| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (26 min. 5 sec.) ; 156670353 bytes |
| Summary |
This week on Talking Heads Peter Thompson's guest is a fighter pilot and Grand Prix driver whose life story reads like a 'Boys Own' adventure.Tony Gaze grew up in Melbourne, the grandson of one of the founders of the Ezywalkin shoe chain. Gaze's father was a member of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Trans-Antarctic Expedition.In England when World War II started, Gaze joined the RAF and flew Spitfires with the famed 'Tangmere Wing' and was rated by Douglas Bader and Johnnie Johnson as an exceptional pilot.Gaze holds the rare distinction of being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for gallantry three times. He was the first Australian to fly jet aircraft operationally and the first Australian pilot to shoot down an enemy jet aircraft. He was shot down over occupied France and spent a month on the run until he escaped, with the aid of the French Resistance, over the Pyrenees. And he was the first Allied pilot to land in France after D-Day.After the war, Gaze became the first Australian to race in World Championship Formula One. He was the driving force behind the establishment of the Goodwood motor racing circuit in England. And he put together a group of Australian drivers (the 'Kangaroo Stable') to compete in Europe - one of them was a young man named Jack Brabham.In the 1970's Gaze married Diana Davison, widow of the Australian motor racing champion, Lex Davison. Her grandsons Will and Alex Davison are currently successful drivers with V8 Super Car teams |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-06-28 at 18:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Conduct of life.
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Distinguished Flying Cross (Medal)
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Fighter pilots.
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Interviews.
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Victoria.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Gaze, Tony, contributor
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Thompson, Peter, contributor
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