Ashleigh Brown

Ashleigh Brown is an Associate Lecturer (War Studies) in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. She also works as an historian on the Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Australian Peacekeeping Operations in East Timor, at the Australian War Memorial.

Ashleigh is completing her PhD with UNSW Canberra, researching Australian military aviation during the interwar period. Her thesis investigates the formation of the Royal Australian Air Force in 1921, its initial developments and challenges, and the period of rapid modernisation leading up to the Second World War.

Ashleigh’s research interests include the development of military aviation, the First World War, Australia during the interwar period, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, and Australia’s operations in Afghanistan. Her first book, Inside GHQ: The Gallipoli Diary of Captain Orlo Williams, was published in 2025.