Pilot Jean Batten in Singapore, photographer unknown, gelatin silver photograph, 1934, State Library Victoria Pictures Collection.

In May 1934 New Zealand pilot Jean Batten flew solo from London to Darwin in 14 days, 22 hours and 30 minutes, taking six days off the record set by Englishwoman Amy Johnson in 1930. Johnson and her husband, Jim Mollison, competed in the Victorian Centenary Air Race from London to Melbourne but were forced to withdraw when non-aviation fuel damaged their plane’s engines. Batten did not compete in the Victorian Centenary Air Race but flew to Melbourne to greet the winners on their arrival. This was an era in which women often competed in long distance air races, yet one headline still read, ‘Excitement at Baghdad: Mrs Mollison demands hot bath’.