Back to Top
AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Paul McGuiness RAAF Archive
Paul McGuiness is an Australian aviation researcher and historian. Using primary sources he has assembled detailed information on the history of each plane
used by Australians and Australian forces in WWl and WW2, and on personnel involved.

This page contains many names, dates, locations. To help find the one(s) you're interested in, use our Highlighting facility.
Highlighting will ONLY find entries within this specific page.   

Paul McGuiness Biography

History of Australian Military Aviation

First World War

Armstrong Whitworth FK3

Avro 504

Bristol F2b Fighter

Fairey Aviation Model lllD Seaplane

Martinsyde G.100 G 102 Elephant

Maurice Farman S.11 Shorthorn

Royal Aircraft Factory BE2

Royal Aircraft Factory BE12

Royal Aircraft Factory RE.8

Royal Aircraft Factory SE5A Experimental Scout

Sopwith Camel B Series

Sopwith Camel C D E F Series

Sopwith Snipe

Sopwith Scout (Pup)

Sopwith 1½ Strutter

Supermarine Seagull lll

Supermarine Southampton Mk 1

Westland Wapiti


Post First World War

Bristol Bulldog

De Havilland DH.9A

Hawker Demon

Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5A

Avro 504K


Second World War

3 Sqn Gladiators 1940-1941

3 Sqn Gauntlets 1940-1941

10 Sqn Sunderlands

451 Sqn Spitfires Med 43-44 Europe 44-46

452 Sqn Spitfires Europe 41-42

455 Sqn Hampdens 1941-43

458 Sqn Wellingtons

460 Sqn Wellingtons

461 Sqn Sunderlands

462 Sqn Halifax Part 1 MTO

462 Sqn Aug 44 May 45 Part 2 ETO

466 Sqn Wellingtons


Further Information:

Aces and Aviators WWl Database

Material Relating to Australia


RAAF/Australia Links

Allied Losses Database - RAAF

RAAF Honour Roll

Kracker Luftwaffe Archive - RAAF

Battle of Britain Database - RAAF

Allied Graves Worldwide - RAAF

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

  You can show you value this content by offering your dedicated research team a coffee!  

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

All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© 2012 - 2024 Aircrew Remembered
Last Modified: 15 June 2024, 12:39

If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.
Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor