Australia
The Imperial Gift to Australia originally consisted of 100 aircraft, spare engines, tools, motor transport and 13 transportable hangars shipped in over 19,000 packing cases. An additional 28 aircraft were provided at the same time to replace aircraft donated by the people of Australia to Great Britain during the First World War. Australia's aircraft allotment consisted of:
- 35 x Avro 504K
- 35 x Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a
- 30 x Airco/de Haviland DH-9a
- 28 x Airco/de Haviland DH-9
On 30 June 1919, the Australian Army Service Corps recommended the creation of a temporary "Australian Air Corps" (AAC) formed into two wings (one wing to meet the needs of the Navy and the other for the Army). The Imperial Gift enabled the formation of the Royal Australian Air Force in 1921. An Air Board, answering to the Minister for Defence, would administer the new service.
Imperial Gift aircraft were shipped to Australia in 1919, assembled upon delivery in 1920 and served for up to 10 years. The Airco/de Haviland DH-9a (A1-17/F2779) was the longest serving Imperial Gift aircraft, written off on 4 February 1930. The only original surviving Imperial Gift aircraft in Australia are an Avro 504K (A3-4), on display at the Treloar Technology Centre (Canberra) and a S.E.5a (A2-4), in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, exhibited in the ANZAC Hall of the main Australian War Memorial displays.
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