Summary

Canvas flying helmet with press-stud flaps. Used by Major Harry Turner Shaw while serving as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.

Melbourne-born, Shaw obtained his aviator's certificate (#2196) at Shoreham in the UK on 13 December 1915 after serving with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. He received the OBE in 1919 following service with the RFC/RAF during World War I. His family owned a property near Ricketts Point. Shaw later formed the Shaw-Ross Engineering & Aviation Company at Port Melbourne. In 1921, Shaw-Ross imported the first post-World War I aircraft into Australia, a Farman Sport biplane. In May 1922 Shaw flew a Farman Sport from Melbourne to Sydney and back for which he received the 1922 Oswald Watt Gold Medal for "the most notable contribution to aviation by an Australian or in Australia". In 1924 he was a elected as committee member of the Victorian Section of the Australian Aero Club and later chaired the Air Convention, a lobby group comprised of various aviation interests. He served in the RAAF during World War II.

Physical Description

Canvas flying helmet with press-stud flaps.

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