Allister Miller was not only a war hero but he was instrumental in the creation of a civilian aviation industry in South Africa. By all objective measures, he can claim to be the father of this industry. Due to his record breaking flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, he was accorded recognition in Port Elizabeth by naming the street past the airport, Allister Miller Drive.
Lieutenant-Colonel Allister Miller DSO OBE (1892–1951) was a South African aviation pioneer, who contributed significantly to both military and civil aviation in his country during the first half of the 20th century.
But what did Allister Miller actually do to receive this acclamation?
The original caption on the photograph: The end of an historic flight, Rio de Janeiro II, piloted by Major (later Lieut.-Col) Allister Miller, the pioneer of South African civil aviation, lies upended in a bunker on the old 17th fairway of the Port Elizabeth Golf Club on Wednesday, 7th November 1917. Major Miller, accompanied by Sgt-Mechanic Way, took off from Young’s Field Cape Town. Five hours, 18 minutes later flying at an average speed of 70 m.p.h., the plane touched down at the P.E. Golf Club – the first plane ever to land in the City. An estimated 5,000 people were waiting at the Club to witness the arrival, but they pressed so close when the plane touched down that Major Miller was forced to crash his craft into a fairway bunker to avoid the over-eager spectators. His action prevented what could have been a major tragedy. The only damage to the plane, fortunately, was a broken propeller which was presented to the Club as a memento of an historic occasion.
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