#147 Ray James

Angus Hordern interviews Vietnam veteran and RSL NSW President Ray James.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Ray James is a veteran of the Vietnam War and is currently the President of NSW RSL. He served in the Royal Australian Navy on HMAS Sydney, the Vung Tau ferry. He was also on HMAS Melbourne when it collided with the USS Frank E. Evans in 1969. Ray spoke with Angus Hordern about his life of service – in the military, in the police force and now in the veteran community.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

• LIFE ON THE SEA Episode IV 'Collision'

• For School and Country

#122 Kasey Mumford

Alex Lloyd interviews Royal Australian Navy veteran Kasey Mumford.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Kasey Mumford was an officer in the Royal Australian Navy. She deployed to Timor, the Arabian Gulf and was on HMAS Manoora during the MV Tampa incident in 2001. Kasey spoke with Alex Lloyd for Season 5’s final episode.

For more episodes related to the MV Tampa, listen to:

• #114 Bruce McLennan

• #121 Catherine Walsh

Catherine Walsh (#121) is featured on the second photo on the gallery above, to the right (with Kasey in the centre).

#120 Wayne Bemet

Angus Hordern interviews former Chief Petty Officer, RAN veteran Wayne Bemet.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Wayne Bemet served in The Australian Defence Force for 19 years, with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. He had 5 operational deployments, from 2002 to 2015. He was medically discharged in 2017 for a variety of physical injuries, forcing Wayne to reinvent and re-educate himself for a life moving forward. He spoke to Angus Hordern about his military career and his transition from the defence force.

#113 Darren Grogan

Angus Hordern interviews Commodore Darren Grogan about the highs and lows of his career in the navy.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Darren Grogan is a Commodore currently serving in the Royal Australian Navy. He spoke with Angus Hordern about his career to date – from time in the Arabian Gulf to border protection to Bushfire Assist – and about serving in today’s Royal Australian Navy.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

• #64 Jodi Farmer

• COVID-19 Taskforce with John Frewen

Life After Service: Tamara Sloper-Harding

Tamara Sloper-Harding served in the Royal Australian Navy as an intelligence officer and saw deployments to East Timor and Bougainville.

In this episode of Life After Service, Tarama catches up with an old navy colleague, Angus Hordern, and reflects on her life post service, including a little village called Soibada that captured her heart.

If you want to find out more about the charity and support the efforts of Tamara and co, you can find out more on Facebook, or you can reach out to them at: pittwaterfriendsofsoibada@gmail.com

Watch the episode on YouTube above, or listen to the audio-only version below.

#111 Chad McLaren

Sharon Mascall-Dare interviews Timor and border protection veteran, Chad McLaren.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Chad McLaren served in the Australian Army as an infantryman and deployed to East Timor in 2000. He then transferred to the Royal Australian Navy and served as a medic, including on border protection. At the Torrens Parade Ground in Adelaide, Chad spoke with Sharon Mascall-Dare about his military career, the role of sport in his life in and out of the military and the importance of veteran storytelling. Chad is one of the founders of Walk for a Veteran, with the 2021 walk set for August.

#104 Chris Oxenbould

Angus Hordern interviews Gulf War veteran Chris Oxenbould.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Chris Oxenbould was a Rear Admiral in the Royal Australian Navy. Among other deployments, Chris was the Commander of the Royal Australian Navy Task Group both during and after the First Gulf War. There, his task group became part of the largest grouping of warships seen since the end of World War II. It’s been said that it was probably the most powerful and complex naval force ever assembled.

The episode referenced at the end of the podcast is #82 John Cantwell Vol I.

#94 Ian Roberts

Angus Hordern interviews submarine captain and Cold War veteran, Ian Roberts.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Ian Roberts served in the Royal Australian Navy for 25 years. He earned the coveted Dolphins badge, marking him as a submariner. He went on to become one of the first Australian-born officers to command a Royal Australian Navy submarine. This is his conversation with Angus Hordern about life under the waves.

Ian returned to the podcast in Christmas on the Line Vol III.

CORRECTION: When we first published this podcast, we said that Ian was the first Australian-born man to command a submarine. We’d read a couple of contemporary articles to that effect, but were misinformed. That honour goes to Captain Frank Getting, born in Sydney in 1899, and commanded the very first submarine to bear the name HMAS Oxley in 1928, the vessel that preceded Ian’s sub of the same name. Ian may have indeed been the second Australian to command an Aussie submarine - he’s definitely one o the first, and it was a great honour to record his story regardless.

Teddy Sheean VC with Dr Brendan Nelson VC

Angus Hordern speaks with Dr Brendan Nelson about Australia’s 101st Victoria Cross recipient, Teddy Sheean VC.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Teddy Sheean received the Victoria Cross posthumously for his heroism during the sinking of HMAS Armidale on 1 December 1942. Seventy-eight years later, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II approved the award on 12 August 2020.

Dr Brendan Nelson, former Minister for Defence in the Howard Government and Director of the Australian War Memorial 2012-19, chaired the 2020 expert panel that reviewed Teddy’s case. His panel’s recommendation for Teddy to receive the VC was the last domino for this award finally being bestowed. In Dr Nelson’s second appearance on the podcast, he told Angus Hordern the story of Teddy Sheean, and exactly how his posthumous VC came about. Teddy’s story is extraordinary in its own right, as is the story of how his VC took so long to be approved, and what finally changed.

Thistle Productions have worked with Dr Nelson before. Angus Hordern interviewed him in our five-part DVD documentary series, For School and Country. On this podcast he appeared back in Season 1, 2017, when he spoke to me about his career, the Australian War Memorial and the topic of Remembrance Day, in Remembrance Day with Dr Brendan Nelson. 

#73 Ian Richards

Angus Hordern interviews Korean War veteran Ian Richards.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Ian Richards served the Royal Australian Navy for 40 years, including in the Korean War, retiring from the forces as a Rear Admiral and Deputy Chief of the Navy. He shared his story with Angus Hordern.

The final picture is of HMS Belfast, as mentioned in this podcast, on a trip to London by host Alex Lloyd.

#64 Jodi Farmer

Alex Lloyd interviews currently serving sailor, Jodi Farmer.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. For this episode, Royal Australian Navy servicewoman Jodi Farmer spoke to Alex Lloyd about her experiences at sea, including border security operations and a deployment to the Middle East, and the intensity of being on a boarding party.

#6 Ivan Ingham

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Ivan Ingham, formerly of the Royal Navy and currently serving with the Royal Australian Navy. This is the story of a modern Navy serviceman. Our thanks go to Defence Media for organising the interview.