RIP Tony Gaze
 

Veteran airman and racing driver Tony Gaze has gone. I was fortunate to interview Tony twice at his property near Seymour named Goodwood.. He was an exceptional pilot and driver. The interviews I did were for Temora Aviation Museum's Unsung Heroes project. He was the first Australian to fly a jet (Meteor with 616 Sqn) and also the first to shoot down German jets while flying Spitfires, having shot down Me262 and Arado 234. RIP Tony.

For those who are unaware of him, Tony served with the RAF during the war, mostly on Spitfires and had I think 12.5 kills including those mentioned above. When I asked him about this he said the real total was over 20.

More on Tony
 

Here's a link to a website on Tony: http://www.tonygaze.com

http://tonygaze.com/wp-content/uploa...mitt-large.jpg

Pic from the above website.

Thanks Keith
 

Extraordinary man - and wonderful website. A true Australian that everyone should be proud of.

Thanks for the link.

Video of Tony
 

At about the 3 minute mark there is a brief excerpt of Tony talking about shooting down the Arado 234, part of the Temora Aviation Museum's Unsung Heroes video I made.

http://vimeo.com/51040054

Keith,

Sad to hear he has gone, but we should all give thanks for you and management at Temora for the Unsung Heroes project: without that, many, many veterans' stories would be lost to history.

Good interviews take preparation, skill and dedication: I've seen plenty of historians who do more talking than interviewing their subject, but yours are a model of how it should be done. You do a great job, and deserve our collective thanks.

Mike C

(OK, yes, Keith and I are mates, but my comments above are all to do with the high standard of his work, nothing more).

Mike (and Keith) From past record we can see you guys have integrity. You don't require to qualify it. :note:
A very interesting man. Thank you Keith for bringing his outstanding life to our attention. A real life hero, several times over. :salute: