Garnet Malley

Garnet Francis Malley
Squadron Leader Malley, c. 1930
Nickname(s)	"Garnie"; "George"
Born	(1892-11-02)2 November 1892 Mosman, New South Wales, Australia
Died	20 May 1961(1961-05-20) (aged 68) Vanua Balavu, Fiji
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Imperial Force Royal Australian Air Force
Years of service	1915–19 1920–30 1940–43
Rank	Group Captain
Unit	No. 4 Squadron AFC (1917–18) No. 5 Squadron AFC (1918–19) No. 3 Squadron RAAF (1925–29)
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Military Cross Air Force Cross Legion of Merit (US)
Other work	Aviation adviser

Garnet Francis Malley, MC, AFC (2 November 1892 – 20 May 1961) was an Australian fighter ace of World War I, credited with six aerial victories. He was an aviation adviser to Chiang Kai-shek's government in China during the 1930s, and an intelligence officer in World War II.

Born in Sydney, Malley first saw service in World War I as an artilleryman with the Australian Imperial Force. He transferred to the Australian Flying Corps in 1917, and the following year flew Sopwith Camels with No. 4 Squadron on the Western Front. Malley was awarded the Military Cross for his achievements in combat, and his subsequent work as a flying instructor in England earned him the Air Force Cross.

After a spell in civilian life following the war, Malley joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1925, serving with No. 3 Squadron. He became an aviation adviser to China in 1931, and worked closely with Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling, from 1937. Malley was able to observe air tactics in the Sino-Japanese War at first hand, though his reports were given little weight in Australia. Returning home in 1940, he served in intelligence roles with the RAAF and later the Commonwealth government. After the war he bought a plantation in Fiji, where he died in 1961.

Garnet Francis Malley, the second youngest of six children of Clara Ellen Merritt and Francis Malley, was born in Mosman, a suburb of Sydney, on 2 November 1892. His father, an ironworker originally from Gosford, founded the whitegoods firm Malley's. He later served two terms as alderman of Mosman Council. Garnet Malley attended the Church of England Preparatory School in Mosman, The School in Mount Victoria, and Hawkesbury Agricultural College in Richmond. At the outbreak of World War I he was an apprentice mechanic at Malley's.