Commander - RAAF Combat Surgical Team - Squadron Leader Cooper RN
Oil on Canvas
700mm x 1000mm
2010
"Squadron Leader Cooper (now SQNLDR Bown) joined the RAAF in 1999
after her training as a registered nurse in Hobart. Within the year, she
was deployed to East Timor for six months! Quite a change from working
in a quiet Tasmanian hospital.
"Through her military career she impressed all for whom - and with
whom - she worked as being a consummate professional officer and
military nurse.
"As a member of an Aeromedical Team, during her second tour of
East Timor, she was en route to assist a Timorese woman who was having
birthing difficulties when the helicopter in which she was travelling
crashed in bad weather. Suffering a broken back and broken jaw, she was
repatriated to Australia and began the long road to recovery learning
how to walk again.
"Within a little over a year, and still undergoing painful
physiotherapy, she was chosen to be the Aide-de-Camp to the Minister for
Defence, Dr Brendan Nelson. This was a very busy year for her as she
undertook the important roles of the Minister's right hand person in
uniform.
"In 2008 she was again chosen for a special task; the command of
the RAAF surgical team assigned to work with the Dutch in Afghanistan
where she was not only charged with commanding the surgical team, but
also continued to act as an operational nurse caring for not only
Australian and Allied troops, but also many Afghani nationals.
"This image here shows her overseeing the operations of the
surgical team - highly experienced surgeons from the RAAF specialist
reserve - whilst undertaking her other tasks as the team's commander.
"The aim of this painting was not only as a portrait, but also to
show how we, as a military, change with the times. Here, a woman
commands a combined team of men and women; a Squadron Leader is in
charge of a team consisting of Wing Commanders and Group Captains; a
nurse is in charge of doctors. If there is one thing the Defence Force
is good at, that is ensuring that the best possible person is placed in
charge rather than merely defaulting to the person with the highest rank
or a with a longer list of qualifications. When it comes to war, egos
must be put aside and a 'get on with the job' attitude must prevail.
"Furthermore, I wanted to maintain the theme of Nora Heysen where
she painted many medical themed images during her time in New Guinea and
Far North Queensland during the war as well as many portraits of women.
My image is a combination of both; a portrait of Squadron Leader Cooper
as commander of her team of talented medical personnel who are
diligently going about their business. The images below show this theme
and variations and the photo at the bottom of a RAAF Surgical Team in
New Guinea shows that the more things change, the more they stay the
same.
A painting of an Operating Theatre by Nora Heysen. Heysen worked in
New Guinea and Far North Queensland and this image was painted from her
time at Alexishafen in New Guinea
-
Heysen, Nora
Study of an operation,
Alexishafen
-
Australian War Memorial Collection
Oil on hardboard, July 1944
40.6 x 45.6 cm
ART 22402
http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/ART22402
A portrait of RAAF Nursing Sister Mavis Winifred John painted by Nora
Heysen.
Australian War Memorial Art Collection
45 x 39 oil on canvas on wood panel.
Made in Cairns 1945
Nora Heysen
ART 24368\
http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/ART24368
This image is of an RAAF Hospital in Madang, New Guinea during 1945.
The Flight Lieutenant on the left and the Wing Commander on the right
are assisted by the RAAF Nursing sister in centre.
Australian War Memorial Collection
OG1984
Black and White photograph
http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/OG1984 |
