Harry Cobby
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Air Commodore Arthur Henry Cobby, was an Australian military aviator. He was the leading fighter ace of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) during World War I, despite seeing active service for less than a year.
Captain Cobby (centre) with officers of A Flight, No. 4 Squadron AFC, and their Sopwith Camels on the Western Front, June 1918
Cobby in his Sopwith Camel while instructing in England, c.1918–19. He organised the high-visibility check paint pattern himself, "not for conceit, but for safety".
Group Captain Cobby (right) takes over North-Eastern Area from Air Commodore Frank Lukis (centre) in Townsville, Queensland, August 1942
Balloon buster
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Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven flying aces in World War I were each credited with destroying five or more balloons, and thus were balloon aces.
Observation balloon being shot down by a German biplane
British balloon of the German Parseval-Siegsfeld type, 1916, typical of observation balloons in the first half of World War I
A Nieuport 11 armed with Le Prieur rockets and an overwing Lewis gun
The leading balloon buster, Willy Coppens, is personally decorated by his monarch, King Albert I.