Interbellum Period
Several small but significant artworks depict the period from the formation of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1921 to the start of the Second World War.
This portrait by Australian artist William Beckwith McInnes portrays Captain (later Air Commodore) Arthur Cobby, one of the first members of the RAAF. Cobby became an air ace in the First World War and was credited with 29 victories. Despite retiring in 1936, he was recalled at the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1944, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding the first Tactical Air Force.
William Beckwith McInnes, Captain Arthur Cobby, 1920, oil on canvas, ART03180
Many trained servicemen from the First World War would go on to work in civil aviation. The Memorial has a selection of interwar travel posters that show advances in aviation technology.
Rhys Williams, A New Air Map from the Australian Viewpoint, c.1938, offset lithograph on paper, ARTV05152.