The Very Rev. John Flynn OBE (1880–1951) founded the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and spent more than 39 years travelling in the outback. Flynn envisaged a number of schemes to help white and Aboriginal outback communities develop their own safety network. To this end he established nursing hostels and patrols across northern Australia, and later persuaded Alfred Traeger, inventor of the pedal radio, to help bring two-way transmission to remote areas. These developments paved the way for the inception of the AIM Aerial Medical Service in May 1928. It was renamed the Flying Doctor Service of Australia in 1942, with the 'Royal' designation added in 1954. In turn, the strategies used by the Aerial Medical Service helped to inspire the creation of the 'school of the air'.
In 1955, author and artist Harry Hudson set out on a 32,000-kilometre tour of the outback to meet the doctors, nurses, airmen and radio technicians who had devoted their lives to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This portrait featured as the frontispiece to Hudson's book, Flynn's Flying Doctors (1956), which was illustrated with 130 of the author's sketches. Flynn's friends described him as a meticulous dresser who maintained his immaculate presentation, even in soaring outback temperatures.
Purchased 1999
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