An Officer from Tasmania 318: Flt Lt Falkinder by Edith Honor Earl, chalk on paper

Charles William Falkinder from Tasmania enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in May 1940, where he undertook pilot and navigator training. He was among the first of the Empire Air Training Scheme trainees to serve with the RAF, arriving in England in August 1941. He flew 117 missions over Europe with RAF Bomber Command.

Soon after he was commissioned, on 30 June 1942, Falkinder was promoted to Flying Officer and served with No.109 Squadron in Bomber Command’s Pathfinder Force, marking target areas for attack. For his skill, fortitude and devotion to duty, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was later complemented with a Bar for his skill and efficiency in handling a wide variety of targets. On 30 June 1944 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant, the rank he occupied when he sat for this portrait. Edith Honor Earl drew Falkinder’s portrait for her exhibition 'Warriors of the Empire' with the Royal Empire Society, which opened in London’s Grosvenor House in December 1944. It is one of 22 portraits by her in the RAF Museum collection (besides others elsewhere) which celebrate the contributions of Service personnel from the British Commonwealth and colonies. Earl, who came from a wealthy and influential family, used her influence for philanthropic ends, staging wartime exhibitions of her work in aid of charities. She intended for her 'Warriors of the Empire' portraits to raise awareness of, and foster social cohesion with, the ‘thousands of men and women who came from all over the Commonwealth to help win the war … soldiers, sailors and airmen, representing every part of what was then termed the “Dominions” and “Colonies”’. Drawing personnel she met in club rooms or had contacted through Services organisations, Earl celebrated the distinctive identities of her sitters' native countries, drawing small evocative vignettes of landscapes in the corners of the portraits to educate people about their origins and 'make the British people more aware of the enormous debt of gratitude we owed to those splendid people'. She devoted proceeds of the exhibition to their welfare and hospitality. In April the following year, Falkinder was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership. After the war he continued to serve with the RAF Reserve in the rank of Wing Commander before latterly pursuing a political career in Australia. Purchased in 1988. Copyright: the Artist's Estate / RAF Museum.