Devon Minchin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Devon George Minchin 28 May 1919 Bondi, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 30 May 2014 (aged 95) Tewantin, Queensland, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupations |
|
Devon Minchin (28 May 1919 – 30 May 2014) was an Australian fighter pilot, entrepreneur, security industry pioneer and author.
Minchin was born at home in Flood St, Bondi to Alfred Hugh Minchin (1884–1954) and Dora Muriel "Bo" Minchin (née Donaldson) (1883–1985). He was the youngest of the couple's three children, the others being Helen Patricia [1] (1910–2002) and Lester Hugh St Clair (1915–1993). The family was raised in various Sydney suburbs and Minchin attended Lane Cove Public School, Cammeray Public School, Chatswood High School, and Knox Grammar School. [2]
Minchin left school in 1934 aged 15 and became an office boy at the George Patterson Agency, where he worked for two years. [3] In 1936 he took a job on a ship and worked his way to England. [4] In London he briefly worked for the advertising agency Samson Clark Price-Berry as an assistant on the Aspro account before landing a job with the Vick Chemical Company. [5] As a trainee salesman, Minchin sold Vicks products in Ireland and the UK before being selected for further sales training in New York City. [6] After success in a nationwide sales contest, [7] from 1938 to 1939 he sold wholesale Vicks products throughout Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as well as New York State.
In 1939 Minchin was sent to Australia to conduct market research for Vicks. [8] He sailed to Sydney on SS Monterey. [9] [10] When war was declared in September 1939 he resigned from Vicks to join the Royal Australian Air Force.
Minchin enlisted at the RAAF office in Erskine St Sydney and was told that he would soon be contacted. In the meantime he took a job with Sheldon Drug Company selling fly spray in regional Queensland. By May 1940 he had not heard back from the RAAF and after making enquiries discovered that his enlistment records were lost. He signed up again in Rockhampton and was sent to No. 7 Course RAAF Bradfield Park. [11] There he passed enough exams to be mustered as a pilot in the Empire Air Training Scheme.
He was posted to No. 26 E.A.T.S. Guinea Fowl, Rhodesia to learn to fly on the Tiger Moth. He then went to 22 Central Flying Training School at Thornhill, Bulawayo to train on the Harvard MkI. [12] Following flight training Minchin transited in Kasfareet, Egypt before being sent to defend Aden where he flew the Hawker Hurricane MkI. While in Aden, Minchin wrote his first novel The Potato Man, published by Frank Johnson in 1944. [13] [14] In 1942 Minchin returned to Egypt where he converted to the Curtiss P-40 (Kittyhawk) and joined No. 450 Squadron RAAF ("The Desert Harassers"). [15] [16] He flew 123 operational sorties and was mentioned in dispatches [17] as part of the North African campaign in 1942–1943 and shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 during operations over Cape Bon in Tunisia. [18]
Pilot Officer Minchin was also 450 Squadron's unofficial entertainment officer, penning poems and songs and leading the troops at the piano or on the ukelele at any given opportunity. He wrote Marlene's Boyfriend, [19] a parody of the German propaganda song Lili Marlene which became one of the most popular Desert Air Force songs. [20]
After the July 1943 invasion of Sicily, Minchin contracted malaria and was stood down from operations. [21] He became the lessee of The Grand Albergo dell'Etna [22] and with fellow PO Harry Gregory turned the hotel into a respite for Allied officers. [23] In late 1943 Minchin was assigned to production aircraft test pilot duties at No. 7 Maintenance Unit, RAF Kasfareet. [24] He tested 19 different operational types of aircraft until he was returned to Australia in late 1944 due to the ongoing effects of malaria.
Following a six-month stint training Army Air Liaison Officers at the School of Army Air Co-operation in Canberra, [25] Minchin transferred to the Australian Army to join the British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit. [26] [27] There he worked on the rehabilitation of Sandakan following the Japanese surrender.
In 1946 Minchin, his brother Lester and business partner Jack Bartle (former Commanding Officer, 450 Squadron RAAF) [28] purchased a 110-foot, 85 ton ship called The Bellbird and loaded it with goods to sell in Borneo. They sailed from Sydney on 13 April but on their first night at sea they were struck by a big storm and had to scuttle the ship near Barrenjoey, New South Wales. [29] [30] [31]
In 1946 the Minchin brothers and Bartle organised a syndicate that was granted timber milling concessions in Sarawak. [32] The following year they established Colonial Timber Company Limited (CTC) in Kuching. By the time of its sale in 1963 the company had the largest timber concession in the colony. The Minchin brothers along with John Cullity of Cullity Timbers of Western Australia then established Allardyce Lumber Company in the Solomon Islands. [33]
While remaining a director of CTC, Minchin returned to advertising in 1948 becoming circulation manager of The Straits Times in Singapore. [34] His tenure was cut short after only a few months when his wife Susan died of polio on 24 April 1948. [35]
From 1949 to 1952 Devon Minchin was an account executive at Cathay Ltd, a Hong Kong advertising agency. [36]
In 1954 Minchin founded Metropolitan Security Services, which became Australia's largest privately owned security company before it was sold to Mayne Nickless in 1970. [37] When the Beatles toured Australia in 1964, MSS had the contract to provide security and Minchin took personal charge. [38] [39] He received a note signed by all the members of the band thanking him for allowing "the finest birds and best boomerang makers into the (hotel) suites". [40]
In 1969 Devon Minchin was the founding president of Australian Security Industry Association Limited, which became Australia's peak national security industry body. [41]
In June 1970, thieves stole $289,233 [42] in cash from MSS's Melbourne headquarters. [43] It was at the time, Victoria's biggest ever robbery. [44]
Following the sale of MSS, Minchin moved to Queensland where he farmed pineapples, bananas and paw paws on the Sunshine Coast. He developed a cinema complex in Noosa Heads and became foundation chairman of the Noosa District Tourist Association Committee. [45] Minchin received a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University in 1978 [46] and later his attention turned late Roman history. He completed a trilogy of novels set in 4th century AD Rome and when he was at the age of 91 it was published as Love And The Fall of Rome. [47] [48] Minchin moved from his Yandina farm to Noosa in 2000.
Minchin died on 30 May 2014 aged 95.
Devon Minchin wrote The Money Movers, which was published in 1972. It is a novel loosely based on the 1970 MSS robbery and an armoured car heist in Sydney the same year. [49] [50] [51] The book was the basis for the 1978 film Money Movers directed by Bruce Beresford. It was at the time considered one of the most violent films ever made in Australia. [52]
After meeting her when she was an Australian Army nurse in Labuan, [53] [54] Minchin married Susan Scot-Skirving at St Mark's Darling Point in 1946. [55] Susan died of polio in Singapore [56] on 24 April 1948. [57]
In 1952, Minchin married Betty Bentley (née Rushbrooke) at St Jude's Anglican Church, Dural. [58] Betty was a widow with a daughter Susan Elizabeth (29 Oct 1945 – ) who Devon subsequently legally adopted. [59] The couple had two children, Nicholas Hugh (15 Apr 1953 – ) and Melody Irene (27 Dec 1954 – ). Devon and Betty divorced in 1964.
Minchin married Margot Brickhill (née Slater), who was previously married to Paul Brickhill, in 1964. They had two children, Catherine Jeanette (25 Oct 1965 – 28 Mar 1968) and William Devon Richard (27 Mar 1969 – ).
His eldest son Nick Minchin was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 2011 and a former cabinet minister in the Howard government. [60]
Minchin wrote the following books: [61]
Minchin wrote the following short story:
Minchin also wrote a self-published autobiography:
Minchin's 1972 novel The Money Movers was made into the feature film Money Movers in 1979.
Air Marshal Sir James Anthony Rowland, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1975 to 1979. He held office as Governor of New South Wales from 1981 to 1989, and was Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991.
No. 25 Squadron is a general reserve squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It is based at RAAF Base Pearce in Perth, Western Australia, and forms part of the Combat Support Group. The squadron was formed in early 1937 and until early 1939 was designated as No. 23 Squadron. During World War II, it provided local air defence for the Perth region, before undertaking Army co-operation duties in 1943–1944 and then converting to a heavy bomber role in 1945. Flying B-24 Liberators, the squadron took part in operations against Japanese targets in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) and supported Allied ground operations during the Borneo Campaign.
North-Eastern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. For most of its existence it controlled units based in central and northern Queensland as well as Papua New Guinea. It was formed in January 1942 from the eastern part of the former Northern Area Command, which had covered all of northern Australia and Papua. Headquartered at Townsville, Queensland, North-Eastern Area Command's responsibilities included air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its territory. Its flying units, equipped with fighters, reconnaissance bombers, dive bombers and transports, took part in the battles of Rabaul, Port Moresby and Milne Bay in 1942, and the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in 1944.
Camden Airport is an aerodrome located on the outskirts of Sydney, 1 nautical mile northwest of Camden, New South Wales, Australia. The airport is located approximately 60 km (37 mi) from Sydney's central business district. Camden is used as a general aviation overflow airport for the busier Bankstown Airport, and provides facilities for gliding and ballooning. The aerodrome has one grass runway and one paved runway and two glider airstrips. It is in the south-west corner of the designated Sydney flight training area.
No. 78 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadron of World War II. It was formed in July 1943 as part of expansion of the RAAF's fighter force, and was assigned to mobile striking forces for the duration of the war.
No. 82 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force fighter squadron that operated during World War II and its immediate aftermath. It was formed in June 1943, flying Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks and, initially, Bell P-39 Airacobras from bases in Queensland and New Guinea. The squadron became operational in September 1944, and undertook ground attack missions against Japanese targets in the Pacific theatre. Following the end of hostilities, No. 82 Squadron was re-equipped with North American P-51 Mustangs and deployed to Japan, where it formed part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. It remained there until October 1948, when it was disbanded.
Air Marshal Sir Colin Thomas Hannah, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a Governor of Queensland. Born in Western Australia, he was a member of the Militia before joining the RAAF in 1935. After graduating as a pilot, Hannah served in Nos. 22 and 23 Squadrons from 1936 to 1939. During the early years of World War II, he was the RAAF's Deputy Director of Armament. He then saw action in the South West Pacific as commander of No. 6 Squadron and, later, No. 71 Wing, operating Bristol Beaufort bombers. By 1944, he had risen to the rank of group captain, and at the end of the war was in charge of Western Area Command in Perth.
Air Marshal Sir Charles Frederick Read, KBE, CB, DFC, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1972 to 1975. Born in Sydney, Read joined the RAAF in 1937, and began his career flying biplane fighters. As a Beaufighter pilot, he led No. 31 Squadron and No. 77 Wing in the South West Pacific during World War II. His achievements earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and a mention in despatches, and he finished the war an acting group captain.
Donald Ernest Cameron Charlwood AM was an Australian author. He also worked as a farm hand, an air traffic controller and, most notably, as an RAAF navigator in Bomber Command during the Second World War.
No. 72 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) wing that operated during World War II. It was formed in April 1943 at Townsville, Queensland, as part of North-Eastern Area Command. Led by Group Captain Charles Eaton, the wing soon deployed to Merauke, Dutch New Guinea, where it comprised three squadrons flying CAC Boomerang and P-40 Kittyhawk fighters, and A-31 Vengeance dive bombers. Eaton was succeeded by Group Captain Allan Walters in mid-1943. No. 72 Wing took part in the defence of Torres Strait, undertaking interception, patrol and occasional ground-attack and anti-shipping duties. By July 1944, its original squadrons had all been disbanded or transferred to other operational formations. No. 120 Squadron, which had arrived in May 1944, operating Kittyhawks, remained at Merauke until February 1945. The wing headquarters returned to Australia that May, and disbanded the following month.
Leslie Douglas (Les) Jackson, DFC & Bar was an Australian fighter ace of World War II, credited with five aerial victories. Born in Brisbane, he was a businessman when he joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Reserve in 1937. Called up for active duty shortly after the outbreak of war in September 1939, he served with No. 23 Squadron in Australia before posting to the South West Pacific theatre with No. 21 Squadron in Singapore. In March 1942 he joined No. 75 Squadron in Port Moresby, New Guinea, flying P-40 Kittyhawks under the command of his eldest brother, John. During the ensuing Battle of Port Moresby, Les shot down four Japanese aircraft.
Air Vice Marshal Alan Moorehouse Charlesworth, CBE, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Tasmania, he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and served with the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in Queensland before transferring to the Air Force in 1925. Most of his pre-war flying career was spent with No. 1 Squadron at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria. In 1932 he undertook a series of survey flights around Australia, earning the Air Force Cross. Charlesworth's early wartime commands included No. 2 Squadron at Laverton, and RAAF Station Pearce in Western Australia. Appointed Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Eastern Area in December 1943, he was promoted temporary air commodore the following year and took over as AOC North-Western Area in Darwin, Northern Territory.
No. 3 Service Flying Training School was a flying training school of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. It was formed in September 1940, and commenced flying two months later. Responsible for intermediate and advanced instruction of pilots under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), the school was based at RAAF Station Amberley, Queensland, and operated CAC Wirraway and Avro Anson aircraft. Two reserve squadrons were formed at the school in response to the outbreak of war in the Pacific, and the base fortified against air attack. In March 1942 the RAAF divided the staff and equipment of No. 3 SFTS between Nos. 1 and 6 Service Flying Training Schools at Point Cook, Victoria, and Mallala, South Australia, respectively. No. 3 SFTS was disbanded the following month.
No. 11 Elementary Flying Training School was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot training unit that operated during World War II. It was one of twelve elementary flying training schools employed by the RAAF to provide introductory flight instruction to new pilots as part of Australia's contribution to the Empire Air Training Scheme. No. 11 EFTS was established in June 1941 at Benalla, Victoria, and operated Tiger Moths and Wackett Trainers during the war. It ceased training in July 1945 after almost 3,000 students had passed through, and was re-formed as Care and Maintenance Unit (CMU) Benalla in February 1946. CMU Benalla was disbanded in October 1948.
Island Target is a 1945 documentary commissioned by the Australian Government, Commonwealth Department of Information (Australia) during World War II. It tells the story of a P-40 Kittyhawk squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force.
No. 8 Elementary Flying Training School was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot training unit that operated during World War II. It was one of twelve elementary flying training schools employed by the RAAF to provide introductory flight instruction to new pilots as part of Australia's contribution to the Empire Air Training Scheme. No. 8 EFTS was established in September 1940 at Narrandera, New South Wales. Training ceased in December 1944 and the school was reduced to maintaining base infrastructure and aircraft. It was officially disbanded in June 1945 and renamed Care and Maintenance Unit (CMU) Narrandera. The CMU was disbanded in December 1947.
Beaufort Mosman Hunter Palmer, was an Australian aviator of the Second World War who was recognised as one of Australia's finest wartime pilot instructors.
The three branches of the Australian Defence Force are each represented by flags, among other emblems and insignia. Within each service, various symbols fly on individual ships, at bases, camps, the Australian Defence Force Academy and colleges. These include flags, standards, guidons and banners and that denote rank, appointment, corps, formations, regiments, training units and sub-units.
Vance Drummond, was a New Zealand–born Australian pilot who fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He initially saw service in the New Zealand military, but joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1949 and graduated as a sergeant pilot in 1951. Posted to No. 77 Squadron in Korea, he flew Gloster Meteor jet fighters and earned the US Air Medal for his combat skills. He was shot down by a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in December 1951 and imprisoned for almost two years. After returning to Australia he converted to CAC Sabre jets and in December 1961 became a flight commander with No. 75 Squadron; he subsequently led the squadron's Black Diamonds aerobatic team, and was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1965.
Nel Minchin is an Australian documentary film director.
My father actually adopted my oldest sister, half-sister, as his daughter, legally, because she had no father; her father had died. So it was the three of us, yes, and Mum had custody with, you know, access provisions and all that sort of thing.