WRANS Transport Driver at Flinders Naval Depot

• About M M Coward

  Maxwell Maurice Coward

  (Born Ballarat, Victoria, 30 March 1922. Died 27 March 2000)

  Max trained to be an art teacher at the Ballarat Technical Art School from 1937 to 1941. In 1939 he was appointed to the Ballarat School of Mines Magazine Committee, and his work has been reproduced in that edition.

  Max enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy, (Able Seaman, PM3799), as a Naval Trainee at Flinders Naval Depot on 8 August 1941. He was discharged from the RAN on 31 January 1946. During these years Max was described as a cartoonist and illustrator. He was in the Naval Intelligence Division in 1945, producing stories and drawings for the Navy newspaper Dit. His work was reproduced in the Christmas annual, HMAS Mk IV and the Army educational journal, Salt.

  Max’s work displayed technical competence, and keen observational ability - traits that later showed with the precision and structural clarity of his prints. His Naval career also exposed him to ports, coastlines, and working vessels across Australia and the Pacific. These experiences became recurring motifs in his mature work.

  After leaving naval service, Max redirected his disciplined focus toward the arts, especially regarding linocut printmaking. He embraced the medium’s strong contrasts, carved textures, and capacity for bold, graphic storytelling. His prints often depict maritime subjects.  Coward’s linocuts balanced structural accuracy with expression, revealing how his naval eye for detail merged with an artist’s instinct for form and rhythm.

  Working largely in Victoria and later New South Wales, Coward became part of Australia’s mid‑century printmaking movement by contributing to exhibitions and local art societies.

  Max Coward's work is in the collection of the Australian War Memorial. Two of his works are held in the Federation University Art Collection.

  More paintings by M M Coward
• About Sailors at work

  Since entering World War 1 in 1914 with 16 ships, two submarines and 3800 RAN personnel (including 850 from the Royal Navy) the number of serving personnel in the Royal Australian Navy has fluctuated depending on the strategic and shifting financial environment. Over more than a century, the RAN’s and people have seen action in every ocean of the world.

  Of the tens of thousands who have served, 2658 members have made the ultimate sacrifice defending Australia’s interests in warlike and peacetime operations across the globe.

  Fortunately, for the vast majority who served in periods of peace or survived periods of hostilities the experience was positive.

  In addition to their service in a particular category which involved specific duties, they also participated in communal duties such as coaling ship. Thus, the artworks included in this section relate to a mix of specialist and communal activities.

More reading

• Additional resources for M M Coward
  • Max Coward - Ballarat and District Industrial Heritage Project
  • Max Coward - Search Collections
• Additional resources for Sailors at work
  • The RAN - A Brief History, Sea Power Centre Australia