Devon George Minchin

Devon Minchin (28 May 1919 – 30 May 2014) was an Australian fighter pilot, entrepreneur, security industry pioneer and author. Early life Minchin was born at home in Flood St, Bondi to Alfred Hugh Minchin (1884–1954) and Dora Muriel "Bo" Minchin (née Donaldson) (1883–1985). He was the youngest of the couple's three children, the others being Helen Patricia (1910–2002) and Lester Hugh St Clair (1915–1993). The family was raised in various Sydney suburbs and Minchin attended Lane Cove Public School, Cammeray Public School, Chatswood High School, and Knox Grammar School. Minchin left school in 1934 aged 15 and became an office boy at the George Patterson Agency where he worked for two years. In 1936 he took a job on a ship and worked his way to England. In London he briefly worked for the advertising agency Samson Clark Price-Berry as an assistant on the Aspro account before landing a job with the Vick Chemical Company. As a trainee salesman, Minchin sold Vicks products in Ireland and the UK before being selected for further sales training in New York City. After success in a nationwide sales contest, from 1938 to 1939 he sold wholesale Vicks products throughout Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as well as New York State.