Paul McGuiness Biography

Born in Sydney, New South Wales on 27 May 1949, the first of six children to Gordon and Pauline McGuiness. Underwent a Catholic education in Primary school (from 4 to 12 years of age) before joining Sydney Boys High School for my Secondary schooling. However, a downturn in family fortunes meant that I was compelled to leave home at the tender age of 15 years and 10 months.

My father enlisted me in the RAAF as a Technical Trades Apprentice and I moved to RAAF Base Wagga in the Rural Riverina area of New South Wales (some 450km SW of Sydney). I had a wonderful 30 year career in the RAAF first as an Armament Fitter then as a Weapons Engineering Officer before I retired in 1994. I served in many places both in Australia and Overseas.

I left Australia after retiring from the Air Force and moved to (the then) Peoples Democratic Republic of Lao. I worked in the field of Explosive Ordnance Disposal which involved clearing thousands and thousands of unexploded mines, bombs, and shells etc – all the detritus of more than 35 years of warfare in SE Asia.

I stayed in Lao and while there I worked in Cambodia, Malaya and Vietnam before I retired and moved back to Australia in 2006.

My involvement with aircraft and aircrew began when I was a young boy of 10 or 11 and my voracious reading appetite led me to the trickle of WW2 aviation books that were beginning to appear. I was fascinated by the bravery and unswerving commitment of the crews to a way of life and very disappointed that very little public recognition came their way. I started researching when I turned 12 and I have been doing it ever since and, I will continue to do so long as I can.

My research was mostly confined to RAAF aircrew and aircraft used by the Article 15 Squadrons that served with the RAF during WW2 and, those other non-Article 15 squadrons that also served with distinction in the RAF in the ETO and MTO.

Obviously, my research veered off course at times and what I now have is a large eclectic mix of RAAF data in all theatres of WW2.

When I started I thought I could achieve my aims within a 10-15 year window, I now know the extent of the work and I doubt I’ll be able to complete what I have set out to do. It will/should be seen as a stepping stone for whatever researchers follow.

The data on the Aircrew Remembered website is the culmination of more than 20 years of my research and I trust people will find it enlightening, entertaining and informative. I am open to all requests for assistance and/or rectification and my help is entirely free with no strings attached.

My intention is to hand over all my work and data (completed or not) to Stefan and Kelvin Youngs when my time comes. I say this because I consider it a privilege to work with Aircrew Remembered as their commitment to Preservation coincides exactly with my sentiments. The wonderful team they have assembled to disseminate information to the world is most professional and trustworthy.

PMcG 2024-04-21

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon