Australian Flying Corps (AFC)

The earliest days of military aviation in Australia involved the Australian Flying Corps –the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during the First World War – and the Australian Air Corps (AAC) – which existed between the disbandment of the AFC after the war, and the establishment of the RAAF in March 1921.

Will Longstaff, Australians Advancing from Villers-Bretonneux, August 8th 1918, 1918, watercolour over pencil with gouache on paper, ART15522

The Australian War Memorial holds a small but important selection of artworks relating to the early days of Australian aviation: a period in which many would see aircraft for the first time. With a lack of Official War Artists assigned to units with aircraft, many artworks from this period were produced in unsuitable environments. They do, however, hold great importance in capturing moments as they happen. Stuart Reid’s Ross Smith’s Handley Page at Heliopolis 1918, for example, depicts the famous Australian flier in Heliopolis near Cairo.

Stuart Reid, Ross Smith’s Handley Page at Heliopolis 1918, 1918, watercolour over pencil on paper, ART50105.

The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was established in 1912 and was disbanded in 1919. During this period, many airmen got their first tastes of aviation - an interest which would provide enthusiastic participation and enlistment in the earliest days of the RAAF.

One of the best known AFC members was Air vice-marshall Frank McNamara VC CBE, an early graduate of Point Cook Flying School who had an almost uninterrupted career through the AFC, AAC and RAAF. McNamara rose to the rank of Air Vice-marshall and held important positions in Europe and the Middle East. The artwork illustrated below, commissioned by the Australian War Memorial in the mid-1980s, and depicts key moments from his career.

Ray Honisett, Air vice-marshall Frank McNamara, 1987, oil on canvas, ART29094

Henry Fullwood was commissioned as an Official War Artist in May 1918. AIF Aerodrome Near Bertangles, painted in July 1918, depicts pilots and soldiers attached to No. 3 Squadron, which flew Royal Aircraft Factory RE8s, depicted here in flight and in a makeshift hanger.

A Henry Fullwood, AIF Aerodrome Near Bertangles, 1918, watercolour and gouache with pencil and charcoal on paper, ART02477

Will Longstaff’s War Planes of the Australian Flying Corps includes several different Allied aircraft such as a Handley Page O/100 and a Sopwith Camel.

Will Longstaff, War Planes of the Australian Flying Corps, 1918-1919, oil on canvas, ART03029

Following the First World War, money to aid the recovery effort was raised through promotional appearances of war-related trophies and technology. A Sopwith Scout flown by Captain Eric Cummings DFC with “Buy Bonds” painted on the underside of the wings was a key fundraiser.