As part of the program of activities to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the Australian War Memorial will present; Over the Front: the Great War in the Air.

This exhibition will be permanent and is scheduled to open in November 2008 at the eastern end of ANZAC Hall. It will draw upon the Memorial’s collection of five original aircraft as well as other historical material relating to the Australian experience of First World War aviation.

An unidentified member of No. 69 Squadron (Australian) Royal Flying Corps (later No. 3 Squadron Australian Flying Corps) fixing incendiary bombs to an R.E.8 aircraft at the AFC airfield north west of Arras. E01176

The Over the Front Team are using the AWM blog specifically to:

• Support the exhibition and stimulate interest in it during the lead up to opening and beyond and to provide a sample of what will appear in the exhibition.
• Record and relate some of the exhibition team’s experiences in putting together the exhibition, in particular our experiences working with the Memorial’s First World War aircraft collection.
• Provide additional content about the exhibition for those who want to know more, or for material we couldn’t fit into the physical exhibition.
• The blog does not aim to provide an online version of the exhibition nor to replicate all available knowledge about the Australian Flying Corps, Royal Flying Corps or Royal Naval Air Service but additional information can be found in the links we provide.

We also welcome comments and feedback from interested members of the public or those in the museum (or related) profession. However they may not necessarily reflect the views or interpretation of the Australian War Memorial as an organisation. Comments received will be moderated and some (not all) may be posted on the blog. Any inappropriate or uncivil messages will of course not be posted, nor responded to. Unfortunately we have neither the time nor the resources to enter into lengthy correspondence, or to manage complicated arguments about historical interpretations of events.

We are also interested in hearing from Australians (or anyone else) who have verifiable stories or memorabilia relevant to the exhibition, particularly relating to Australians who saw active overseas service with the Australian Flying Corps.

The Australian War Memorial recognises and respects the copyrights, including moral rights, of all copyright owners and licensees. Accordingly, every reasonable endeavour has been made to contact the copyright owners whose works appear on this website. This has not always proved possible and so copyright owners are asked to contact the publisher directly.

More and more content will be added progressively during the lead up to, and after the exhibition has opened (Nov 2008), so if you’re interested, keep visiting the blog regularly and check out what’s new.

Regards,

Amanda Rebbeck

(Over the Front Blog Administrator/Editor)