A DUTCH historian is giving Albury City an Uiver memento as a special gift.
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An aviation historian at Aviodrome at Lelystad in The Netherlands, Will Porrio is donating a rare, bronze medal to Albury City’s Uiver collection.
The Uiver medal is identical to one gifted by the Dutch to an Albury recipient almost 85 years ago to acknowledge the role of the city in saving the Uiver aeroplane in the London to Melbourne centenary air race.
A photograph taken in Albury on March 20, 1935, recorded the Albury recipients of 30 gifts from the Dutch, which were received between December 1934 and early 1935.
Uiver historian Noel Jackling said the donation of the sister Uiver medal was significant for the collection.
“I think it’s remarkable that of 30 gifts in the photograph, we have 10 originals in the Albury LibraryMuseum collection, the sister medal is an 11th and the 12th item is held by the ABC,” he said.
“Almost 85 years on, to have one-third of the items to be able to show the public is remarkable.
“Museums are engaged in story-telling and the greater the number of objects we have in that photo, the more we can understand how appreciative the Dutch were to the people of Albury.”
A volunteer curator at Aviodrome’s historical archive department, Mr Porrio said the medal was a tribute to the Uiver-crew and KLM.
“The medals were designed and manufactured to celebrate the return of the Uiver with crew and, of course, the end result in the race,” he said.
“The designers of the Uiver medal were two artists: M. Kutterink designed the front and M.P.J. Fleur designed the reverse side.”
Mr Jackling said The Netherlands experienced a “period of euphoria” resulting from the plane’s safe completion, and handicap win, of the London to Melbourne centenary air race.
“Only a few days later in Holland, in Amsterdam, they formed the Albury Committee, which raised about 500 pounds for thank-you gifts for the people of Albury,” Mr Jackling said.
“The poor people of Albury were in the middle of a Depression.
“What comes through strongly is the gratitude of the Dutch. This was the peak of the British Empire and we had this fantastic relationship with these foreigners.”
Anyone with Uiver memorabilia information can email noel@jackling.com.au.
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