Histories

Biographical Information: GEORGE HENRY PURVIS (HARRY Sr), A.F.C., born 1909 at Cobar, New South Wales, died 16th September 1980 at Cairns, Queensland. Brought up at Carrathool, a small but thriving western township on the Murrumbidgee River, Riverina District, New South Wales, where he took his first aeroplane flight with a barnstormer (1919). Trained as an engineer at Collingwood Technical College, Melbourne, Victoria. Pioneer aircraft engineer and pilot in the Australian outback in the 1920s and 1930s, he flew for some years with Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith opening up new air routes and also ran his own air service. Pilot with KLM, based at Bali, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), until World War II broke out. He served with the Royal Australian Air Force (R.A.A.F.) in World War II as Commanding Officer of the first R.A.A.F. transport squadron (No. 36), which supported the allied advance through New Guinea, and (1944) was Deputy Director R.A.A.F. Transport & Movements, being awarded the Air Force Cross (A.F.C.), Wing Commander, landed at Hiroshima just after the atom bomb was dropped, accepted the surrender of 10,000 Japanese troops on the Island of Bali signing his name to the surrender documents as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, made the first flight with Captain P. G. Taylor from Australia to South America over the lower Pacific (1951) landing at Valparaiso, Chile, and being appointed Honorary Colonel in the Chilean army (See Flight of the Frigate Bird), traded pigs bristle from China and flew tourists to Ayers Rock and the Pacific islands for a total of over 25,000 flying hours. Partner with Reg Harris in the old Inland Hotel and was last operator of the Ayers Rock Hotel, Ayers Rock, Northern Territory. See Outback Airman by Harry Purvis with Joan Priest, Rigby Publishers Ltd 1979 and 1980; article by Reg Harris in The Australian Post 12th August 1995. Married 1st (1934 in Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales) Naomi May Dennis (died 1978) of Orange, New South Wales, and was divorced (c.1944), having two children:- GEORGE HENRY PURVIS (HARRY Sr) married 2nd (late 1946 in Sydney, New South Wales) Patsy Kirkby (Pat), who had interests in the art world, and together they bought and lived on a 12 hectare farm at Camden, New South Wales, and then a 12,950 hectare property called “Tammit” on the banks of the Murray River, near Mildura, Victoria, where they farmed sheep and citrus fruit, but were divorced (c.1964) and she continued her art career in Sydney, while he moved to Alice Springs, Northern Territory, having no further children. Married 3rd (c.1966), as her 2nd husband (she married 1st James Ignatius Queen from Scotland, having a daughter:- 1. Diane Queen. She had a son:- 1.1. Dennis Kreusler (see OA. 1427)), Kathleen Anne Kerr or Queen (Kay) (born 29th June 1931 in Morecambe, Lancashire, England, died 23rd April 2003 at Ravenshoe, North Queensland), who had come from England and was teaching in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, when they met. She set up tourist shops at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, which were later handed over to the aborigines, and they then owned and managed together two hotels there (Inland Hotel and Ayers Rock Hotel) until their retirement (1976) to Cairns, Queensland, she living (1994) as a widow at Ravenshoe, where she ran a tree plantation and sanctuary for rare endangered species of poultry. She was the daughter of Malcome Gillbert Kerr and Marjory Mitchell. They had no further children.