In Their Footsteps Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
Episode 1 - Petty Officer Tommy JohnsonJulie Bryce never met her Uncle Tommy. Yet, somehow this mother of three from Perth has always felt a strong, strange bond with the man whose World War II service was as extraordinary as it was terrible. When a handsome young Petty Officer Johnson waved his family goodbye on board the HMAS Perth in 1941, nobody, least of all Tommy, could have imagined the fate that lay ahead. He would be aboard not one but two ships which are torpedoed and sunk. He would face a gruelling internment on the Thai-Burma railway. And Tommy would endure the terrifying fire bombing of Tokyo. Tommy's war was extraordinary. Julie's journey will be life changing.
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Episode 2 - Pilot Officer Tony BoydMegan MacDonald is learning to fly. The 39-year-old mother of three and orchardist from central Queensland has 20 hours flying time to her name but is still not permitted to fly solo. Her great uncle, Tony, was not only flying solo after just five hours of training but he was fighting the Germans over the skies of Malta. The Siege of Malta became one of the great air battles of World War II and Tony Boyd was among the best - piloting Tiger Moths and then the legendary Spitfires. In an episode as adventurous as it is poignant, Megan flies in Tony's footsteps and, along the way, changes the way she views her great uncle and her own family.
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Episode 3 - Bombardier Ronald and Private Ernest CavalierGallipoli is Australia's most commemorated battleground, etched deeply into the national psyche. It's also woven deeply into Josh Cavalier's family story: both his grandfather and great grandfather fought among those unforgiving beaches and cliffs. Incredibly, father and son survived the First World War but for generations, combat has left a lasting legacy on the Cavalier men. And it lingers to this day. Now, as Josh, a 30-year-old IT technician, embarks on this journey, he quickly discovers it will be full of surprises. This is a tender story about the relationship between a father and a son - and the need to understand the past in order to look to the future.
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Episode 4 - Major Albert MooreMajor Albert Moore is a uniquely Australian wartime legend; one of the heroes of Kokoda. But Albert did not fire a single shot. In fact he didn't carry a weapon. That's because Albert was a Salvation Army officer who tirelessly carried coffee, cigarettes and scones right up to the front lines along Kokoda, as Australian forces pushed back the Japanese. Today, Major Moore's 21-year-old great nephew, Nathan Folkes, is walking in his muddy footsteps to ask himself a burning personal question: what would I have done?
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Episode 5 - Sergeant Bill BrandisToday, some Australians take Special Forces (SAS) for granted, an indispensable arm of our Defence Forces. But it wasn't always so. With the outbreak of World War II, as Australia confronted an expansionist Japan, there were no commandos, no SAS. So, when Billy Brandis enlisted in 1941, he had no idea, after serving with distinction as a signaller, he would be handpicked to join a covert new unit. It would be commonly known as Z Special Unit and in January 1944 Sergeant Brandis is deployed to British North Borneo. Poorly trained or prepared for the operation, Billy is separated from his unit and is lost in the dense and unforgiving jungle. What follows is an extraordinary story of endurance and courage and now, nearly seven decades later, Billy's niece is following in his footsteps to discover the truth.
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Episode 6 - Private Terrence "Hippo" HippisleyTerrence "Hippo" Hippisley is larger than life. Meet the Vietnam veteran and you'll have your ear chewed off with a stream of yarns and the cackle of laughter. Hippo is a loveable larrikin. There's only problem: he's long been a stranger to his son, 41 year-old Mark. The two men have drifted apart - the tyranny of time, distance and Hippo's post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the war. Which is why Mark is travelling to Vietnam to understand his dad. It's a journey of discovery, reconciliation and, at times, great humour.
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Episode 7 - Flight Lieutenant Bill HealeyTony Healey's grandfather, Bill, was a Lancaster Bomber navigator with the elite Path Finder Force. It was difficult, dangerous work and, like so many, Bill's Lancaster was shot down over Germany. He survived, was captured and interned as a POW at Stalag Luft 3 - location of the legendary "Great Escape". And as a member of the escape committee, Bill was right in on the plot. Now, his grandson is travelling to understand the men and machines behind this incredible story of defiance, ingenuity and survival.
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Episode 8 - Private George HannafordAs a runner on the Western Front, George Hannaford saw some of the First World War's bloodiest battles. When the mayhem of Fromelles or Polygon Wood had destroyed all communications, runners were the final, vital link between frontline troops and their commanders. It was an assignment performed with such courage that George was awarded the esteemed Military Medal. Now, 95 years later, the WWI hero's great grand-daughter, Kristy, is following in his footsteps across the battlefields of France and Belgium. It's a personal history which resonates to this day. This mother of three lives in Mooroopna, Victoria, where George turned an unforgiving soldier-settler block into a productive farm. It's still in the family and Kristy wants to understand the amazing story that founded her family on the land.
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Episode 9 - Corporal Les SemkenWhen the Japanese bombed Darwin on February 19, 1942, the damage was devastating - and the silence deafening. News of the attack was limited and most Australians were oblivious to the devastation on our own shores. Not that Les Semken needed a newsreel to know what happened; he saw it all unfold first hand. The war had suddenly become very personal. Nearly 70 years later, his granddaughter Kathryn is also on a very personal mission - to learn about the war that came to her grandfather and to Australia's shores. This is a tender tale about a 25-year-old woman, taking time out from her busy life to learn the lessons of an elder; to understand about the historic moments that shaped her grandfather at much the same age. It is a story about the wisdom of elders and the galvanising experiences of our youth.
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Episode 10 - Private Stanley 'Stunna' JohnsTo his army mates, Stanley "Stunna" Johns was a legend. A bloke you could rely on in a stoush. And through his service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, Stan certainly saw a lot of stoushes. In Korea, he helped keep the waves of North Korean forces at bay in the famed 1951 Battle of Kapyong. But all that mattered little for a young Steve Johns, who as a boy saw his father as 'a monster of a tank of man' who bashed his mum and terrorized the kids. Then, as an adult, Steve cut all contact with his dad for 20 years. But a terrible motorbike accident made Steve reconsider and reconnect with his father, until Stan died last year. Now, the 51-year-old son is on an emotional journey: piecing together the puzzle of the soldier so that he can begin to understand his father.
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