Paul Joseph McGinness DFC DCM (1896 - 1952)

Born 4 Feb 1896 in Framlingham, Colony of Victoria (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Dorothy Maud (Baxter) McGinniss — married 1924 in Australia

Husband of Irene (Searle) McGinniss — married 1942 in Queensland, Australia

Died 25 Jan 1952 at age 55 in Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia

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Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services

Biography

Paul McGinness DFC DCM was born in the Colony of Victoria (1851-1900)

Paul McGinness DFC DCM is Notable.

Paul Joseph McGinniss was born on the 4th of February 1896 on the family property, Riverview, Framlingham, near Warrnambool, Colony of Victoria (Australia). ^[1] He attended St Patrick's College, Ballarat. ^[2]

Paul McGinness DFC DCM is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Australian Imperial Force 1914-1919
3rd Light Horse Regiment; No.1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps

He served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), his young nation's volunteer expeditionary force for the (First World) War, both in the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment's machine gun section and the Australian Flying Corps' No.1 Squadron.

After his return to Australia Ginty, with Hudson Fysh, with whom he had served at Gallipoli in the 3rd Light Horse and later frequently flown in No.1 Squadron, and Arthur Baird, an engineer (and Flight Sergeant from No.1 Squadron), planned to enter the Australian government's £10,000 prize contest for a flight from England to Australia. Unable to proceed because of the death of their financial backer, Sir Samuel McCaughey, Ginty and Hudson were instead commissioned by Major General (later Lieutenant General) James Legge (who was to champion the establishment of an independent Royal Australian Air Force), on behalf of the Commonwealth Government, to survey the wild and largely-unknown Longreach (Queensland)-Darwin (Northern Territory) section of the route: their T-model Ford was the first car to journey overland to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Legge's plan was to use the western rail terminii, as staging points through to Melbourne: Cloncurry, Winton, Longreach, Charleville, Bourke, and so on southward. It was during their August-September expedition that the two began to appreciate the practicality of air travel in these remote regions, especially with limited roads and bridges (which were subject to destruction in times of flood), the suitability of the terrain for aerodromes every 600 to 800 kilometres, and the lengthy time it took by rail to receive mail, stores, etc. ^[3]

Following a meeting in Brisbane during the week of the Royal Queensland Show in August 1920 between Ginty and Hudson, together with western Queensland graziers Fergus McMaster, Ainslie Templeton and Alexander Kennedy, medical doctor Hope Michod and Alan Campbell of the Queensland Primary Producers, on 16th November 1920 the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd (QANTAS) was registered – as of 2022 the third oldest airline in the world. Initially intending to operate out of Winton, by early 1921 Qantas was operating out of Longreach with an AV Roe Avro 504K Sunbeam Dyak (G-AUBG) and an old Royal Aircraft Factory BE2E (G-AUBF) war-disposals aeroplane and engaged in taxi, ambulance and stock inspection services, and joy-riding. ^[3]

In 1924, Paul married Dorothy Baxter, daughter of Victorian politician, Charles Baxter. They had two daughters.

In 1942, Paul married Irene Searle. ^[4] They were later divorced.

During the Second World War, he served in RAAF administrative jobs including a period in New Guinea at Milne Bay as a Directorate of Air Transport Control Officer and he returned home suffering health issues.

During 1946 Paul tried establishing a meat processing plant at Katherine in the Northern Territory, but that ended when his second marriage failed. Paul went to Queensland’s Atherton Tableland, growing tobacco, before moving in 1951 to Northcliffe near Albany in Western Australia to grow tobacco there.

In November 1951 he was admitted to Hollywood Repatriation Hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia where he passed away of a heart attack, aged almost 56 years, on the 25th of January 1952. His old mate, Sir Hudson Fysh, gives the date of death as 4th February 1952 in his Wings to the World. ^[5] He is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. ^[6][7]

Paul was inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2013. ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Victoria BMD Birth Index: Name: MCGINNESS, Paul Jos; Birth; Mother: Cath Cecilia, TAFFE; Father: Jas; Place: BALLANGEICH; Year: 1896; Ref: 8401/1896
2. ↑ St Patrick's College Ballarat: Paul Joseph Mcginness
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Fysh, Wilmot Hudson, Qantas Rising: The Autobiography of the Flying Fysh. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, New South Wales, 1965. Re-published by Pictorial Press Australia, Corinda Queensland, 2009. ISBN 978 1 876561 53 6
4. ↑ Museum, Qantas. 2020. "WHO WAS PAUL Mcginness? - Qantas Founders Museum". Qantas Founders Museum. https://qfom.com.au/2020/02/07/who-was-paul-mcginness/
5. ↑ Fysh, Sir Hudson. Wings to the World: The Story of Qantas 1945-1966. Angus & Robertson, 1970. ISBN 978 1 876561 51 2
6. ↑ Western Australia Death Index #252/1952; registered at Perth
7. ↑ Find a Grave; accessed 29 Aug 2022
8. ↑ Australian Aviation Hall of Fame

See also:

• Wikipedia: Paul McGinness.