On the 20th March 1917, Lt Frank McNamara, a member of 1 Sqn AFC became the first Australian Airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
After the cessation of hostilities in 1919 the AFC returned to Australia and was disbanded.The Central Flying School continued to operate until 1920 when the Australian Air Corps was formed. Although still controlled by the Army, plans were under way for the establishment of a permanent Air Force.

The foundation strength of the RAAF in 1921 was 21 officers and 130 other ranks. The original Aircraft were Avro 504K trainers,Sopwith Pup Scouts, SE5A Fighters, DH9A bombers and DH9 army co-op machines.
No Squadrons were formed until July 1925, when No 1 Sqn and 3 Sqn were re-activated.

In the war in Europe, Australians took part in every major action, including the "Battle of Britain" , "Dam Buster" raids against the Mohne and Eder Dams and the raid against the German Battleship "Tirpitz". In Europe, the RAAF lost 5,488 personnel killed.missing and presumed dead.

In the Middle East the RAAF saw extensive action, sustaining losses of 1,135 men. The RAAF was also operational in the Burma-India area.

By 1942 the RAAF had reached its greatest ever strength of more than 20,000 officers, 140,000 airmen, and 18,000 airwomen, with over 5,000 aircraft.

By October 1945 members of the RAAF were being discharged at the rate of 5,500 a week. The Government decided a figure of 12,000 personnel was reasonable for a post war RAAF. By 1950, Australia was operating new jet aircraft from England namely the DeHavilland Vampire and the Gloster Meteor. The post war re-organisation allowed a total of 144 aircraft to be distributed between 16 squadrons.

On August 29, 1951 30 Migs engaged 8 RAAF Meteors. In the hectic fight one Meteor was shot down and another badly damaged without any Migs being damaged. This and later battles showed the Mig 15 to have an advantage over the British fighter. Australians were to shoot down Migs later on. In December 1951, the Sqn was relegated to Ground attack operations.In one Month the Meteors flew 1,105 sorties in North Korea.

36 Sqn also assisted with their Dakotas. Mainly flying aerial supply, medical evacuation and passenger carrying for the British Commonwealth forces in Korea the Dakota's flew more than 12,000 wounded out of Korea. They also carried 100,000 passengers and 13 million lbs of freight and mail.