#151 Peter Whitehead

January 09, 2024 / Alex Lloyd

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.

This episode was edited by Sophie Hu. The B24 image is courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, image number AC0074.

Referenced at the end of the podcast include:

Additionally, you can hear Norton Duckmanton, Bevan Harris, Doug Symes Snr from the Life on the Sea miniseries, Holocaust survivor Phillip Maisel, and Alex Lloyd's interviews with two German World War II veterans: Eugen Pichurra and Horst Haase.

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tags / World War II, Air Force, New Guinea, Borneo, Pacific War, Author

FSAC: Episode IV Terror in the Jungle

April 12, 2023 / Alex Lloyd

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.

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tags / World War II, New Guinea, Pacific War, Army, Navy, Air Force

FSAC: Episode II Scuttled & Sunk

March 29, 2023 / Alex Lloyd

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.

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tags / For School and Country, World War II, El Alamein, New Guinea, Army, Navy, Air Force

Christmas on the Line Vol V

December 20, 2022 / Alex Lloyd

Veterans of Season 6 share their stories of a Christmas in uniform.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Veterans of Season 6 share with the Thistle Productions team their experiences of Christmas in uniform, from deployments overseas and back home in Australia. Featured guests include Nick Howlett, Reg Chard, Paul Gebran, Dr Dan Pronk, Sabrina Smeaton, Michael Greenway and Curtis McGrath.

The episodes these veterans were featured in earlier this season include:

Our previous Christmas specials from Seasons 2-5 can be found here:

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tags / Christmas, Timor, Afghanistan, New Guinea, World War II

#71 Bob Semple

September 10, 2019 / Alex Lloyd

Alex Lloyd interviews World War II veteran Bob Semple.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Bob Semple served in an artillery gun crew in World War II. He fought in Tobruk, El Alamein, Lae, Finschhafen, Tarakan and Labuan, against all three Axis powers. The Rat of Tobruk shared his memories of the war with Alex Lloyd.

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tags / World War II, Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea, artillery, Borneo

Archive Interview - Eric Thew

July 19, 2019 / Alex Lloyd

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. This bonus episode is from our archive vault from FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY, an interview with World War II veteran Eric Thew.

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tags / World War II, army, New Guinea, For School and Country

Archive Interview - Ted Carter

July 05, 2019 / Alex Lloyd

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. This bonus episode is from our archive vault from FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY, an interview with World War II veteran Ted Carter.

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tags / World War II, Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea, For School and Country, Army

The Battle of Wau with David Buckwalter

June 01, 2018 / Alex Lloyd

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 with Vietnam veteran David Buckwalter. David spoke to Angus Hordern about an historical topic he is passionate about, the Battle of Wau from the Second World War. David has researched the topic, spoken with the veterans and trekked the battlegrounds of New Guinea.

David's conversation about his service in Vietnam was with Alex Lloyd in Season 1. Listen here.

The photograph captions have been supplied by David Buckwalter. (Not visible on all mobile devices.)

David Buckwalter exploring New Guinea.

Heading along the Buisaval Track towards Skindiwai.

Typical jungle the war was fought in.

This shot was taken in Aulac Creek on the Black Cat Track. After crossing this creek in a westerly direction, the Japanese headed up to the ridge line and into Wau.

North of Wau, looking back south.

The hill in the distance is where the Battle of Wau took place.

The battlegrounds.

This shot was taken from the Wau end of the Black Cat Track, looking up the ridge line now known as the 'Jap Track'. The left-hand end of the previous picture is what you can see in this picture.