Tony Park interviews World War II veteran Peter Whitehead.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Peter Whitehead, born in 1923, is a veteran of World War II. He tried to join the Royal Australian Navy when war broke out but was rejected, instead becoming a ‘rough rider’ with the 2nd Remount Unit based at Holsworthy, in Sydney. After breaking in thousands of horses to support domestic war operations, he managed to join the Royal Australian Air Force, qualifying as a gunner. Peter was sent to one of the first B24 Liberator squadrons, in New Guinea and then flying bombing missions in the Pacific War from Darwin to Morotai. Today, Peter lives in New Zealand, and turned 100 years old on Christmas Day 2023.
He co-wrote his memoir, Bwana, There’s a Body in the Bath! with international bestselling Australian author Tony Park. Tony – an army veteran and previous guest on this podcast – interviewed Peter over an international Zoom call for Life on the Line.
Alex Lloyd speaks with founder of the veterans charity Working Spirit, Army and RAAF veteran Karyn Hinder.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and tells their story. This is a bonus episode focused on the veterans-run charity Working Spirit, in a conversation with its founder. Karyn Hinder is an army and air force veteran with over 25 years of service. She has deployed to Timor and the Middle East. Her passion today is assisting military veterans to find employment in their life after service. She launched Working Spirit in 2016, a registered not-for-profit charity. Karyn spoke with Alex Lloyd over Zoom.
Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:
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FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY is a five-part documentary miniseries about 12 World War II veterans who went to school together, and then to war. In the fifth episode, 'You Do Your Part', John Hore-Lacy fights in Borneo at Tarakan and Balikpapan; Lysle Roberts has a brush with death; Arthur Pardey sees the destruction of Munich; Phil Stevenson surveys Nagasaki after the atomic bomb; and Richard Miles reflects on the sacrifice of his peers. The 12 men, once schoolboy friends and now war veterans, return home. They adjust to life after service and reflect on the war.
FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY is a five-part documentary miniseries about 12 World War II veterans who went to school together, and then to war. In the fourth episode, 'Terror in the Jungle', Eric Thew battles the Japanese and disease in the New Guinea jungle; David Nesbitt flies in the Burma campaign; John Hordern is part of the largest naval battle of the war; and Lysle Roberts begins perilous flight training.
FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY is a five-part documentary miniseries about 12 World War II veterans who went to school together, and then to war. In the third episode, 'A Great Escape', Barney Greatrex survives his Lancaster bomber being shot down and joins the French Resistance; Arthur Pardey flies in the Desert Air Force and gets up to mischief in Cairo; and Don Caldwell Smith endures a full tour of missions with Bomber Command.
Many more adventures, narrow escapes, Resistance heroics and Nazi cruelty were thoroughly documented in the book BARNEY GREATREX by Michael Veitch (2017), based on research by Alex Lloyd and Angus Hordern.
FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY is a five-part documentary miniseries about 12 World War II veterans who went to school together, and then to war. In the second episode, 'Scuttled & Sunk', John Reid sees more action in the Mediterranean Fleet; Ted Carter fights at El Alamein, Lae and Finschhafen; and Japan enters the war and attacks Australia.
FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY is a five-part documentary miniseries about 12 World War II veterans who went to school together, and then to war. The first episode, 'Books to Arms', tracks their schoolboy days and the World War I veterans who taught them in the classroom, and their early experiences at war. Phil Stevenson stalks the Admiral Graf Spee and the Bismarck; Ted Carter fights in the siege of Tobruk; John Reid serves in the Mediterranean Fleet in the evacuation of Crete and the Tobruk Ferry Service; John Hore-Lacy meets Rudolf Hess; and more...
Alex Lloyd interviews Middle East, South Sudan and Cambodia veteran of the RAAF, Paul Gebran.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Paul Gebran is a veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force. He joined on April 24th 1990 and medically discharged on April 25th 2017. Paul spoke to Alex Lloyd about his deployments to Cambodia, South Sudan and the Middle East, and the volunteer work he does today with Northern Queensland Legacy.
They returned to the podcast in Christmas on the Line Vol V.
Sharon Mascall-Dare interviews Lesley Carney, on deployment to the Middle East at the time of recording.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Group Captain Lesley Carney was serving in the Royal Australian Air Force with Joint Task Force 633, as the Director of Support. In 2008, Lesley was posted to the Joint Strike Fighter Program as the Australian Supply Chain manager in Washington DC. She received a commendation for her efforts during her tour in the US representing Australia's interests in multi-national forums and received a Bronze Star for her work as the Kandahar Air Field Chief Logistics Officer. This is her conversation with Sharon Mascall-Dare about her background, career highlights and work in the Middle East.
Thomas Kaye interviews Berlin Airlift and Vietnam War veteran, Air Marshall David Evans.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. David Evans served in the Royal Australian Air Force for 42 years, retiring as the Chief in 1985. He just missed out on action in World War II, but had a variety of deployments, including operational service in the Berlin Airlift and the Vietnam War.
Alex Lloyd interviews modern RAAF dentist Dr Ajitha Sugnanam.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. For this episode, Royal Australian Air Force officer Dr Sugnanam spoke to Alex Lloyd. Ajitha spoke about her passion to help people, how she combined a career in dentistry with a military one, her volunteer work, and her time overseas.
Alex Lloyd interviews World War II veteran Arthur Atkins.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Arthur Atkins is an Australian who flew for RAF Bomber Command in World War II. He completed 32 operations and was the pilot of a Lancaster bomber.
Alex Lloyd interviews modern RAAF officer Donna Watts-Endresz.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. For this episode, Royal Australian Air Force servicewoman Donna Watts-Endrez spoke to Alex Lloyd. Donna spoke to Alex Lloyd about her experiences overseas, how military service impacts on the family back home, and her reflections on her time in uniform.
Alex Lloyd interviews Vietnam veteran Alastair Bridges.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. This conversation is with a pilot of the Royal Australian Air Force, who flew in Vietnam. Alastair Bridges spoke to Alex Lloyd about his parents' World War II memories, his own military career, his time in Vietnam, and how those experiences have shaped his life today.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with a World War II air force veteran, and a survivor of Fascist Italian and Nazi Germany prisoner of war camps. This is the last episode of Season 2.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with World War II veteran Antony Greatrex. The RAAF veteran is the younger brother of the late Barney Greatrex, who our long-time podcast listeners will remember from Season 1. Barney had an epic war – a bomb aimer in Bomber Command, shot down, the only survivor of his Lancaster, eight months fighting with the French Resistance against the Germans, ending in a Legion of Honour in 2016 and a book in 2017. The memory of Antony’s war has always lived a bit in Barney’s shadow. Antony, along with half a million other Australians who put on a uniform, never went overseas to fight. He had a logistical support role – a high-frequency direction finder, or Huff-Duff operator. But after knowing the family some years, Antony invited Alex Lloyd to his home to finally go on the record about his World War II service.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Air Vice-Marshal Tracy Smart AM, currently serving with the Royal Australian Air Force. Tracy has seen a variety of deployments, including the UN mission to Rwanda. Our thanks go to Defence Media for organising the interview.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Every week we also have a bonus episode, where we speak to historians, authors and others in the veterans community. Today's bonus episode is from our archive vault, an interview with World War II veteran Don Caldwell Smith.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Air Force mechanic-turned-officer Cassie Collins. Cassie joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a grease monkey, has served on overseas deployments including the Middle East Area of Operations and Sudan, and spoke about how modern servicemen and servicewomen are perceived today.
Cassie returned to the podcast in 2018’s Christmas on the Line and the episode released for Remembrance Day 2019, Panel - Modern Veterans.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. For today’s bonus episode of Life on the Line, Alex Lloyd spoke with Norton Duckmanton, a World War II veteran. Alex met Norton at the Reserve Forces Day Parade held at Sydney’s Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park. This is the they had chat while they waited for the parade to start.
