32. Paul Joseph McGinness (1896-1952), aviator and Qantas co-founder
Born at Framlingham, Victoria, Paul Joseph McGinness joined the 8th Light Horse Regiment in 1914. He served at Gallipoli during the First World War and went on to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for scouting and leadership in the Sinai desert in 1916. After transferring to the Australian Flying Corps in 1918, McGinness was credited with seven aerial victories and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross.
After the war, McGinness together with his friend and Gunner lieutenant Hudson Fysh were engaged in surveying an air-route across Australia for the first England-Australia air race in 1919. In 1920 McGinness provided much of the initial drive to establish the first airline in eastern Australia, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. (Qantas). McGinness piloted the first Qantas air mail and passenger flight in 1922.
After leaving Qantas in late 1922, McGinness and his wife Dorothy were pioneering farmers in the Morawa district in Western Australia. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War, and then returned to take up tobacco farming in WA until his death in 1952, aged 55.