In a new exhibition the Queensland Military Historical Society (QMHS) at Fort Lytton is looking back on 100 years of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) history. As an extensive collection of WW1-era aircraft models, together with personal service records, equipment, and uniforms, the display draws on the QMHS collection to tell some of the stories of RAAF personnel and operations since 1921.

Old Boy Brady Downes (1984) was thrilled to be asked by QMHS committee member and fellow Old Boy Malcolm Catchpole (1984) to supply his collection of WWI model aircraft for the display. Brady says “As a kid I would scour every model shop I came across hoping to find aircraft I didn’t have in my collection. Most have come from Australia but there are some from England, Canada, mainland USA and even one (the Fokker EIII) that I found in Anchorage, Alaska, and carried in my backpack for a month.” Brady’s dad Trevor couldn’t have had any idea when he first helped him paint a model that it would be one of 62 models that Brady is exhibiting in the centenary display.

Fort Lytton has a several small museums and collections onsite, that document Queensland’s military history and the site’s heritage as Brisbane’s only nineteenth-century fort. As a not-for-profit and community organisation, QMHS relies on volunteers and public support. Opening times: Sundays, 10 am to 4 pm (Fort Lytton National Park). Free entry and parking.