Researching Air Force history and heritage

While History and Heritage Branch – Air Force (HH-AF.engagement@defence.gov.au) maintains an extensive reference collection containing books, magazines and journals, electronic files and oral history interviews and transcripts, there is a wealth of information on the RAAF's history and heritage freely available from other sources that is of use to the researcher, historian and writer.

This page provides links to guides and fact sheets available from institutions such as the Australian War Memorial, National Archives of Australia and National Library of Australia that will ensure the research is effective. 

House style

History and Heritage Branch – Air Force (HH-AF) aims to produce publications of a consistently high standard. Attaining this standard is not simply the result of an efficient editorial process; it is also the responsibility of the author. The authors can reduce the length and intrusiveness of the editing process by submitting a manuscript that conforms to the requirements of both HH-AF and the manuscript’s publisher.

The House Style outlines for authors, editors and publishers the way material should be presented.

History and Heritage Branch - House Style V2.0 (PDF 1.19 MB)

Australian War Memorial Research Guides 

Aside from being a place of commemoration of the sacrifice of Australians who have died in war or on operational service and those who have served our nation in times of conflict, the Australian War Memorial also maintains an extensive collection of material to help researchers and historians discover the history of Australia's defence forces. Within this collection is a vast range of material on the RAAF, its people and its units. The following research guides will aid anyone researching this history. 

National Archives of Australia Fact Sheets

The National Archives of Australia provides a series of comprehensive fact sheets to aid people with their research. Please find below links to the sheets of most use to those researching Air Force history and Air Force personnel. 

National Library of Australia Research Guides

The National Library of Australia holds “the greatest collection in the world of material relating to Australia and the Australian people”, with its cornerstone being online repository, Trove. Trove provides extensive Australian and online resources such as books, images, historic newspapers, maps, music, and other archives. The following research guides with application to Air Force History are provided by the NLA.