When Mildenhall, between Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds, saw the start of ‘the world’s greatest air race’

It was the autumn of 1934, and a small Suffolk town barely known outside the county was about to be thrust dramatically into the spotlight. For a couple of days the eyes of the nation - from the King and Queen to the schoolboy roused from his bed to see history being made - were on Mildenhall.

Globally too, attention was zooming in on the tiny market town. The reason … against all the odds its newly-built aerodrome had been chosen as the starting point for what became known as the world’s greatest air race. On October 20 the world’s top aviators took off from Suffolk into the breaking dawn with their sights set on a target more than 11.000 miles away in Australia.

As the date loomed, excitement grew to fever pitch. Sixty thousand spectators - then around 20 times the town’s population - descended on Mildenhall. Massive traffic jams built up as crowds fought their way towards the airfield. Given there were less than two million cars on Britain’s roads - there are 40 million today - the sight must have astonished local people.

“The town was gridlocked., which is amazing when you consider how few people had cars in those days,” said Stephanie Palmer who chairs the trustees of Mildenhall Museum, where plans are afoot to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the race next year. “People were coming straight from the nightclubs in London and driving up here. It put the town on the map for a while.”

But the story begins on the other side of the world, where the Australian city of Melbourne was determined to celebrate its centenary in style despite unprecedented unemployment and economic problems.

The Lord Mayor of Melbourne had the idea of an international air race to focus world attention on the city. They found a sponsor in Sir Macpherson Robertson, an Australian millionaire sweet manufacturer and philanthropist with an inspiring rags-to-riches story, who had started making confectionery in the bathroom of his family home aged 19.

He agreed to bankroll the race, and provide the prize money and a gold trophy, on condition it would be truly international, and that everything possible would be done to cut the risk of accidents.

Previous races had resulted in numerous fatalities. In an England to Australia race in 1919 three of the five planes crashed killing four people.

The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom agreed to supervise the race and Saturday October 20, 1934 was chosen for the start. But a string of problems meant that for a long time it was uncertain if it would ever get off the ground.

It was not until June 1934 that organisers began to seriously consider choosing a starting point. A shortlist of four was drawn up, but all had serious drawbacks. Eventually Mildenhall, newly-built as a bomber base but not yet operational, was considered.

The race committee was impressed by the size of the take-off area, and the hangar accommodation, but was put off by the lack of amenities and the remoteness of the area. But with the committee’s top choices ruled out, Mildenhall was reluctantly chosen.

The competition was divided into two parts - a speed race and a handicap section. Regulations around the airworthiness of the planes were very strict and a complicated handicapping formula was devised.

There were fears that Britain would be humiliated in the race as there seemed to be no suitable British aircraft. But the de Havilland Aircraft Company saved the day by producing a new racing monoplane, the Comet, in record time.

A list of 61 competitors was published in July, but by the time the programme was printed there were 30, and that dropped to only 20 starters.

Among them, flying a bright red Comet named Grosvenor House, were English aviators Charles Scott and Tom Campbell Black. Scott already held the record time - more than eight days - for an England to Australia flight, set in 1932.

Also competing were trailblazing female pilot Amy Johnson – the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia in 1930 – and her husband Jim Mollison, who were forced to pull out of the race in India due to engine trouble. The youngest competitor was the remarkable 21 year-old Australian Jimmy Melrose who had just broken the record flight time for the reverse journey from Australia to England.

The race committee arrived at Mildenhall on Saturday October 14 to be met by a scene of chaos. Flt Lt Christopher Clarkson, chief marshal, reported that control of the crowds had broken down and four competitors were complaining of damage to their aircraft.

Local hotel accommodation was nowhere near adequate and it was not until the last night before the race that the Air Ministry allowed competitors and ground staff to sleep in the hangars.

The station had not yet been equipped by the RAF and many essential items were lacking, including a windsock. A substitute was made from a potato sack, then replaced by two pillows sewn together.

The Household Brigade Flying Club then loaned a much more impressive blue and crimson one for use on the actual day. Order was gradually restored.

Then on Friday October 19 the organisers were thrown into a frenzy. They knew the Prince of Wales planned an informal visit. But it was suddenly announced that King George V and Queen Mary would be arriving after lunch that day.

The royal party arrived by car and met many of the entrants. The extrovert American Roscoe Turner delighted everyone by enticing the King to board his Boeing 247 and inspect the interior of the aircraft.

The Queen was heard to say: “Do you know, His Majesty doesn’t really like aeroplanes and I think this is the first time he has ever got inside one.”

That night tens of thousands of people flocked to Mildenhall determined to witness the start of the race. Many made a last minute decision to come, and arrived still in their dinner jackets and evening dresses.

Thousands spent the night in the fields around the aerodrome, and dawn revealed every road for miles around choked with cars. Many abandoned their vehicles to run across the fields in time for the start of the race but many others were stuck in jams miles away.

Several farmers opened their fields for car parks. But there was a surprise in store for Mr Leonard of Folly Road who found that two strangers had charged drivers half a crown (12 and a half pence) - equivalent to around £6 - today to park on his land.

The race was started at 6.30am by Sir Alfred Bower, the acting Lord Mayor of London.

Planes took off at 45 second intervals. Fifteen minutes later the spectacle was all over and the crowds began to melt away.

All competitors had to follow the same route and there were official check points at Baghdad (2,530 miles from Mildenhall), Allahabad (4,830 miles), Singapore (7,040 miles) Darwin (9,124 miles) and Charleville (10,513 miles) before landing at Melbourne, 11,300 miles from the start. There were also 18 optional landing places.

The progress of the race was headline news for days. First to cross the finish line was the Comet flown by Scott and Black, in a time of less than 72 hours - claiming the £10,000 prize and gold cup.

They won despite flying the last stage with one engine throttled back because an oil pressure indicator gave a faulty low reading.

Second and third places were taken by airliners which both completed the course less than a day behind the winner.

The Dutch KLM entry, Douglas DC-2, which was also carrying three fare-paying passengers and mail bags containing 25,000 letters, came in a couple of hours ahead of Roscoe Turner’s Boeing.

Towards the end of the race the KLM crew faced an unexpected drama with enterprising local people coming to the rescue.

Low on fuel after getting lost in severe thunderstorms the aircraft ended up over Albury, New South Wales, where the chief electrical engineer of the post office went to the power station and signalled A-L-B-U-R-Y in Morse code by turning the street lights on and off.

An appeal was then broadcast on a local radio station for cars to line up on the racecourse to light up a makeshift runway. Next morning the plane was pulled out of the mud by locals to fly on to Melbourne.

Seven more competitors arrived before the race officially ended on November 5, but the last valiant straggler finally limped home on February 13, 116 days after the race began.

The race was marred by one fatal accident when New Zealanders Gilman and Baines crashed when making a forced landing in southern Italy,

Scott and Black returned to England by sea - a month-long voyage - to a heroes’ welcome and a blaze of publicity.

The following year, Mildenhall’s new cinema was named the Comet as a permanent local tribute to the race.

Their iconic aircraft is now part of the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden Aerodrome near Bedford.

Mildenhall’s moment of glory is commemorated with a permanent display in the town’s museum which has been celebrating local history at various sites since the 1950s.

Plans are now being made by groups including the museum, the town council and USAF Mildenhall to mark the 90th anniversary of both the race and the air base.

The race is now fading from living memory. But memories from some of those who were there will still be included.

Long-time museum trustees chair Stephanie says: “For the 75th anniversary of the air race we got local people to give us their memories, and we will produce a booklet this time called ‘I Was There’.

“One of the memories written down for us was by a chap from Cambridge who was nine at the time. He was woken up by his father saying come on son, we are going to see history being made, and they drove from Cambridge to Mildenhall.

“Someone has typed out all these letters and I am writing an introduction. We haven’t decided on a format yet.” They will also extend their air race displays from September to December 2024.

The museum grew from a challenge issued by the government at the time of the 1951 Festival of Britain urging communities to do something in their locality.

“Mildenhall had a thriving archaeological society and a display was organised at the town hall which proved so popular it continued,” said Stephanie.

It has been housed in two cottages leased from the town council, which also gave them an interest free loan, since the 1980s. The council was so impressed with their fundraising activities that it wiped off half the loan. Later a Heritage Lottery Fund grant enabled the museum to almost double in size.

“We are all volunteers and completely financially independent. Some years ago we formed a friends group, now the Mildenhall Museum Society, and they are our fundraising arm,” she added.

The air race is also remembered in the names of a Mildenhall estate where all roads are named after planes and aviators.