Air Vice-Marshal Chris Spence, Air Vice-Marshal Kym Osley, Wing Command Peter Isaacson - 4 October 2013

Air Force Bomber Command implemented Britain’s strategic bombing campaign against Germany and German allies during the Second World War (1939 - 45). Over 10,000 Australians served, flying raid after raid over Europe alongside servicemen across the Commonwealth.

Bomber Command aircrews suffered extraordinarily high casualties; German air defences were strong and Luftwaffe pilots and aircraft proved highly formidable opponents. This Shrine exhibition tells the story of the Australian airmen who, whilst amounting to less than 2 percent of Australia’s Second World War enlistments, accounted for almost 20 percent of Australian combat deaths.