Richard Minifie

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Richard Pearman Minifie
Squadron Leader
UnitNo. 1 (Naval) Squadron RNAS
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsDistinguished Service Cross & Two Bars
Other workManaging Director of James Minifie & Co. Pty Ltd (1949–66)
President of the Federal Council of Flour Millowners of Australia (1949–66)

Richard Pearman Minifie,

Victoria, he attended Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. Travelling to the United Kingdom, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in June 1916. Accepted for flight training, he completed his instruction in December and joined No. 1 (Naval) Squadron RNAS on the Western Front in January 1917, flying Sopwith Triplanes. He went on to score seventeen aerial victories on this type of machine throughout the year, becoming both the youngest Australian flying ace of the First World War and No. 1 (Naval) Squadron's highest-scoring ace on the Triplane. The unit re-equipped with the Sopwith Camel
late in 1917, with Minifie going on to achieve a further four victories on the aircraft, raising his final tally to a score of twenty-one aircraft shot down.

Minifie crash-landed in German-held territory in March 1918, and spent the remainder of the war in

Second World War
. Minifie returned to the flour milling industry after the war, becoming managing director of James Minifie & Co. Pty Ltd in 1949. He died in 1969 at the age of seventy-one.

Early life

Richard Pearman Minife was born in

Trinity College at the University of Melbourne.[1]

First World War

By 1916, Minifie was residing in Elsternwick, Victoria.[2] That year, he decided to postpone his studies and travelled to the United Kingdom where he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service at Crystal Palace, London on 11 June. Accepted for flight training with the rank of probationary flight sub-lieutenant, he spent the following six months at naval establishments in Eastbourne, Cranwell, East Fortune and Dover earning his wings. Granted the substantive rank of flight sub-lieutenant in October, he was posted to No. 1 Wing RNAS on graduating as a pilot in October. In early 1917, he was allotted to the Wing's No. 1 (Naval) Squadron in France, flying Sopwith Triplanes,[1][3][4] an aircraft in which he was to score heavily.[2]

Throughout February and March 1917, No. 1 Squadron was "continually in action" along the

London Gazette on 2 November 1917.[6]

A side-on view of a line of several triplane aircraft. All are painted in dark colours, with white numbers on the side.
Sopwith Triplanes of No. 1 (Naval) Squadron in Bailleul, France, October 1917. The aircraft nearest the camera (N5454) was primarily flown by Minifie, a machine he scored ten "kills" in.[2]

Between August and October 1917, Minifie was credited with a further eleven German aircraft, bringing his total to seventeen.[4] He had thus far achieved all of his victories on the Sopwith Triplane, making him No. 1 Squadron's highest-scoring ace on the aircraft, besting his commanding officer and friend, fellow Australian ace Lieutenant Commander Roderic Dallas, by a single victory on the machine.[2] In late October, the squadron returned to the United Kingdom in order to re-equip with the Sopwith Camel.[1] On 30 November, the London Gazette carried the announcement that Minifie had been awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Service Cross as a consequence of his "conspicuous gallantry in air fighting throughout October", that resulted in his personal destruction of "several enemy machines".[7]

On returning to the Western Front, Minifie went on to score an additional four aerial victories on the Sopwith Camel.[8] In March 1918, he was promoted to acting flight commander. Later that month, he acted as No. 1 Squadron's commanding officer during the transition of command from Dallas to Lieutenant Commander Charles Dawson Booker.[2][5] On 13 March, Minifie led a party of four aircraft out on a patrol. While airborne, the group intercepted a formation of five German scout planes. In the ensuring battle, Minifie personally destroyed two of the aircraft while a third was shot down by one of his men.[9] These two scout planes were to be Minifie's final victories of the war, raising his ultimate tally to twenty-one aircraft shot down and making him the seventh highest-scoring Australian ace of the conflict.[1][2][10] His aerial achievements were composed of ten and one shared aircraft destroyed, eight and one shared out of control, and one captured.[5] As a result of his gallantry while operating against hostile forces, particularly in the air battle of 13 March, Minifie was awarded a second Bar to his Distinguished Service Cross. The announcement and accompanying citation was published in the London Gazette on 17 April 1918, reading:[9]

HONOURS FOR THE ROYAL NAVAL AIR SERVICE.

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the following decorations and medals to Officers and Men of the Royal Naval Air Service:—

To receive a Second Bar to the Distinguished Service Cross.

Act. Flt. Cdr. Richard Pearman Minifie, D.S.C., R.N.A.S.

For courage and daring in the face of the enemy, particularly on the 13th March, 1918. On that date, when on patrol with four machines, he attacked an enemy patrol of five scouts, destroying two, whilst a third was destroyed by another officer.

Act. Flt. Cdr. Minifie has now destroyed numerous hostile machines.

On 17 March 1918, Minifie took off in his Camel on a sortie. During the flight, he was forced to crash land in German-held territory near

Armistice with Germany in November 1918, returning to the United Kingdom on 13 December 1918.[3] Minifie returned to Australia in May 1919,[1][2] and was placed on the Royal Air Force's unemployed list on 1 November.[12]

Post-war career and later life

Back in Australia, Minifie took up his scholarship, studying mathematics and science at the University of Melbourne. However, he soon withdrew from the course,[1] opting to join his father's flour milling business,[2][4] James Minifie & Co. Pty Ltd. In a ceremony at the Holy Trinity Church in Kew on 19 October 1921, Minifie married Nellie Frances Roberts; the couple would have four children. His father died the next year and, in collaboration with his brother James and his father's business partner, James Gatehouse, he continued to manage and run James Minifie & Co. Pty Ltd. Over the subsequent three decades, the trio were successful in furthering their business ventures, significantly expanding the company.[1]

On 17 June 1941, Minifie enlisted in the

Australian Wheat Board. He relinquished these positions upon his retirement in 1966. Richard Minifie died on 31 March 1969 and was cremated. He was survived by his wife, son and three daughters.[1]

Notes

  1. ^
    ISSN 1833-7538
    . Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Franks 2004, pp. 10–11
  3. ^ a b "RAF officers' service records 1918 – 1919—Image details—Minifie, Richard Pearman" (fee usually required to view pdf of full original service record). DocumentsOnline. The National Archives. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Garrisson 1999, p. 97
  5. ^ a b c Newton 1996, p. 52
  6. ^ a b "No. 30363". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 November 1917. pp. 11320–11321.
  7. ^ "No. 30408". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 November 1917. p. 12549.
  8. ^ Franks 2003, p. 14
  9. ^ a b "No. 30635". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 April 1918. p. 4647.
  10. ^ Garrisson 1999, pp. 27, 77
  11. ^ Vanwyngarden 2006, p. 103
  12. ^ "No. 31773". The London Gazette. 10 February 1920. p. 1692.
  13. ^ "Minifie, Richard Pearman". Records Search. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2010.

References

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