Group Captain Noel Quinn

Portrait of 622 Squadron Leader (later Group Captain) Noel Thomas Quinn, DFC and 2 Bars, Commanding 8 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Noel Thomas Quinn, DFC and 2 Bars was born on 16 March 1916 in Cessnock, New South Wales. On 4 September 1939 he enlisted as an air cadet with the RAAF, completing flying training and a commission as Pilot Officer on 3 May 1940, with a promotion to Flying Officer later that year. As flying officer, he joined No.2 Squadron, participating in the Squadron's withdrawal from the Netherlands East Indies after which he returned to Australia. In July 1942 he was posted to No.6 Squadron at Richmond, NSW. In August of that year, he successfully helped an Allied trawler fend off attack from a Japanese submarine off the coast of Moruya after which he was then transferred to No.14 Squadron at Pearce, WA. In October of 1942, while escorting a Catalina flying boat patrol, Quinn undertook the only known attack by an Australian-based Lockheed Hudson against a Japanese bomber.

After completing Bristol Beaufort training with torpedo instruction, Quinn was posted to No.8 Squadron in April 1943 which was soon operational out of Goodenough Island. Between September and November Quinn had completed 31 operational sorties and 8 strike missions, including a damaging hit on a Japanese light cruiser. On 1 December Quinn was promoted to CO of No.12 Squadron with the rank of squadron leader and awarded a DFC. Just three days later, while on a successful torpedo mission near Rabaul Quinn's aircraft stuck an obstacle and crashed into the sea. Despite surviving, Quinn was captured by Japanese forces and interrogated for 4 days and later transported to Japan for further interrogation. He would not return to Australia until October 1945. In recognition of this final mission, he was awarded a bar to his DFC in 1946.

Post-war, Quinn served in various administrative positions during which he was promoted to Wing Commander in March 1950. He was later placed in charge of No.1 Squadron during the Malayan Emergency where he piloted Avro Lincolns from 1952-1953. For leadership in this position, he was awarded a second bar to his DFC in 1954.

In August 1953, Quinn returned to Australia to command the School of Land/Air Warfare at Williamtown.

In 1958 Quinn was again promoted to Group Captain and in 1971 he retired from the RAAF with the honourary rank of Air Commodore.

William Edwin Pidgeon (1909-1981) was a painter, cartoonist, illustrator and newspaper critic. Working with Consolidated Press, he was appointed a war correspondant and artist in 1943. He became renowned for his cartoons signed with his initials, 'WEP'. During the Second World War many of his illustrations were published in the 'Australian Women's Weekly' and on the cover of the magazine. His humourous works conveyed the lives, personalities and conditions under which Australian troops served in Darwin, New Guinea and Borneo. During the Second World War he also contributed cartoons to the Army periodical, SALT. After the war he continued to provide illustrations for books during the 1950s, but mainly concentrated on portrait painting. He won the Archibald Prize in 1958, 1961 and again in 1968 for a portrait of fellow artist Lloyd Rees. From 1974-79 he served as the art critic for the 'Sunday Telegraph' newspaper.