The Royal Australian Air Force Memorial is on ANZAC Parade

ANZAC Parade, Canberra

This article is about the road in Canberra. For other uses, see Anzac Parade .ANZAC Parade, a significant road and thoroughfare in the Australian capital Canberra, is used for ceremonial occasions and is the site of many major military memorials.Named in honour of the Australian and New Zealand...

, the principal ceremonial and memorial avenue of Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

, the capital city of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

The Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 was formed on 31 March 1921, being preceded by the Australian Flying Corps that saw service in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. This memorial commemorates the 50th anniversary of the formation of the RAAF (initially as the Australian Air Force, the 'Royal' prefix being added in August 1921), and the service of members of the RAAF. It was unveilled by HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....

 on 15 March 1973.

The redeveloped memorial incorporated three black granite walls and their images. This was dedicated in the presence of: His Excellency The Right Reverend

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 Dr Peter Hollingworth

Peter Hollingworth

Peter John Hollingworth AC, OBE is an Australian Anglican bishop. He served as the Archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years before becoming the 23rd Governor-General of Australia from 2001 until 2003....

 AC

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, Governor General

Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...

 of the Commonwealth

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

 of Australia; The Hon. John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

 MP, Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

; and, Air Marshal

Air Marshal

Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Angus Houston

Angus Houston

Air Chief Marshal Allan Grant "Angus" Houston AC, AFC is a retired senior commander of the Royal Australian Air Force and was the Chief of the Defence Force from 4 July 2005 until his retirement on 3 July 2011...

 AC AFC, Chief of Air Force.

Sculpture

The central sculpture was designed by Inge King

Inge King

Inge King is a prominent Australian sculptor, who has many significant public, commercial, and private sculpture commissions to her credit....

 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the RAAF, and was unveiled in 1973. It symbolises the aspirations and achievements of the RAAF; the three upturned wing shapes representing the endurance, strength and courage of RAAF people, while the bronze flight sculpture in the centre embodies man's struggle to conquer the elements. The RAAF motto

Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...

 is inscribed on the base: PER ARDUA AD ASTRA : Through struggle to the stars.

The three black granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 walls at the back were designed by Robert Boynes and were unveilled in 2002. The images and the words of the poem High Flight by John Gillespie Macee Jr symbolise service and sacrifice related to all RAAF personnel and particularly the more that 14,000 who have paid the supreme sacrifice. The list of RAAF battle honours are on the back faces of the two shorter walls.