A Gympie Man With Wings, A Man Loved and Remembered by His Shepherd Family Now and Forever
By Brian AJ Newman — dedicated to William George “Bill” Shepherd, my partner Jodie’s grandfather.
I never met Bill Shepherd.
I never shook his hand, heard his laugh or sat across a table listening to his stories. My connection to him came through my partner, Jodie, and through the family who knew and loved him.
As Jodie and I researched his life, I began to understand why preserving his story mattered so much. His photographs and service records gave us dates, places and events. His children and grandchildren gave those records their meaning.
Born in Gympie in 1916, William George Shepherd became a husband, a father and a wartime pilot. His service took him far from Queensland, through flying training, Mediterranean operations with No. 14 Squadron RAF, instructional duties overseas and later transport flying with No. 36 Squadron RAAF.
His flying log records the work behind that service: long reconnaissance flights over the sea, difficult weather, mechanical trouble, searches for men in dinghies and the responsibility of bringing an aircraft and its crew home.
Reading those handwritten entries brings him closer. Each flight occupied hours of his life while his wife, Veronica, and their young children waited at home. Behind the postings and promotions was a family living through years of separation.
That is the part of his story I keep returning to.
Bill and Veronica’s children, Brian, Barry and Merryl “Mezzie” Suthers, née Shepherd—carried their own experiences of him into adulthood. Brian is remembered with love following his death. Barry and Mezzie remain part of the living connection between Bill’s generation and those who followed.
His grandchildren include Shauna, Craig, Peta, Jodie and Tanya. Bill never met Tanya. Even so, she belongs within the family story that these photographs, memories and records help preserve.
For me, that is one of the reasons to do this work. A family history gives later generations a chance to know something of the people whose lives helped shape their own.
I see that connection most closely in Jodie.
She and her father, Barry, are both pharmacists. Their work continues a family tradition of service to the communities in which they live. Bill’s wartime service and his work in insurance belong to an earlier chapter of that tradition. The occupations changed; the value placed on helping people carried forward.
Knowing Jodie has given me an understanding of Bill that no service file could provide on its own. Her care for her family, her commitment to others and her determination to preserve his history make his legacy tangible to me.
Mezzie has preserved and provided the family photographs. Jodie has authenticated the family images and identifications. Together, Jodie and I have undertaken comprehensive research through the National Archives of Australia, bringing together additional service records and exploring the histories of the squadrons in which Bill served.
That shared effort became the book and the song A Gympie Man With Wings.
The book preserves the photographs, records and flying log so the family can read his story and examine the evidence for themselves. Where something remains uncertain, we have said so. Respecting Bill means taking care with what we claim about his life.
There is affection in this work, and a responsibility to get it right.
I cannot contribute a personal memory of Bill. I can help preserve the memories entrusted to us, follow the documentary trail and make his story accessible to the people who come after us.
Through Jodie and her family, I have come to appreciate a man I never had the opportunity to meet.
His legacy lives on in his children and grandchildren—in their service, their family bonds and the love with which they continue to remember him.
For Bill, with love and respect, and with gratitude for the family whose lives brought yours into mine.
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Listen to the song written by Brian AJ Newman for his partner Jodie as a tribute to her Grandfather William George "Bill" Shepherd - A Gympie Man With Wings
Read A Gympie Man With Wings, a tribute to WG Shepherd, complete with military service records and personal accounts of 44 missions he flew.
Lest we forget
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