A Pictorial History of the Royal Flying Doctor Service

This book was prepared with the full co-operation of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and it was written by the author of the 50th Anniversary History of the Service, which was published in 1978.

The text of the present book is in fact a condensation of that official history with the addition of new material. it traces the development of the Service from the days when Presbyterian missionaries, including John Flynn, had to battle with the mental and physical problems suffered by outback folk living in the extreme isolation of “the great Australian loneliness.”

The book tells the story of Flynn’s long struggle to establish the Service, and solve the problems of air and radio communication, with the dedicated assistance of such men as George Simpson and Alf Traeger.

The difficult and often dangerous early days are covered by stories taken from the spoken or written recollections of RFDS veterans, and the narrative continues with an outline of the Service’s expansion into other types of care for outback people, including the School of the Air and the Flying Dentists.

Nowadays, they are all part of the ‘Mantle of Safety’ which covers the greater part of inland Australia. Many of the photographs accompanying the text were taken by RFDS personnel and they give a graphic insight into the history and operations of this unique Australian service.