Frederick Anthony Owen Gaze, (3 February 1920 – 29 July 2013) was an Australian fighter pilot and racing driver. He flew with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, was a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with 12.5 confirmed victories (11 and 3 shared), and later enjoyed a successful racing career in the UK, Europe and Australia. He was the first ever Australian to take part in a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Grand Prix.

Early life

Gaze was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria, on 20 February 1920, the son of Irvine Gaze, a member of the

Ross Sea Party The Ross Sea party was a component of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Its task was to lay a series of supply depots across the Great Ice Barrier from the Ross Sea to the Beardmore Glacier, along the polar ...

who were preparing for

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

's expedition. He was educated at

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"(1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ty ...

, and when war was declared in September 1939 he was a student at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

Military service

First success

Gaze joined the RAF in 1940, and on completion of training and with 122 hours flying time recorded was posted to

No. 610 Squadron RAF No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force. Comprising very high quality pilots, often ex- RAF officers and occasionally locally based company Test pilots from companies such as de Havil ...

RAF Westhampnett Royal Air Force Westhampnett or more simply RAF Westhampnett is a former Royal Air Force satellite station, located in the village of Westhampnett near Chichester, in the English County of West Sussex. It was built as an emergency landing ...

in March 1941, flying cross-channel fighter sweeps. Gaze's first 'kill' came on 26 June when he downed a Messerschmitt Bf 109. The next month he claimed two further victories, one half and two probables. For these victories he was awarded the first of three DFCs. His brother,

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

Scott Gaze had joined

with him in early 1941, but was killed in action on 23 March 1941. In November 1941 Gaze was posted to No. 57 OTU as an instructor. He started his second tour in June 1942, with

No. 616 Squadron RAF No. 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron is an active Reserve unit of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) assigned to the RAF ISTAR Force at RAF Waddington. It was originally formed as a unit of the British Auxiliary Air Force in 1938, active throu ...

, flying the high altitude Spitfire Mk.VI. During the ill-fated

Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment o ...

on 19 August 1942, he received his second DFC after destroying an enemy fighter. In late August 1942 he was posted to command

No. 64 Squadron RAF No. 64 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was first formed on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. It was disbanded on 31 January 1991 at RAF Leuchars. History 1916 to 1919 No. 64 Squadron Royal Flying Corps w ...

flying the new Spitfire IX.

Demotion and escape after being shot down

On 26 September 1942 Gaze led a wing of Spitfires in support of a bombing raid at

Morlaix Morlaix (; br, Montroulez) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Leisure and tourism The old quarter of the town has winding streets of cobbled stones and overhan ...

. An

Eagle Squadron The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (circa 1940), prior to America's entry into the war in December 1941. Wit ...

No. 133 Squadron RAF 133 Squadron RAF was one of the famous Eagle Squadrons formed from American volunteers serving with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. History 133 Squadron was first formed in 1918 at RAF Ternhill. It was a training unit fo ...

, became scattered in high winds and lost 11 of 12 fighters. Gaze was made the scapegoat for the mission failure and was transferred back to No. 616 Squadron as a flight commander. It was later determined that the causes of the high losses on that mission were pilot inexperience and unexpected adverse weather. After a rest from operations in early 1943, he was again posted to an operational Squadron in August 1943,

No. 66 Squadron RAF No. 66 Squadron was a Royal Flying Corps and eventually Royal Air Force aircraft squadron. History World War I It was first formed at Filton on 30 June 1916 as a training squadron equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory BE2, BE12s and the Avro 50 ...

RAF Kenley The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain ...

. On 4 September 1943 over

Le Tréport Le Tréport () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in Normandy, France. Geography A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some northeast of Dieppe at the junction of the D 940, the D 78 and th ...

after downing a

Focke Wulf 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

Gaze's own Spitfire V was shot down by

Heinz-Gerhard Vogt Gerhard Vogt (29 November 1919 – 14 January 1945) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and fighter ace during World War II. He is credited with 48 aerial victories, claimed over the Western Front and in Defense of the Reich in 174 combat ...

of II./

JG 26 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 26 (JG 26) ''Schlageter'' was a German fighter-wing of World War II. It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a World War I veteran, Freikorps member, and posthumous Nazi martyr, arrested and executed by the French for ...

(his 14th claim of an eventual 48). Gaze crash landed 20 miles from

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

with slight injuries, evaded capture and made his way, with help from the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, to neutral Spain.

Back to Britain

In February 1944 Gaze joined the

Air Fighting Development Unit The Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) was an air technical intelligence part of the Royal Air Force which developed tactics and tested captured enemy aircraft. It was based at Royal Air Force Stations Northolt, Duxford and Wittering. The AF ...

(ADFU) at Wittering, rejoining No. 610 Squadron on the continent in July 1944. He claimed a

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Germa ...

jet shot down near Emmrich on Rhine on 14 February 1945 (a Me 262A-2 of I./

KG 51 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 51 "Edelweiss" (KG 51) (Battle Wing 51) was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II. The unit began forming in May 1939 and completed forming in December 1939, and took no part in the invasion of Poland which start ...

flown by Rudolf Hoffmann) (the first Australian to achieve this feat) and shared an

Arado Ar 234 The Arado Ar 234 ''Blitz'' (English: lightning) is a jet-powered bomber designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Arado. It was the world's first operational turbojet-powered bomber, seeing service during the latter half of the ...

jet bomber on 12 April 1945. The Me 262 victory resulted in Gaze being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the third time; one of only 47 men in the Second World War. After a month with

No. 41 Squadron RAF No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the RAF's Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal ...

in April, on 2 May 1945 he was posted as a flight commander to No. 616 squadron, becoming one of the first Australians (after F/O JN McKay, RAAF) to fly the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

in combat during the closing stages of the war. During the war he had also flown with some of the most famous names including Wing Commander

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...

, top Allied ace Johnnie Johnson (38 victories) as part of the RAF's

Tangmere Wing Tangmere is a village, civil parish, and electoral ward in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Located three miles (5 km) north east of Chichester, it is twinned with Hermanville-sur-Mer in Lower Normandy, France. The parish ...

and

Paul Tibbets Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his mot ...

, pilot of the '

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

', B29 Bomber that dropped the

atomic bomb on Hiroshima The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

List of air victories

Gaze ended the war as Australia's tenth ranking highest

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

, claiming 12.5 confirmed destroyed (11 and 3 shared (note: below list includes the destruction of a V1)), 4 probables, and 5 damaged in 488 combat missions, all while flying Supermarine Spitfires of various Marks.

Racing driver

In 1946, Gaze suggested to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, better known as "Freddie March", that the roads around

would be a good location for a racing track. Acting on this suggestion, March opened the

Goodwood Circuit Goodwood Circuit is a historic venue for both two- and four-wheeled motorsport in the United Kingdom. The circuit is situated near Chichester, West Sussex, close to the south coast of England, on the estate of Goodwood House, and completely e ...

in 1948. Gaze returned to Australia after the war, and began racing an

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

racing car that he brought with him. He raced an Alta Formula 2 in Europe for the 1951 season, switching to an HWM-Alta for the following season, planning to racing again in F2. When the sport's governing body decided to change the World Championship regulations from

to Formula 2, Gaze’s plans changed as well. He took part in a number of non-championship F1 events, and then in June travelled to the

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has held ...

for the Grote Prijs van Belgie. After qualifying the HWM-Alta 16th, he raced one place better, attaining 15th place. By racing in Spa, Gaze became the first Australian to contest a World Championship motor race. This was followed by appearances in the RAC British Grand Prix and the Groβer Preis von Deutschland, although he failed to qualify for the Gran Premio d’Italia. The following year, he was a member of the first Australian crew to attempt the

Rallye Monte Carlo The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

in a

Holden FX The Holden 48-215 is a mid-size sedan which was produced by the Australian automaker Holden between November 1948 and October 1953. A coupe utility derivative, coded as the 50-2106 and marketed as the Holden Coupe Utility, was produced from Jan ...

with

Lex Davison Alexander Nicholas Davison (12 February 1923 – 20 February 1965) was a racing driver who won the Australian Grand Prix four times between 1954 Australian Grand Prix, 1954 and 1961 Australian Grand Prix, 1961 and won the Australian Drivers' ...

and Stan Jones. At one point, the trio was in the top ten, but finished the event in 64th. Also that season, he raced an

Aston Martin DB3 :''See Aston Martin DB Mark III for the road car often called "DB3"'' The Aston Martin DB3 and later DB3S were Sports car racing, sports racing cars built in the 1950s. Although they used some Aston Martin DB2, DB2 parts, they were quite differe ...

in sports car events across Europe, and survived an accident in the Grande Prémio de Portugal, when his car struck a tree after a collision with a Ferrari. He was thrown clear as the Aston flipped over and burst into flames. Gaze was carried to safety by spectators, and suffered only cuts and bruises. In 1954 and 1955, Gaze raced the ex- Ascari

Ferrari 500 F2 The Ferrari 500 was a Formula 2 racing car designed by Aurelio Lampredi and used by Ferrari in and , when the World Championship was run to F2 regulations. Racing history For 1952, the FIA announced that Grand Prix races counting towards the W ...

in non-championship events in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. On his return to England, he set up the Kangaroo Stable, the first Australian international racing team. One team member was a young

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...

. They ran

Aston Martin DB3S The Aston Martin DB3S is a sports racing car that was built by Aston Martin. Following the failure of the heavy and uncompetitive Aston Martin DB3 designed by Eberan Eberhorst; William Watson, employed as Eberhorst's assistant, presented an alter ...

. However, many races were cancelled after the

Le Mans disaster The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French ...

, and the Stable disbanded at the end of the season. Gaze continued to race for another season.

Racing record

Career highlights

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 12 Hours of Reims results

Complete 12 Hours of Hyères results

Complete 12 Hours of Pescara results

Complete Rallye de Monte Carlo results

Gliding

After a conversation with

Prince Bira Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh ( th, พีรพงศ์ภาณุเดช; ; 15 July 191423 December 1985), better known as Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) or by his ''nom de course'' B. Bira, was a member of the Chakri dyna ...

, who was an avid glider competitor, Gaze tried his hand at the sport. He became an active member of the Bristol and Gloucestershire

Gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...

Club, at

Nympsfield Nympsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located around four miles south-west of the town of Stroud. As well as Nympsfield village, the parish contains the hamlet of Cockadilly. The population take ...

and went on to represent Australia in the 1960

World Gliding Championships The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competition held every two years or so by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are sometimes held in the summer in the Southern ...

, which was held at the Butzweiler airfield, near

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

Personal life

Tony Gaze was married twice; to Kay Wakefield who died in 1976 and to fellow racing car driver Diana Davison who died in 2012. Davison was the widow of

. Gaze was also step-grandfather to the third generation of Davison racing drivers,

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

and

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

References

External links

*
Website about Tony Gaze
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaze, Tony 1920 births 2013 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Australian Formula One drivers Hersham and Walton Motors Formula One drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers 12 Hours of Pescara drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Australian World War II flying aces Racing drivers from Melbourne Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Royal Air Force squadron leaders Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Shot-down aviators People educated at Geelong Grammar School Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge