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In Their Footsteps

In Their Footsteps (2011)

May. 08,2011
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7.2
| Documentary War & Politics

In Their Footsteps

2011

In Their Footsteps is a ten-part documentary depicting Australian families and war. The first episode aired in Australia on 8 May 2011 on the Nine Network. In each episode an Australian will retrace the steps of a close ancestor’s wartime experience.

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Seasons & Episode

1
Seasons 1 : 2011

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10 Episode

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Episode 1 - Petty Officer Tommy Johnson
May. 08,2011

Tommy Johnson was an ordinary man who had an extraordinary war. For nearly 70 years, his family never really knew what happened to Tommy – a remarkable story of endurance and mateship, of courage and cruelty. Now, his great niece, Julie Bryce, will discover the truth. Julie, a mother of three from Perth, WA, has long wanted to comprehend the full story behind a mantelpiece photo of a young Tommy setting off to sea. As an optimistic 18-year-old with matinee idol looks, Tommy joined the Navy keen to see the world. He was hoping to join a fighting ship and he got what he wated – and then much more. Tommy set sail aboard HMAS Perth on Valentine’s Day 1942, heading into an escalating war: the Japanese had bombed both Pearl Harbour and Darwin and their forces were fanning out across the Pacific. Within a fortnight, a 70-strong Japanese fleet just off the coast of Indonesia would hopelessly outgun the Perth. 353 Australians died. Tommy was one of the lucky ones to survive, but his fortune was mixed: he was picked up out of the water by the Japanese, only to be interned as a POW to build the notorious Thai-Burma Railway. Tommy survived the daily battle against exhaustion, starvation and tropical diseases. With the railway complete, the now weakening Japanese had more in store for Tommy - to ship him and other POWs to Tokyo to bolster its now diminishing war effort. They were crammed into one of the notorious Japanese ‘Hell Ships’ bound for Tokyo but the rust bucket of a transport vessel would never get there. A US submarine torpedoed it, and again, Tommy was hurled into an angry and oily ocean. Incredibly, Tommy survived and was again rescued by the Japanese. He was lucky to be alive but the blessing was mixed; Tommy was taken to Tokyo. Today, his great niece, Julie, will also travel to Tokyo. What she discovers there will change her world forever.

Episode 4 - Major Albert Moore
May. 29,2011

Albert Moore is a unique wartime legend. He saw some of the fiercest and most merciless battles of World War II, but never fired a single shot. Major Albert Moore was a Salvation Army officer who tirelessly brought coffee and comfort to men on the frontline, tended to the wounded and, in desperate times, did everything he could to make life more bearable for the diggers. It was a role he fulfilled from the searing deserts of the Middle East to the unrelenting jungles of Kokoda. Such was his commitment and courage, Albert Moore inspired extraordinary respect and affection. As well as being immortalised in the image of lighting the cigarette of a wounded digger in 1942, Albert would become part of one of the enduring images of Australians at war; the sustaining power of mateship. Albert’s service has also left a strong impression on a young descendant. His great great nephew, Nathan Folkes, has been inspired by the example of this man who, at the age of 42, left his wife and son to assist the war effort with courage and conviction. Nathan is following in his great great uncle Albert’s footsteps along Kokoda – a sweaty, gruelling trek that takes him waist-deep through the rivers and trudging up the mountainsides of Papua New Guinea. At 21, Nathan is the same age as many of the young men who served and, in many cases, never returned from that brutal, crucial campaign. All along the way, this young accountancy student from Ballarat, VIC. asks himself a burning personal question: what would I have done?

Episode 7 - Flight Lieutenant Bill Healey
June. 19,2011

Gathered around the television one afternoon, the Healey family was watching the classic Steve Mc Queen film, The Great Escape – in much the same way millions have enjoyed it. But this afternoon, in this family, it would be different. Tony Healey was trying to make out what his grandfather, Bill was muttering under his breath. Tony finally asked what was wrong. “It wasn’t anything like that,” Bill replied. “How do you know?” It was a fair enough question and his grandfather’s response would almost knock Tony off the couch. “I was on the Escape Committee!” And so began Toni’s journey of discovery into just exactly what his grandfather did during the war. Aircrafts don’t come anymore iconic than the Lancaster Bomber, and the airmen who flew them were the celebrities of WWII. As a navigator in Bomber Command, Bill Healey and his crew were so highly skilled they were chosen for the elite Path Finder Force, guiding hundreds of Bomber Command aircraft over the night skies of Germany. It was crucial, dangerous work from which many never returned. After more than 30 successful operations, Bill’s Lancaster was shot down. The crew parachuted into the German countryside, and were soon captured and interned as prisoners of war. Bill was sent to Stalag Luft III, a camp that would go down in the history books for the daring escapes that took place there. However, these escapes were rarely successful and often ended in tragedy. Tony Healey is an engineer who lives with his wife and three kids on the New South Wales south coast. He wants to know exactly what his grandfather went through. Tony will discover a world of daring flying missions, survival in the face of hardship and loneliness, and a love story struggling to survive the tyranny of time and distance.

Episode 8 - Private George Hannaford
June. 26,2011

Serving as a runner on the Western Front during World War I required courage, commitment and, if you were to survive, a significant amount of luck. After all, 60,000 Australians were left behind on the Great War’s battlefields. George Hannaford certainly had courage – he was awarded the prestigious Military Medal for his extraordinary efforts running messages between the front line and commanders at the 1917 battle of Polygon Wood. RELATED LINKS Watch Full Episodes Private Hannaford also had enough good luck to make it through the war, returning home to marry and establish a successful dairy farm that is still in the family to this day. Kristy Cooper grew up on that settlement farm and has spent her whole life in the district of Katandra, Victoria. Now, the mother of three wants to know how her family came to be there, how the war shaped her great grandfather’s life, and in turn, how it shaped the destiny of her entire family. Kristy is motivated by her love for her grandfather, George’s son. He is growing old and she wants to be able to tell him what his father endured and achieved on the battlefields of France and Belgium. He remembers a few war stories, but it’s hard to sort fact from myth. Like any men of his generation, George never really talked to his family about what he saw, what he did and the mark it left on him. meant to serve amid the mud and mayhem of the Western Front. An extraordinary story of a true survivor

In Their Footsteps is a ten-part documentary depicting Australian families and war. The first episode aired in Australia on 8 May 2011 on the Nine Network. In each episode an Australian will retrace the steps of a close ancestor’s wartime experience.

READ MORE

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