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Between 1914 and 1945 the Australian air services, the Australian Flying Corps (AFC – 1914 to 1919), the Australian Air Corps (AAC – 1920 to 1921) and their successor, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF – 1921 to 1945), developed from a marginally effective air arm into a major air force with a continental strike capability. The interwar period saw a series of pioneering flights which not only laid the foundations for the air defence of Australia but also assisted in national development. Essential to the development of the AFC and the RAAF was the practice of air navigation. While much has been written on World War II RAAF operations, almost nothing has been published on the policy, training and practice of air navigation in support of wartime operations or the interwar period. This omission is addressed by the examination of air navigation in the AFC and the RAAF from the rudiments of World War I to the emergence of air navigation as a critical specialist function which culminated in its practice in World War II tactical and strategic air operations. It was the wartime development of Australian air power between 1939 and 1945, and the parallel practice of advanced navigation techniques, that underscored Australia’s contribution to the allied air offensive. |
