RAAF Personnel arriving at Banff on leave

Banff National Park was a favourite leave centre for trainees of the Royal Australian Air Force undergoing their training in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, which made up No.4 Training Command of the Empire Air Training Scheme. Summer and Winter, a constant stream of trainees arrived at the Banff railway station to spend their leave in this renowned tourist playground, where they were welcomed by the Canadian people. Ralph Malcolm Warner was appointed Official War Artist in 1943, covering the activities of the RAAF in Canada, United States and the Bahamas. His first mission was in Papua New Guinea recording Australian operation against the Japanese. In 1945 Warner continued to work as a war artist recording civil and industrial war efforts and food production in areas of New South Wales and Victoria. After the war he returned to commercial art, designing posters, murals and postage stamps and illustrating books.