MAYLANDS HISTORICAL AND PENINSULA ASSOCIATION

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MMA stands for MacRobertson Miller Aviation, later MacRobertson Miller Airlines.

The airline’s founders were Sir MacPherson Robertson and Horrie Miller.

Our Frank Colquhoun collection includes:

  • MHS/FC 299. An 1939-1940 photograph.  One of two MMA de Havilland DH 86 airliners at Maylands. It was impressed into the Royal Australian Air Force as an ambulance aircraft in 1940
  • MHS/FC 303. Photograph. Nov 1938. VH-ABW, along with sister ship VH-ABV were two Lockheed Electra 10A aircraft imported by MMA for the North West run
  • FC 305. Photograph. 1938, Derby airfield, Western Australia. MMA DH86A aircraft VH-USD. (L-R) F/O Colin Browne, Captain Alex Witham, metalworker Bill Bland and woodworker, Jack Hopkins.
    This image also appears on page 86 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • MHS/FC 385 1951. Hudson Fysh of QANTAS and Horrie Miller of MMA at Glenroy Abattoir in the west Kimberley region while visiting the novel Air-Beef transport scheme
  • MHS/FC 388. Photograph. 1934.The Lockheed Vega purchased by Horrie Miller for the Centenary Air Race at Brooklands in the UK. Flown by Jimmy Woods and Don Bennett, it crashed on landing at Aleppo and was shipped to MMA at Maylands for repair.
  • MHS/FC 391. Photograph (2 versions). Broome. Horrie Miller in front of his Wackett aircraft following his retirement from active service. Miller had been a partner in the MacRobertson Miller Aviation Company. This image also appears on page 83 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • MHS/FC 393. Photograph. 1934. The first three DH 84 Dragons, VH-URW, VH-URX and VH-URY outside the new MMA hangar at the Maylands Aerodrome awaiting the start of the company’s new north west service
  • MHS/FC 397. Photograph (2 versions). Lady Robertson, Sir MacPherson Robertson and Horrie Miller standing in front of a DH 84 Dragon in the MMA hangar at Maylands
  • MHS/FC 399. Photograph. 1938. MMA ground staff performing maintenance on DH 86 VH-USD at Maylands
  • FC_404. Photograph. 1937, Adelaide. Lockheed Electra VH-ABW and VH-ABV being unloaded prior to being assembled, test flown and then delivered to MMA in Perth. This image also appears on page 95 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • MHS/FC 405. Photograph. Dec 1938. The two Lockheed 10AElectras on tow from the dock to Parafield. They were assembled by Guinea Airways staff for MMA.
  • FC 409. Photograph. Perth Airport tarmac. The MMA Lockheed Electra VH-ABV taxying,
    This image also appears on page 112 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • FC 435. Photograph. 1942, Port Hedland. The MMA Lockheed Electra VH-ABV beside the airstrip following a night landing collision with the anti-invasion barriers. The anti-invasion barriers were erected across the airstrip by the Army, without any notice to MMA aircrews or DCA (Australian Government Department of Civil Aviation),  This image also appears on page 105 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • FC 455. Photograph. 1942/43. Maylands Airfield. MMA workshop section for the overhaul, repair and rebuild of components of RAAF DH82 Tiger Moth and USN PBY5 Catalina aircraft. This image also appears on page 118 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • FC 458. Photograph. 1942/43, Maylands Airfield. MMA engine overhaul shop for RAAF Gipsy Major engines. These engines were for their DH82 aircraft at their EFTS (Elementary Flight Training School) at their Cunderdin base in Western Australia. This image also appears on page 118 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • FC 550. Photograph. 1947. The MMA DC3 VH-AXM used for the charter flight to India to pick up the Indian Test cricket team to play in Australia. The aircraft is standing on the steel panel parking area at Kalang Airport. Such panel material was commonly used on wartime airstrips throughout Northern Australia and the islands.  This image also appears on page 143 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • MHS/FC562. Photograph (2 versions). 1947, Maylands Airfield. VH-AYO, an MMA Avro Anson aircraft. After the war, MMA acquired several ex-RAAF Avro Ansons and converted them into passenger aircraft. VH-AYO is a typical example.
    This image also appears on page 126 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • MHS/FC 597 Photograph. The post-war introduction of the DC-3 airliner saw the first girls in the air with MMA. Joan Stonehouse, Joyce Vale and Hilary Johnson make an attractive picture even in the austere military-type uniforms of the day.
  • MHS/FC 598. Photograph. Seven MMA pilots line up by one of the company’s DC-3 Aircraft in the late forties. From left to right, Reg Bagwell, Alex Whitham, Rodney ?, Arthur Budd, Cyril Kleinig, ‘Snow’ Dabelstein, Fred Ashleford
  • FC 603. Photograph. VH-MMO, one of the three DH104 Dove aircraft added to MMA fleet following the merger with Airlines WA Limited. This image also appears on page 155 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spanner
  • MHS/FC 610. Photograph. Perth Airport. One half of the MMA DC3 fleet of ten (10) DC3 aircraft superseded by the F27 Fokker Friendship prop jets. Five of the DC-3 aircraft from a fleet which eventually numbered twelve. These aircraft were the mainstay of immediate post-war MMA operations and were responsible for much of the successful development of the north west
  • MHS/FC 621. Photograph. Captain Alex Whitham, chief pilot of MMA, receiving the award of Master Pilot of the British Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators from Senator Shane Paltridge in 1963 to commemorate his 21,000 accident-free flying hours
  • MHS/FC622. Photograph. Executives of MacRobertson Miller Airlines and major shareholder McRobertson Ltd. From left: F. Colquhoun, K Cohen, Len Gold, E C Gare, H C Miller, R B Patterson, C N Kleinig, C Tuppen,
  • MHS/FC 625. Photograph (2 versions). MMA staff in front of an MMA aircraft. Frank Colquhoun (Chief engineer of MacRobertson Miller Airlines) at centre front, with the apprentices (Apprentice Master Pat O’Brien) on left and Personnel Manager Dick Vickery on right. This image also appears on page 152 of Frank Colquhoun’s 2001 book Cockpit and Spaneern.

We also hold:

  • other images of MMA hangars and aircraft
  • MMA timetables
  • advertisements and clippings related to MMA
  • souvenir items (bottle-opener and a tile) linked to MMA

See our MMA Flickr Album for digitised images and other digitised information.

Maylands Historical and Peninsula Association acknowledges the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, live, and learn. We acknowledge that we tell the stories of Noongar Country and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website may contain images or names of people who have passed away.