Bert Hinkler 1928 Bronze Commemorates Medal

This 1928 medal commemorates the pioneering flight of Bert Hinkler from England to Australia and was produced in association with radio station 3LO to support the Melbourne Hospital Birthday Appeal. Designed by Charles Douglas Richardson, it celebrates Hinkler’s epic solo journey, completed in just sixteen days. Tragically, Hinkler was killed five years later in Italy during another England-to-Australia flight.

The obverse features a 3/4 left bust of Hinkler in flying gear, with Richardson’s initials CDR incuse on the shoulder and the mint name STOKES MELB below. The legend reads BERT HINKLER AIRMAN above and BUNDABERG, AUSTRALIA below. The reverse depicts a map of Hinkler’s route from London to Darwin, with a biplane over the Indian Ocean. The rim bears the inscription LONDON TO DARWIN XVI DAYS PRAEPETIBUS PINNIS AUSTRALES VECTUS AD ORAS, with the date FEB. 1928 below.