[2] Minchin left school in 1934 aged 15 and became an office boy at the George Patterson Agency, where he worked for two years.

[4] 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.

[5] As a trainee salesman, Minchin sold Vicks products in Ireland and the UK before being selected for further sales training in New York City.

[6] After success in a nationwide sales contest,[7] from 1938 to 1939 he sold wholesale Vicks products throughout Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as well as New York State.

[12] Following flight training Minchin transited in Kasfareet, Egypt before being sent to defend Aden where he flew the Hawker Hurricane MkI.

[21] He became the lessee of The Grand Albergo dell'Etna[22] and with fellow PO Harry Gregory turned the hotel into a respite for Allied officers.

[24] He tested 19 different operational types of aircraft until he was returned to Australia in late 1944 due to the ongoing effects of malaria.

In 1946 Minchin, his brother Lester and business partner Jack Bartle (former Commanding Officer, 450 Squadron RAAF)[28] purchased a 110-foot, 85 ton ship called The Bellbird and loaded it with goods to sell in Borneo.

They sailed from Sydney on 13 April but on their first night at sea they were struck by a big storm and had to scuttle the ship near Barrenjoey, New South Wales.

[33] While remaining a director of CTC, Minchin returned to advertising in 1948 becoming circulation manager of The Straits Times in Singapore.

[38][39] He received a note signed by all the members of the band thanking him for allowing "the finest birds and best boomerang makers into the (hotel) suites".

[52] After meeting her when she was an Australian Army nurse in Labuan,[53][54] Minchin married Susan Scot-Skirving at St Mark's Darling Point in 1946.

[57] In 1952, Minchin married Betty Bentley (née Rushbrooke) at St Jude's Anglican Church, Dural.

His eldest son Nick Minchin was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 2011 and a former cabinet minister in the Howard government.