In 1934, the Kimberley Air Rally, largely organized by H.A. Morris, attracted 20,000 spectators, hugely popularising aviation. He was a co-founder of the Municipal Airports Association, and launched the Kimberley Aviation Society (1936). In 1938, with impending war, he submitted a scheme to set up a pilot training school "on the safest aerodrome in the world where the highest possible number of flying hours could be had". The Union Defence Force and Royal Air Force leased the whole municipal airport in Dec 1939 for this purpose. During the war, as a 'key man', he was prevented from volunteering for service and so remained in Kimberley.
