Preserving a Legacy

When veteran Bene Cochran heard the news that he had won the Then, Now, Always, RAAF Centenary 3-Frame Limited Edition Canvas Artwork, he was ecstatic. While ‘feeling out of this world,’ Cochran, a RAAF veteran, immediately contacted the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Museum at Point Cook, where he volunteers to let them know his intention to donate the artwork to the museum.  

The museum officials were excited. The sensational artwork was created by Drew Harrison, one of Australia's leading military aviation artists. It spans the first 100 years of Air Force, from its beginnings at Point Cook in 1921, through wars and peacetime, into the present day and beyond. The completed masterpiece is painted on three highly detailed panels measuring 1 metre x 1 metre. The museum received the full-size museum-quality reproduction that bears a metal disc from A21-1, the first F/A-18A built and flown in Australia. A wonderful and thoughtful donation from Cochran that the public will now get to enjoy. 

 Taken during the handover ceremony at RAAF Museum Headquarters on 29 July 2022, where Bene and Tonia Cochran were thanked for their generous donation to the Air Force Heritage Collection. (Courtesy of Emily Constantine, RAAF Museum Curator)

Earlier in 2020, Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, AO, DSC accepted limited edition artwork #002 on behalf of the Air Force and is proudly displayed in his office foyer at Air Force Headquarters, Canberra.

Read: Chief of Air Force Salutes 'Then. Now. Always.' 

Stephen Davie, the managing director of BrandNet, the company which operates the official Air Force Shop and commissioned the artwork, Then. Now. Always, said, “We were thrilled that Bene won the artwork, and were humbled by his significant generosity to donate his $4,500 prize to the Australian community so future generations could enjoy and reflect on the significant contribution Air Force has contributed to Australia in its first 100 years.”  

Bene Cochran first joined the RAAF in 1968 as a Clerk Stores Accounting (Course number 926) and was posted and attached to approximately 17 bases both in Australia and overseas. He is a multi-awarded veteran having received several recognitions and commendations for outstanding service throughout his career. Discharged in 1995, he started volunteering at the RAAF Museum in 2006 taking groups, both service personnel and members of the public on tours of the museum and sharing his enthusiasm. 

Get to know this RAAF Veteran: Bene Cochran 

Why did you join the service? 

I joined up in April 1968 as I always wanted to be in the RAAF (I was Air Training Corps at school and I think my 303 was bigger than me). The Vietnam war was in full swing, so I thought it was time to join up. 

Bene Cochran received his Long Service Medal in 1983

How did joining the RAAF change you? 

I started my career working in a bank and then at QANTAS prior to joining the RAAF. Air Force gave me the opportunity and sense of working as a team, something I have enjoyed throughout my career and now as a volunteer. 

Tell us of an unforgettable RAAF memory you have. 

There have been lots of great memories like Cyclone Tracy in Darwin and the great way that officers, SNCO’s and airmen and airwomen just got together no matter what branch or mustering and joined in together. If something needed to be done no matter what it was, we all teamed up and just did it.  

There was also the day I was promoted to Warrant Officer, a very proud day indeed. It was an outstanding feeling and to have my wife Tonia there, who has been a great support throughout my service career, is something I will always cherish.   

What motivated you to volunteer at the RAAF Museum?  

After retiring from Air Force I found that an enormous hole was left in my life. When we moved back to Melbourne, I approached the RAAF Museum and they took me on and gave me the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience with visitors. 

What is the best part of being a volunteer? 

The faces on the school children and other groups when they realise all this information was so worth the trip down to Point Cook and the thanks you get from them seems to top off my Air Force career. 

 Since 2006, Bene Cochran has been an active volunteer at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook

Why did you choose to donate the Centenary Artwork? 

Point Cook is the home of the Australian Flying Corps, Royal Australian Air Force and the RAAF Museum is there to ensure that the public does not forget the good and not so good times that the RAAF has gone through. I could not think of a better place to display the Centenary Artwork, so that the public, Air Force and former members can get to see our magnificent fleet of aircraft that have filled our skies over the last 100 years, and figured it would be better there than at home. 

How has life been these days?  

It's been very hard and gives you lots of time to think. Health has been up and down and COVID has been a challenge, so I look forward to getting back to the Museum, and sharing stories with visitors and introducing the RAAF to more new people. 

Any philosophy you live by or one that guides you through life? 

Treat everyone like your old lost friend and always be helpful and there for people.  

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