The Siddeley Puma engine continued to be produced after the end of World War I; many were exported, and Puma engines were fitted to planes produced by 20 different countries. Many DH9 Puma-engined aircraft were converted for civilian use by commercial airlines such as KLM.

One notable post-war achievement was the first single-engined aircraft to fly to Australia from England, a Puma-engined DH 9, which took off from Hounslow, near London, piloted by Flt Lt Ray Parer and Major John McIntosh. They had intended to take part in the 1919 England to Australia flight, also known as The Great Air Race, but technical issues delayed them. They took off one month after the winning entry, a twin-engined Vickers Vimy, had landed at Darwin; nonetheless, they intended to show that the journey could be completed in a single engined aeroplane.

During the journey, they flew over Mt Vesuvius, where billowing hot air caused them to drop 600ft in a few Seconds. Their machine twice caught fire in Syria, where they had to fight off hostile Arabs. The pair took nearly seven months to complete their journey. Having succeeded against all expectations, they both received a hero’s welcome and were awarded consolation prizes of £500 each.

Theirs had been the first flight to reach Australia in a single-engine aircraft. And, symbolically at least, they also transported the first airfreight from England, a carefully stowed bottle of whisky from the DH9’s sponsor, Scottish distilling baron Peter Dawson, whose initials can be seen on the side of the aeroplane in the attached photos.