Serving in the Battle of Gallipoli and Palestine Campaign as a lieutenant of the Australian Light Horse Brigade, Fysh later became an observer and gunner to Paul McGinness in the AFC.

Authoring a trilogy of memoirs dealing with the impact of Qantas in history, the series drew comparisons by critics towards Winston Churchill's The Second World War.

[1][6] After the foundation of Qantas, Fysh, being a poor student at school, tried to make up for his lack of training by studying economics and taking a course in pelmanism.

After his retirement from Qantas, Fysh received an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering (EngD), in a commemoration ceremony from the University of Tasmania, in 1971.

[7][8] Described as a man of "great political acumen" and having "a hard head for business", Fysh had a reputation as a stern, uncompromising taskmaster.

Described as single-minded in many instances, his insistence on using a D.H.86 (De Havilland Express 86) lead to a bitter clash and eventual fall-out between Fysh and Sir Gordon Taylor.

[9] On 5 December 1923, Fysh married Elizabeth Eleanor ("Nell") Dove, from Hunter River, in St James Church, Sydney.

[22][23] Instead, Fysh and McGinness were commissioned to survey Northern Australia for the preparation of the Air Race, by Major-General James Gordon Legge (later Lieutenant-General) from the Defence Department.

[23][25] They were instructed to survey the route from the town of Longreach, past Katherine, and ending at the state capital of Darwin, in the Northern Territory.

[26][27][28] Arriving in Longreach in August 1919, they acquired a Model T Ford, as a transport for the survey, and were accompanied by a mechanic, George Gorham.

[30] As a result of their journey across the outback, the group found Legge's route lacking the necessary open space for aircraft landing.

Fysh and McGinness became convinced that an alternate route through the Barkly Tableland will be more convenient for the winners of the air race, after talking to some motorcyclists from Sydney.

After reuniting at the Cloncurry Post Office, McGinness and Fysh started to make plans to build their airline service, confident in the future of commercial aviation.

[37][38] Writing about his experiences in the outback in his autobiography, Fysh commented that: We could not help being struck by the natural advantages which favoured the establishment of an air service in the district...[22] We were convinced of the important part aircraft would eventually play in transporting mail, passengers and freight over the sparsely populated and practically roadless areas of western and northern Queensland and North Australia.

[40][41][42][43] As a result, on 20 June 1920 in Brisbane's Gresham Hotel, McGinness, Fysh, McMaster and Alan Campbell, an adviser for the Queensland Primary Producers, began to register the new airline company.

[37] After observing a shareholder writing "Donation" across the cheque butt, Fysh wrote:...like others, he subscribed out of postwar patriotic sentiment for two young returned men, and out of the hope that in the roadless and bridgeless western plains, where all road transport ceased following heavy rain, perhaps the aeroplane might serve a useful purpose.

[47] Qantas was formed on 16 November 1920, with Fysh, McGinness, McMaster, Ainslie Templeton, and Alan Campbell in the Gresham Hotel,[1][41][48] with an initial paid-up capital of £A6,700 (£5,360 sterlings).

[50][51][52] Partially due to McMaster's intervention, the original plans for air-taxi work and joyriding gave way for airmail services,[53] which would link communication in the settlements between Darwin and Longreach.

Visiting cattle stations and private properties to give medical treatment, Michod was aware of the difficulties faced in the outback.

A quick decision was made to move Qantas headquarters to Longreach, which would be more central to operations, with easier access to passengers and spare parts.

[37][50] In August 1920, Fysh and McGinness ordered their first aircraft for the company from Mascot Aerodrome, the first airport in Australia[60] – two Avro 504K with Sunbeam Dyak engines, bought at £A1,425 each.

[41] The Avro was one of the original, of six, military aircraft built in Australia by AA & E Co. Ltd. upon the orders of the Commonwealth Government for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

However the aircraft was delayed until 25 January 1923, upon which McGinness send a wire message to McMaster stating that all tests have been complete with satisfactory results.

Fysh and Baird soon found out that they were near Red Head mine (formally named "Lambton B Pit"), close to Singleton.

[68] With Ainslie Templeton accompanying McMaster and McGinness in the Avro, Fysh flew with the owner of the aircraft, Charles Knight, to Winton on 7 February 1921.

The trip of one and a half hours took considerably longer than that, with McGinness steering in the wrong direction, causing them to lose their path.

[71] This commercial aviation company should get your support as Australians not investors; not for the dividends it is likely to bring, but for the great influence it may have in the administration, development and defense [sic] of Australia.

With Knight as his passenger in the BE2e, Fysh lost his way, missing Longreach by 20 miles (32 km); he navigated his way back to the town by following the Thompson River.

[76] However his most successful publication was an autobiographical trilogy dealing with Qantas' history and its role in World War II and transportation in Australia.

After Fysh's death on 6 April 1974, to mark the centenary year of Australia Day, he was named in the list of "100 most influential Australians of the century" by the Sydney Morning Herald.