‘I am still moved each time the earth falls away from the wheels…’
– OWEN ZUPP

I felt myself being drawn in. Like a good novel, and this is non-fiction of course, I was on the hero’s side. I wanted him to excel. I wanted him to survive… there were moments, particularly towards the end, when I was moved to tears.

The Australian Aviation Club is based in Canberra and we routinely have aviators with interesting stories as guest speakers. We have had the pleasure of Owen Zupp speaking to us on more than one occasion. Owen is an accomplished writer and his work on notable Australian aviators is entertaining and informative. Owen easily slips into the scene and presents his work as though he was looking over the shoulder of his subject; the results of thorough research are evident. His enthusiasm for recounting great aviation adventures is infectious as many of our members will attest.

Kenneth MGlashan entered the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1939, training in aircraft such as Tiger Moths and the elegant silver biplane variants of the Hawker Hart. McGlashan carries us in the cockpit through night fighter sorties, wartime airline operations, and missions in his obvious favorite: the twin-engine de Havilland Mosquito. The writer Owen Zupp listens patiently and captures McGlashan’s voice in a well-written narrative.

There are some autobiographies that stand head and shoulders above the others and this is one of them! Sqn Ldr McGlashan died on July 31, 2005 and Australian Owen Zupp (he wrote the much-praised We Lead, Others Follow in the September issue) was determined that Ken’s writings should get a wider audience – and bless him for doing so … Beautifully written, the work is inter-woven with wonderful comments from his wife Doreen, who followed him, move-by-move, through his varied career.

As you’ll discover, I can go on a bit about a book I’ve really enjoyed because, to me, they are such a privilege to read. However, Down To Earth is more than that. Sure, it’s great that Owen Zupp has shaped and shared this story with us but, at the end, you come away feeling like you know Kenneth McGlashan and wishing you could shake his hand. That’s how much his character comes alive in this book … The writing is relaxed and so easy to follow. It is casual but evocative, regularly amusing but equally poignant.

Kenneth McGlashan saw key events in the air war, from Dunkirk to the vast D-Day operations, as a participant. His story, sympathetically told by Owen Zupp, is full of the sort of details that official accounts do not contain: the visual, aural and emotional experience of war in the air, woven in with the routines (and disruptions) of squadron life. Zupp also ensures that the larger picture is present, and that personal events can be seen in context.