An Extraordinary Life!
Friday's Fabulous Flyer...
My friend
Owen Zupp,
pilot, author, and all around great guy has released his new book. This book is about about
Phillip Zupp, his Dad. I believe that living an extraordinary life runs
in Owen's family. Meet Phillip Zupp, today's Friday Flyer.
Phillip and Owen Zupp
Who was my father?
"That single question was the genesis of this book.
In so many ways, he was an enigma. He was a quietly spoken gentleman
that never allowed a lady to open a door and stood when one entered a
room. He was comfortable briefing a room of pilots, but loathed public
speaking. Yet, somewhere within his small frame, was a man that had
lived a life few could imagine.
As I grew up, I knew he had been
a soldier and that he had been an Air Force fighter pilot. I also knew,
vaguely, that he had fought in wars as I played with his uniforms,
flying suits, holsters and helmets. However, his medals were still in
the packages they had arrived in years before, unmounted and with pieces
of spare ribbon and oak leaf clusters untouched. I was in my teens
before I began to piece his story together, but he was never forthcoming
with anything significant about his service. It was just a snippet here
or a fragment there.
Only when I had left my childhood behind
did he finally take me into his confidence about his time at war. He
would speak of lessons to be learned, close calls and the value of luck.
Not once did the concept of heroism ever pass his lips.
Following
his death, I cleaned out old trunks and pored over documents. Details
began to fill the gaps but, inevitably, more questions than answers were
raised. I began speaking with his squadron mates, but they didn’t even
know that he’d served in the Army and his Commando colleagues only said
that they’d heard he had joined the Air Force. Similarly, the majority
of those he encountered in civilian life knew nothing of his military
service. However, from all of these people who had played a role in his
life, I was overwhelmed by the wealth of information and what my father
had actually done.
I was left in a state of flux. What do I do
with all of this information? At first I began to collate it for the
benefit of our family. This was more than an accumulation of cold facts,
however, this was a story. In fact, I believed it was a book.
‘Without Precedent’ was born
‘Without Precedent’ recounts the life of commando and fighter pilot, Phillip Zupp. One man who served in two very different wars.
From humble rural beginnings, surrounded by drought and The Great
Depression, he forged an incredible life with little more than courage
and tenacity. During World War Two, he saw combat on the ground in New
Guinea before patrolling the devastation of Hiroshima and Tokyo as part
of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces. In Korea, Phillip flew
201 combat sorties amid intense ground fire and the enemy’s
ever-threatening MiG fighters.
Peace brought a career that
spanned the globe and the skies above it. All the while, the intriguing
story of the search for a downed airman, a damaged jet and the
controversy surrounding the award of first Australian Purple Heart lay
dormant. Until now."
Enjoy the Journey!
XO Karlene
Author of:
