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Frederick Anthony Owen Gaze,DFC &Two Bars, OAM (3 February 1920 – 29 July 2013) was an Australian fighter pilot and racing driver. He flew with theRoyal Air Force in theSecond World War, was aflying ace credited with 12.5 confirmed victories (11 and 3 shared), and later enjoyed a successful racing career in the UK, Europe and Australia.^[1] He was the first ever Australian to take part in aFormula One Grand Prix.

Gaze was born inMelbourne, Victoria, on 20 February 1920, the son ofIrvine Gaze, a member of theRoss Sea Party who were preparing forErnest Shackleton's expedition.^[2][3] He was educated atGeelong Grammar School, and when war was declared in September 1939 he was a student atQueens' College, Cambridge.

Gaze joined the RAF in 1940, and on completion of training and with 122 hours flying time recorded was posted toNo. 610 Squadron RAF atRAF Westhampnett in March 1941, flyingcross-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 threeDFCs. His brother,Pilot Officer Scott Gaze had joinedNo. 610 Squadron RAF with him in early 1941, but was killed in action on 23 March 1941. In November 1941 Gaze was posted toNo. 57 OTU as an instructor.

He started his second tour in June 1942, withNo. 616 Squadron RAF, flying the high altitudeSpitfire Mk.VI. During the ill-fatedDieppe Raid on 19 August 1942, he received his second DFC after destroying an enemy fighter. In late August 1942 he was posted to commandNo. 64 Squadron RAF flying the newSpitfire IX.

On 26 September 1942 Gaze led a wing of Spitfires in support of a bombing raid atMorlaix. AnEagle Squadron,No. 133 Squadron RAF, 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 atRAF Kenley. On 4 September 1943 overLe Tréport after downing aFocke-Wulf Fw 190 Gaze's own Spitfire V was shot down byHeinz-Gerhard Vogt of II./JG 26 (his 14th claim of an eventual 48). Gaze crash landed 20 miles fromDieppe with slight injuries, evaded capture and made his way, with help from theFrench Resistance, to neutral Spain.^{[citation needed]}

In February 1944 Gaze joined theAir Fighting Development Unit (ADFU) atWittering, rejoining No. 610 Squadron on the continent in July 1944. He claimed aMesserschmitt Me 262 jet shot down near Emmrich on Rhine on 14 February 1945 (a Me 262A-2 of I./KG 51 flown by Rudolf Hoffmann) (the first Australian to achieve this feat) and shared anArado Ar 234 jet bomber on 12 April 1945.

The Me 262 victory resulted in Gaze being awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross for the third time; one of only 47 men in the Second World War.^[1]

After a month withNo. 41 Squadron RAF 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)^[4] to fly theGloster Meteor 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 CommanderDouglas Bader, top Allied aceJohnnie Johnson (38 victories) as part of the RAF'sTangmere Wing andPaul Tibbets, pilot of the 'Enola Gay', B29 Bomber that dropped theatomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Gaze ended the war as Australia's tenth ranking highestace, 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.^[5]

In 1946, Gaze suggested tothe Duke of Richmond and Gordon, better known as "Freddie March", that the roads aroundRAF Westhampnett would be a good location for a racing track. Acting on this suggestion, March opened theGoodwood Circuit in 1948.^[6][7]

Gaze returned to Australia after the war, and began racing anAlta racing car that he brought with him.^[6][8]

He raced an Alta Formula 2 in Europe for the 1951 season, switching to anHWM-Alta for the following season, planning to racing again in F2.^[6] When the sport's governing body decided to change the World Championship regulations fromFormula One to Formula 2,^[9] Gaze’s plans changed as well. He took part in a number of non-championship F1 events, and then in June travelled to theCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps for theGrote Prijs van Belgie. After qualifying the HWM-Alta 16th, he raced one place better, attaining 15th place.^[10] By racing in Spa, Gaze became the first Australian to contest a World Championship motor race.^[11] This was followed by appearances in theRAC British Grand Prix^[12] and theGroβer Preis von Deutschland,^[13] although he failed to qualify for theGran Premio d’Italia.^[11][14]

The following year, he was a member of the first Australian crew to attempt theRallye Monte Carlo in aHolden FX withLex Davison andStan Jones.^[15][16] At one point, the trio was in the top ten, but finished the event in 64th.^[8] Also that season, he raced anAston Martin DB3 in sports car events across Europe,^[11] and survived an accident in theGrande 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.^[17]

In 1954 and 1955, Gaze raced the ex-AscariFerrari 500 F2 in non-championship events in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.^[8][11] On his return to England, he set up the Kangaroo Stable, the first Australian international racing team. One team member was a youngJack Brabham. They ranAston Martin DB3S.^[11][17] However, many races were cancelled after theLe Mans disaster, and the Stable disbanded at the end of the season.^[8] Gaze continued to race for another season.^[18]

(key)

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1956	Automobiles Frazer Nash Ltd.	Dickie Stoop	Frazer Nash Sebring	S2.0	101	DNF (Accident)

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1954	H. W. Motors	Graham Whitehead	HWM-Jaguar		206	7th	7th

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1953		Graham Whitehead	Aston Martin DB3			DNF
1954	H.W. Motors	George Abecassis	HWM-Jaguar			DISQ (Disqualified)
1955	Kangaroo Stable	David McKay	Aston Martin DB3S	S+2.0	220	2nd	2nd

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1953	Tom Meyer	Tom Meyer	Aston Martin DB3	S+2.0		?th	3rd

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Pos.
1953		Lex Davison Stan Jones	Holden FX	64th

After a conversation withPrince Bira, who was an avid glider competitor, Gaze tried his hand at the sport. He became an active member of the Bristol and GloucestershireGliding Club, atNympsfield and went on to represent Australia in the 1960World Gliding Championships, which was held at theButzweiler airfield, nearKöln.^[8]

Tony Gaze was married twice; to Kay Wakefield who died in 1976 and to fellow racing car driverDiana Davison who died in 2012. Davison was the widow ofLex Davison.^[29] Gaze was also step-grandfather to the third generation of Davison racing drivers,Alex,Will andJames.

• List of World War II flying aces

• Stewart Wilson (2009).Almost Unknown: Squadron Leader Tony Gaze OAM DFC: Fighter Pilot and Racing Driver. Lane Cove NSW: Chevron Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0-9805912-1-7.

• Allan Hillman."Squadron Leader F. A. O. "Tony" Gaze, DFC: An Australian Ace". Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved28 March 2016.
• Website about Tony GazeArchived 14 February 2021 at theWayback Machine

• 1920 births
• 2013 deaths
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
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• Australian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
• Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
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• Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
• Shot-down aviators
• People educated at Geelong Grammar School
• Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
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