This Day in History: 1898-10-18

Charles Thomas Philippe Ulm (1898-1934), aviator, was born on 18 October 1898 at Middle Park, Melbourne, third son of Emile Gustave Ulm, a Parisian-born artist, and his Victorian wife Ada Emma, née Greenland. Charles was educated at state schools in Melbourne and Sydney (after his family moved to Mosman) and began work as a clerk in a stockbroking office. Ulm enlisted in the 1st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force and was among the first troops to land at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Backed by Sun Newspapers Ltd, in 1927 Ulm and Charles Kingsford Smith circumnavigated Australia in a Bristol Tourer in 10 days and 5 hours, more than halving the record. Ulm and Kingsford Smith, together with Americans James Warner and Harry Lyon, were the first to cross the Pacific Ocean by air, landing at Brisbane on 5 June 1928. Ulm and Kingsford Smith went on to make many record flights in their Fokker F-VIIb/3m “Southern Cross”. Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ulm-charles-thomas-philippe-8896/text15627