Birtles and the Bean: historic London to Melbourne drive reborn

In 1927, famous Australian adventurer Francis Birtles set off on an epic nine-month drive from London to Melbourne in a 14 horsepower* “Bean*” open top sports car.

Now, almost 100 years later, The Daily Telegraph cartoonist Warren Brown and editor-at-large Matthew Benns are recreating Birtles’ historic drive in the same model car.

King Charles sent his warmest good wishes to the pair as they set off from Australia House* in London on Friday.

The adventurers were farewelled by Australian Deputy High Commissioner Elisabeth Bowes for the 24,000 km drive in a 100-year-old Bean 14.

The endeavour aims to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service* (RFDS), which has King Charles as its patron*.

RFDS Friends in the UK chair Peter Box said the monarch had been kept updated on the adventure.

“The King asked me to pass on to the intrepid duo* his warmest good wishes for the adventure and his hope that everyone had a good time,” he said.

Almost one century ago, Birtles was waved off by Miss Australia 1927 Phylis Von Alwyn. On Friday morning, Miss England and classic car enthusiast Milla Magee drove up from Cornwall to perform the same duty for Brown and Benns.

“I think this is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to come together and relive history,” Ms Magee said. “My grandfather was a Spitfire* pilot who always had classic cars and that love of cars has been passed on to me. This is an amazing motoring adventure for a good cause and I am really quite jealous that I can’t go along.”

Back in the 1920s, Birtles’ name was a byword* for adventure to Aussies, just as Don Bradman was for cricket or Phar Lap for horse racing. He hatched the plan to drive from London to Melbourne with Daily Telegraph’s senior correspondent at the time, Malcolm Ellis.

The pair were joined by WWI war hero Billy Knowles in a transcontinental* attempt that was disaster-prone from start to finish. The trio headed off through the worst winter Europe had seen in 40 years, their car constantly breaking down, before the three were arrested as spies in Turkey. The Bean gave up the ghost altogether in India and the journey came to an abrupt end.

While Mr Ellis returned to Australia in seriously poor health, the unfazed Birtles sailed from India to England where he picked up the two-seater Bean car he’d used to win the Darwin to Melbourne speed record – a car now known as The Sundowner – and set off for another attempt by himself, determined to make it happen with the idea that it would bring Australia and England closer together. His solo attempt was successful.

Even though it was a long time ago, Birtles’ world had quite a lot in common with our own. At the time of his journey, Australia was in the aftermath of the Spanish flu global pandemic. There was also war in the east, the rise of radical right* politics in Europe and a looming depression* – all things the world is either grappling with or threatened by again.

Brown and Benns will follow the spirit of Birtles’ route, crossing Europe, taking a ferry from Greece to Alexandria in Egypt and driving past the pyramids before tackling the sands of the Saudi desert.

Thanks to the wonders of 21st century technology, this time around, Daily Telegraph readers will be able to follow the journey in real time via a digital map as the pair put the 100-year-old car through its paces on the teeming roads of India and Asia before reaching Singapore for a slow boat to Darwin.

The trip across the island continent of Australia will be an epic drive in itself, traversing from Darwin to Melbourne via Tennant Creek, Brisbane and Sydney. They will be stopping to refill the sunscreen, thanks to a car that has no roof, windows or doors.

The journey has been tipped to take more than three months – nowhere near as long as the original nine-month quest when roads were scarce and ferry systems weren’t as advanced.

Premier Chris Minns unveiled the challenge in November at a launch at The Royal Automobile Club in Sydney and clearly understood the madcap adventure behind the challenge.

“This recreates the epic journey of a great Australian adventurer,” Mr Minns said. “It raises money for a fantastic cause, the Royal Flying Doctor Service. It is an honour to be there at the very start. Warren Brown is a danger man, I cannot wait to catch up with them again for, in my case, a non-alcoholic beer when they get back.”

Brown said the trip – proudly supported by Harvey Norman – was the culmination* of almost two decades’ work that included him writing a book on the life and adventures of Birtles.

“This adventure celebrates so many things – the amazing bond between Australia

and Great Britain – the resourcefulness of those amazing outback pioneers like Francis Birtles – and of course that uniquely Australian institution the Royal Flying Doctor Service,” Brown said.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• horsepower: a unit of measurement representing how much power an engine has. Modern cars have around 180 horse power, so the 14 horsepower Bean is nowhere near as powerful as what we are used to travelling in today
• Bean: a brand of car made in England by A Harper Sons & Bean, Ltd in the 1920s before the company ran into financial difficulties and was sold to Hadfields Limited in 1926, before the company stopped making cars in 1929
• Australia House: the oldest Australian diplomatic mission, located in the Strand, London
• Royal Flying Doctor Service: a national charity that provides medical services to people living in remote regional areas in Australia
• patron: a person who gives financial support to an organisation
• intrepid duo: fearless pair
• Spitfire: a single seat fighter plane used by the British air force in WWII
• byword: a person or thing that has to come to represent a sport or certain quality
• transcontinental: across more than one continent
• radical right: a political preference that leans towards ultra conservatism, nationalism and is often against immigration and liberal democracy
• depression: when a country is dealing with a serious economic downturn, where business slows and many people lose their jobs
• culmination: the highest point or greatest achievement after many years of working towards something

EXTRA READING
Kids hit cruise control in future cars
Second gold rush on Oz horizon
Letters worth writing home about

QUICK QUIZ
1. What year did adventurer Francis Birtles set off on his epic drive from London to Melbourne?
2. What did he hope to achieve by doing so?
3. What pandemic was Australia recovering from at the time?
4. Which charity are Benns and Brown raising money for by recreating the historic tour?
5. How will the pair travel between Singapore and Darwin?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Bywords
A byword is a person or thing that is very closely connected with a particular quality. An example they used in the article was like Phar Lap is to racing.

Work with a partner to come up with five of your own bywords that associate a person or thing linked very closely to a sport, food or something else.

–

–

–

–

–

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
If you could plan an adventure such as this, what would it be?

Write an outline for a trip of a lifetime you could do with a family member or friend?

Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.

Create a conversation between two characters from the article - you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.