
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The Governor afterwards spoke enthusiastically of the trip, stating: “…..40 minutes in the air with Captain Harry Butler was the most fascinating 40 minutes I have ever spent……
I was tremendously impressed by the wonderful control which Captain Butler has over his machine, and the remarkable cleverness with which he manipulated it. There is no doubt that he is a pilot of the very highest order.”
The Governor, Sir Henry Galway, is assisted out of Harry Butler's Avro 504K aircraft following a flight over Adelaide from Enfield airfield, South Australia, 3 February 1920.
Above: South Australian aviator, Captain Harry Butler, standing with three men, one of whom is seated on a motorcycle.
The man in uniform to Captain Butler's left (centre of picture) is his business partner Harry Kauper.
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Harry Butler was a man of medium, rather stocky build, with a round, genial face that smiled easily and made you feel good just to look at him.
All manner of people liked him, and were warmed by his zest for living and his enthusiasm for flying.
Rather slow and diffident on official occasions, he was another being when he got to the controls of a plane.
​Aerobatics were his forte and the ultimate measure of his enormous skill.
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He himself was concerned with the serious business of flying, but he knew how far behind him in knowledge and appraisal lagged the average man in the street,
and so for that man, Harry risked his life a thousand times as he dived, rolled, flipped and hedgehopped in spectacular maneuvers designed to capture the most stolid imagination, and make the most unresponsive man aware of aviation and its possibilities.
The Aerial Derby
The First Aerial Derby
Harry Butler took part in Australia’s first Aerial Derby, which was held in Adelaide on September 8th, 1920.
The other two contestants were Captain Frank McNamara, V.C., and Lt. F.S Briggs, both of the R.A.A.F.
Again it was to promote an Australian Peace Loan, and the race was over a distance of about 30 kilometres.
The course went from Northfield to Port Adelaide, thence to Henley beach, and finished over Adelaide GPO clock tower.
The Derby was flown in the lunch hour to give the greatest number of people an opportunity to watch the event.
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Harry won, of course, mainly because of his ability to come up very close to the GPO tower and just nip around it very smartly, while Briggs and McNamara made circumspect wide turns at a stately pace.
After the contest, Butler, McNamara gave a magnificent aerial display that thrilled and stunned the thousands watching.
Perhaps the added exhilaration of recent success and the joy of having another skilled flyer to combine with, brought Butler’s genius to new and wonderful heights.
Whatever the reasons, onlookers were agreed that the crowd was treated to a thrilling display of stunting that was the cleverest that Harry Butler had ever shown in Adelaide.
A human touch that seems to verify that elation of the flyers comes from Lt. Briggs himself:
“Mac, Harry and I later "had a spot together" to celebrate Australia’s first Aerial Derby, and another for being participants, and three more for each other’s health.
Can’t remember what the other excuses were.
A good ending to the brightest little show it has been my pleasure to be in.”
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Below: The Governor, Sir Henry Galway, seated in Harry Butler's Avro 504K aircraft before a flight from Enfield airfield, South Australia.
Mrs.Butler
He said to me before he went, 'When I come back I'm going to marry you'. I said, 'Oh no you're not. I'm not going to get married yet, I'm too young. Haven't seen the world yet.'
And he used to write me long letters - 20 pages. I couldn't be bothered reading them.
I got married at St Paul's Church of England in Pulteney Street. And I'll never forget it. There must've been millions of people and the whole of Adelaide would have been disappointed if they hadn't seen him married.
I hated it really. But he loved it. He loved people making a fuss of him. He was so friendly, laughing - funny man. I don't mean funny funny, but cleverly funny, and everybody loved him.
- ATB/12/129-17 Mrs Elsa HAY-TAYLOR 50. 'S.A. SPEAKS' 8517 Pt. 2, p.50
The engagement of Harry Butler and Miss Elsa Gibson, a nursing sister from Bool Lagoon, near Naracoorte, was announced in October 1919. They were married on 21st July, 1921, and their honeymoon was spent on the River Murray.
On the first trip that Harry made from Adelaide to Minlaton in the Avro bi-plane, Miss Gibson was a passenger, and they landed on a farm about 5km north-east of the town.
They wanted to avoid crowds, and an understanding host and his family hid the plane in a small clump of trees for several days.
Harry's Final Flight
Above: The wreck of Captain Harry Butler's Avro 504 biplane at Minlaton.
Following maintenance, Butler took off just after 4.00pm on 10 January 1922, with Rex Miles as his passenger.
After climbing to 1400 feet the engine stalled and Butler attempted to restart it by diving.
This attempt failed and the aircraft crashed, Butler suffered severe head injuries that ended his flying career, Miles suffered minor facial injuries. In this photograph a man using crutches is seen examining the damage to the tail section of the biplane. The front end is completed smashed.
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As the months passed by the aviation company found it harder to secure customers. Flying in South Australia was losing its appeal as a novelty without yet being strong enough to succeed as a commercial enterprise. Despite efficient administration and Harry’s personality and talent, it was apparent to both Butler and Kauper that their company could no longer provide sufficient livelihood for the two partners. Profits were still in hand and they chose voluntary liquidation in preference of waiting for a painfully drawn-out collapse. Not the slightest blame could be attached to anyone concerned for the closing of the company on September 24th, 1921.
However, Butler’s faith in aviation was unshaken, and he purchased the two aircraft and other machinery assets to carry on the same business on his own account.
Four months later, Butler was involved in a disastrous plane crash near Minlaton that was the beginning of the end for this aviation pioneer.
Harry Butler had known forced landings and minor accidents before and philosophically accepted them as part of the calculated risk in flying, but on January 11th, 1922, the almost inevitable crash came that dimmed the shining brightness of a genius.
It was a passenger flight in the Avro bi-plane with a Mr Miles on board who miraculously escaped injury.
Butler had been dissatisfied with the Avro engine’s performance for two or three days, but a prolonged and meticulous warm-up inspection on that fatal day failed to reveal any trouble. The plane took off, but at about 400m the engine seized, and at that height not even Butler could take steps to prevent a bad smash.
He tried to throw the plane into a dive – standard procedure when stalled – but there was no time or opportunity to do anything but wait for the impact.
The front of the plane’s fuselage was smashed and splintered beyond recognition as was Butler’s face and head. By some miracle he survived but the months that followed were an agonising ordeal of operations and plastic surgery, with recurrent spells in nursing homes and hospitals.
Severe headaches and dizziness were a constant affliction, and Butler had great difficulty in concentration. Even after skillful surgery to rebuild his forehead, jaw, and nose, he was badly disfigured, and recognisable as Harry Butler on one side of his face only.
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Harry died suddenly on 30 July 1924 after having had a pleasant evening out with friends. His cause of death was attributed to a ruptured cerebral abscess, indirectly resulting from a serious airplane crash he was involved in 2 years previously.
He was buried at North Road Cemetery the following day close to his friend Sir Ross Smith as was his wish.
"TOO YOUNG TO DIE"
GALLANT HARRY BUTLER Aviator, Patriot, Child Lover
"He was too young to die," said Mr. H. C. Richards, M.P., this morning in paying a tribute to the late Capt. Butler airman, who died suddenly last night.
News of the sudden death of Capt. Butler, the pioneer of aviation in South Australia, saddened many hearts today. Four doctors worked unceasingly to save his life, but their efforts were unavailing and he succumbed from an abscess on the brain.
PREMIER'S SYMPATHY.
"I am very sorry to hear of the sudden death of Capt. Butler," said Mr. J. Gunn (Premier). "It came as a shock to the community, to which he had endeared himself because of his thrilling exploits in the air. In fact, it was Capt. Butler who was one of the first to give the people of South Australia a practical demonstration of aviation.
"Capt. Butler was one of South Australia's daring ones, and the people, including the children who have watched him aloft on so many occasions, will mourn his loss. I extend to the relatives my deepest sympathy,"
CHILDREN'S HERO.
Mr. J. H. Borthwick, an alderman of the Unley and Grange Council and an old friend of Capt. Butler, said this morning: "He had a beautiful nature, and was always ready to help in the cause of charity.
Many times he has flown over fetes in order to make them successful."
"He was fond of children, and received hundreds of letters from them. They would give directions to him to fly over their homes, and wherever possible he would faithfully honor their wishes."
"For some time I used to live with Capt. Butler and I was expecting him to dinner last night.
Once I watched him flying over the city, and a woman said to me that she had dreamed that Capt. Butler had been killed.
When I arrived home I learned that Mrs. Butler had had a similar dream. It was typical of his nature that when I mentioned it to him he said 'When a man's number is up he is gone'.
"His one wish was to be buried along side Sir Ross Smith. Although his parents would have liked to take him back to Minlaton they have consented to his request.
"Capt. Butler loved any sport with speed in it and recently purchased a motor boat at Milang."
"An abscess on the brain caused his death at 8 o'clock last night." said Dr. L. W Jefferies. "His illness was sudden. The first intimation was a severe headache at 4 o'clock in the morning. A few hours later he was unconscious...." ​
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MILITARY FUNERAL.
Full military honors, as befitting his great services, were accorded the funeral.
The cortege left his home at Dixon street, Clarence Park, at 3 o'clock for the North Road Cemetery. Returned soldiers and members of the military forces were present.
Members of the Lodge of Friend ship, No. 1, S.A.C. followed the funeral.
​At the time of his death Capt. Butler was serving in the 43rd Battalion of the Citizen Forces. When the news of his death was conveyed to Minlaton last night his father and brother Tom hurriedly left at midnight by motor.
They were present at the funeral this afternoon.
Capt. Butler has left a wife. He had no children.
Owing to ill-health Mr. C. B. Nicholson (managing director of Butler, Nicholson. and Co.) was not able to attend the burial service.
It had been arranged for many returned soldiers to assemble at Capt. Butler's home at 2.15 o'clock. They marched at the head of the funeral.
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Another large party of soldiers who assembled at the league clubrooms joined the cortege when it passed through the city.
With the exception of Col. C. P. Butler (president) who is absent in the country, the whole of the State board and staff of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers' Imperial League were present at the graveside.
Harry Butler's tragically sudden death was felt as a personal loss by thousands of people in Adelaide, who lined the route taken by the funeral cortege yesterday, when the burial took place near Sir Ross Smith's grave in the North Road cemetery.​
Minlaton Museum celebrates the life and achievements of Captain Harry Butler
See also:
The Harry Butler Story - Yorke Peninsula Council
Harry Butler (aviator) - Wikipedia
Too Young to Die - News (Adelaide, SA) Thu 31 Jul 1924
The Red Devil: The story of South Australian aviation pioneer, Captain Harry Butler, AFC (Wakefield Press, Published 2019, $29.95​)
Transcript of an Oral interview with ELSA HAY-TAYLOR (former wife of Harry Butler) on 9 and 16 October 1985 by Beth Robertson, STATE LIBRARY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The South Australian rockstar of the skies Harry Butler, Story by Nathan Davies, Sunday Mail, July 6, 2019
Other aviation pages at Clare History: