Artwork for Programme of the Royal Air Force Aerial Pageant Hendon

This lithographically-printed poster reproduces the design of an original watercolour painting featuring Vickers Vernon transport aircraft and a blown-up railway bridge in a Middle Eastern setting. The poster was used to advertise the 1923 RAF Hendon Pageant.

The 1923 Pageant, held on what is now the site of the RAF Museum, London, easily lived up to the high standard set in previous years. The 100,000 eager spectators were treated to dazzling displays of aerobatics, low-level bombing, air racing and aerial combat, as well as flights by the latest aircraft. In the imperially-themed finale, three Vickers Vernons swooped to the rescue over a recreated British garrison, blowing up a railway bridge in the process.