Henry Petre

Henry Aloysius Petre, DSO, MC was an English solicitor who became Australias first military aviator, and a founding member of the Australian Flying Corps, predecessor of the Royal Australian Air Force. Born in Essex, he forsook his early legal career to pursue an interest in aviation, building his own aeroplane and gaining employment as a designer and pilot. In 1912, he answered the Australian Defence Departments call for pilots to form an aviation school, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Australian Military Forces. The following year, he chose the site of the countrys first air base at Point Cook, Victoria, and established its inaugural training institution, the Central Flying School, with Eric Harrison.

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Source: Wikipedia