Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. This is a re-release of the 10 November 2017 bonus episode to mark Remembrance Day and to talk about this very special day of reflection and commemoration.
Alex Lloyd spoke with the Honourable Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial. Dr Nelson has a long and distinguished career in public service. Just to name a few prominent positions, Dr Nelson was the Federal President of the Australian Medical Association before serving as the Federal Member for Bradfield from 1996 to 2009, where one of his portfolios was Minister for Defence. After a key ambassadorial role, Dr Nelson was appointed as Director of the Australian War Memorial in 2012.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. In Season 2, Angus Hordern spoke to Australian War Memorial historian Michael Kelly about Australia's involvement in the Korean War. In this podcast, Michael caught up with Alex Lloyd to give an update on the developing situation in regards to recovering Australian missing in action from that conflict.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. This bonus episode is a conversation with Matt Williams, an army veteran who had one deployment to Afghanistan. Matt now has incurable brain cancer. He spoke to Alex Lloyd about his military days, his journey post-army and outlook on life.
Willy returned to the podcast in Season 4, two years after his original interview, to give a career and health update.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's panel conversation is on the topic of life after service, and the difficulties the transition can entail. Alex Lloyd moderated a discussion between previous podcast guests Sharon Bown, Dave Stafford Finney and Don Barnby.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. This bonus episode covers the upcoming 8-part documentary VOODOO MEDICS, a short series of webisodes published by The Daily Telegraph Online starting 22 October 2018. Alex Lloyd speaks with the documentary's creator and host, journalist Kristin Shorten, as well as two of its interviewees, Australian veterans Mark Donaldson VC and Dr Dan Pronk. VOODOO MEDICS looks at the lives post-army of medics who served with Special Forces, and interviews such former medics, the operators they fought alongside, and more, in an insightful expose on the cost of modern war.
To watch the documentary, click here!
If you enjoyed these conversations with Mark and Dan, you can catch their original interviews in Season 2:
And for more conversations with Dr Dan Pronk:
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's panel conversation is on the topic of the Vietnam war, both experiences in-country and life after. Angus Hordern moderated a discussion between previous podcast guests Sandy MacGregor, David Buckwalter, David Leafe and Ron Aitken.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. This bonus episode is with Adrian Talbot, a veteran of the British Royal Marine Commandos, twice-gold medallist at the 2014 Invictus Games, and now Ambassador for the upcoming Sydney Invictus Games of 2018.
Adrian returned to the podcast in Season 3 to share his story of service, as an Australian in the British Royal Marine Commandos.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's panel conversation is on the topic of what it means to be a veteran in the modern era, public perception, support systems and transitioning to the workforce. Angus Hordern moderated a discussion between previous podcast guests Garth Callender, Michael Wright and Glenn Kolomeitz.
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. 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 a German World War II veteran, Horst Haase. Horst spoke to Alex Lloyd about events he witnessed, the terror he felt and the silence he had to maintain to save his life during the war. Thanks go to Oliver Heuthe and Martin Luther Homes for helping to arrange this episode.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Dr Kerry Summerscales. Kerry shared with Sharon Mascall-Dare stories from her incredible 28-year-career in the Australian Defence Force, including five operational deployments.
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 a Cold War veteran from East Germany, Jens Milbret. Jens spoke of growing up in a communist regime, the propaganda, his military service, the lies that shaped his life and the escape he made from life in East Germany. Thanks go to Oliver Heuthe for helping to arrange this episode.
These photos are of the military academy Jens served at in Dresden, created by Lysippos and shared here (and on our social media) under a Creative Commons license.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with World War II and Vietnam veteran Rothesay Swan. Rothesay fought in the largest naval battle in history, and went on to have a distinguished career as a Rear Admiral in the Royal Australian Navy.
Rothesay returned to the podcast in Christmas on the Line.
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 a German World War II veteran, Eugen Pichurra. Eugen spoke to Alex about Germany in the 1930s, why he joined the army, his incredible wartime stories, atrocities he witnessed, and his reflections on the war. Eugen also served in the West German military for a time, during the Cold War, before migrating to Australia. Thanks go to Oliver Heuthe and Martin Luther Homes for helping to arrange this episode.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, Rhys Dowden. A former member of the 2nd Commando regiment, Rhys saw multiple deployments to the Middle East as an elite soldier. Alex Lloyd spoke to Rhys about training to be a Commando, contact stories and the power of purpose.
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 Rev Dr Gareth Clayton OAM. A man of the cloth, Gareth sought to serve his faith by providing guidance to the sailors of Australia's navy. Gareth reminisces on his time in the navy, his role as chaplain, and beyond.
Gareth returned to the podcast in Christmas on the Line.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Janine Fabre, formerly of the Australian Army. Janine shared stories of her life behind the camera lens and the lessons she's learned from documenting our troops at home and abroad. 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. Alex Lloyd spoke with Bram Connolly, a former Special Forces officer. Bram is now an author, founder of WarriorU, podcaster at the WarriorU Podcast, and a mentor. Alex spoke with Bram about his pursuits in life after service, and all things human optimisation.
Bram returned to the podcast in Season 3 in #47 Bram Connolly to discuss his military service with the Australian Army and 2nd Commando Regiment.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Scott Calvert, an Australian Army veteran who deployed twice to Afghanistan. Scott spoke to Sharon Mascall-Dare about the artillery corps, his Middle East deployments, action in Afghanistan, and the cost the life in uniform can have on the life back home.
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 historian Len Traynor. Len is an expert in RAF Bomber Command of World War II. His uncle was a rear gunner on a Lancaster bomber and killed on his 30th operation.
