The
aircraft, repaired and with its engine serviced, was then flown to Perth,
arriving on September 24. Despite the odd floats the aircraft exhibited no
unusual flying characteristics but during take off Bertram had to carefully
calculate the direction of the wind and tide as the port wing, the one with the
smaller float, had a tendency to drop towards the water. The aircraft landed on
the Swan River less than a mile from the city centre and was towed to the Royal
Perth Yacht Club where it was partially dismantled and transported by road to
Maylands Airfield where it was fitted with a conventional undercarriage by West
Australian Airways.
Atlantis
continued round Australia
and back to Germany via the Netherlands East Indies on a flight which had its
own moments of excitement. At the end of the Perth‑Kalgoorlie sector on
September 29, Bertram made a very hard landing, wiping off the undercarriage and
bending the propeller. "I have hurt my aeroplane" he said when he
phoned WAA for help. A mechanic was sent to repair the aircraft and on
October 3 it flew on to Adelaide and then round the eastern half of Australia,
including a flight to Tasmania, and back to the Netherlands East Indies.
Bertram had no other problems until he attempted to take off from Surabaya on
December 13, 1932 when he ran off the end of the airfield and into a ditch,
causing considerable damage to his aircraft.
Fortunately Surabaya was a main airforce and navy base and the Junkers was
repaired with parts shipped from Germany, but it was not until April 11, 1933
that Bertram was able to continue his flight. Six days later he arrived
back in Berlin in the midst of an air display at Tempelhof Airport.
Klausmann, unfit to fly back to Germany with the aircraft, had been sent back to
Germany by ship, arriving there on November 3, 1932.
Early in September 1934 the Premier of Western Australia, Mr P Collier, received
five German Red Cross Honour Medals (Ordern ties Deutschen Roten Kreuse) and
their award certificates. They had been forwarded to the Prime Minister's
department by the German Government for presentation to Constable WGC Marshall,
Sergeant JF Flinders, Captain AA Crane, Captain JF Sutcliffe and Mr TM Ronan.
The cut off section of the float which had been used as a canoe had been
abandoned where the two airmen had left it in 1932. It was rediscovered on a
field trip by the Western Australian Museum in 1975. Brought back and
stabilized, this poignant relic was put on display in the Fremantle Maritime
Museum.
oooooOOOOooooo
The Australian Broadcasting Commission produced a mini-series in the 1980's on the story of Bertram and Klausmann and a replica aircraft was built from plans and photographs of an old Bremmen aircraft (of similar design to the Junkers) which was on display at the Emery Ford Museum in Detroit, USA. After the completion of the series the replica aircraft was given to the RAAFA Aviation Museum in Bull Creek where it has become a popular exhibit. In 1998 a German film company leased the replica for the making of a full length movie of the story and the following photographs shows the replica aircraft on location in the north west of Western Australia.
Sources:
Contemporary newspapers; Bertram H, Flug in die Holle, (1933); Winter B, Atlantis: A Flight Into Hell.