Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of John Flynn, the Flying Doctor and its Alice Springs base.
On this page
A minister, a radio and a base
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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25 November 1880
Born at Moliagul
John Flynn is born at Moliagul, Victoria.
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1912
The inland mission
Flynn becomes the first superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission.
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1926
Adelaide House
Flynn designs and builds Adelaide House in Alice Springs, and Alfred Traeger begins working with him on radio.
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17 May 1928
The first flight
The Aerial Medical Service makes its first flight, from Cloncurry in Queensland.
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1929
The pedal radio
Traeger’s first pedal radio sets are introduced in Queensland.
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1933
A Morse keyboard
Traeger adds a typewriter-style Morse keyboard to the sets, and the town of Stuart is renamed Alice Springs.
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1939
The Alice Springs base
The Flying Doctor begins working in the Northern Territory from its base on Stuart Terrace.
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1942
A new name
The service is renamed the Flying Doctor Service.
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5 May 1951
Flynn dies
John Flynn dies in Sydney; his ashes are laid near Alice Springs.
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1955
Royal
The service becomes the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
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6 May 1956
A memorial church
The John Flynn Memorial Church in Alice Springs is opened by the Governor-General, Sir William Slim.
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21 March 1957
A historical reserve
The land around Flynn’s grave is proclaimed a historical reserve.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
- Wikipedia: John Flynn (minister)
- Wikipedia: Alfred Traeger
- Wikipedia: Royal Flying Doctor Service
- Wikipedia: Alice Springs
- Royal Flying Doctor Service SA/NT: Tourist facilities
Links lead to the original publishers.