Life on the Line

Season 2 Trailer

Welcome to Season 2 of LIFE ON THE LINE, from Thistle Productions. Season 2 of LIFE ON THE LINE begins next week! Subscribe to get all content. We have stories from the army, navy, air force, commandos and SAS; from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, peacekeeping operations, Afghanistan and Iraq. Listen to Australian stories as you've never heard them before.

RIP Barney Greatrex

World War II veteran Barney Greatrex passed away on 17 February 2018. World War II veteran Barney Greatrex passed away on 17 February 2018. This podcast is a short eulogy to this hero, and some highlights of his story, including recordings of the great man himself.

9 April 1920 - 17 February 2018. Vale Barney Greatrex, Lest We Forget.

Retracing the Resistance with Charlie Mort

Alex Lloyd speaks with Charlie Mort, nephew of Barney Greatrex. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Most weeks we also have a bonus episode, where we speak to historians, authors and others in the veterans community. Today's bonus episode is with Charlie Mort. For the final episode of Season 1, we’re back to the story of Barney Greatrex. Barney was a bomb aimer in Bomber Command, the sole survivor of his Lancaster being shot down, and then spent eight months fighting the Germans with the French Resistance in Occupied France. In 2013, his nephew, Charlie Mort, orchestrated an incredible family trip to France to retrace Barney’s crash site, the places he went to on his journey, and meeting the relatives of those with whom he fought. Ninety-three-year-old Barney was the guest of honour in this epic tour of remembrance. Alex Lloyd spoke to Charlie about the trip, and how they went about retracing the Resistance.

#16 Chris May

Alex Lloyd interviews Afghanistan veteran Chris May. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Afghanistan veteran Chris May. Chris was a war veteran at nineteen, and is a survivor of driving over an improvised explosive device. Now in his late twenties, his story is an impactful tale of a young soldier at war.

Minefields with Hugh Riminton

Alex Lloyd speaks with Hugh Riminton, frontline correspondent and author. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Most weeks we also have a bonus episode, where we speak to historians, authors and others in the veterans community. Today's bonus episode is with Hugh Riminton. We spoke with Hugh about his career of frontline reporting from war zones, and his new book MINEFIELDS.

Launching Barney Greatrex with Michael Veitch

Highlights from the book launch of BARNEY GREATREX. BARNEY GREATREX is the biography of World War II veteran Barney Greatrex, written by bestselling author Michael Veitch, based on the research by Alex Lloyd and Angus Hordern. This podcast is a highlights compilation from the book launch on 8 November 2017. See more photos from the launch at www.lifeonthelinepodcast.com/book. Buy the book now by clicking here.

#15 Adrian Clunies-Ross

Thomas Kaye interviews career army man and Vietnam veteran Adrian Clunies-Ross. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Thomas Kaye spoke with Adrian Clunies-Ross, in Adrian’s home in Canberra. This is their talk about Adrian’s long career in army training, deployments to Vietnam and other highlights.

Archive Interview - John Reid

Excerpts from FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY interview with World War II veteran John Reid. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Most weeks we also have a bonus episode, where we speak to historians, authors and others in the veterans community. Today's bonus episode is from our archive vault, an interview with World War II veteran John Reid.

#14 Hugh Kelly

Thomas Kaye interviews World War II veteran Hugh Kelly. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with World War II veteran Hugh Kelly. Thomas Kaye spoke with ninety-eight-year-old Hugh in his home, days before he moved into a retirement village. This is the first time Hugh has spoken with someone outside the family about his wartime service.

The Eastern Front with David Sutton

Alex Lloyd speaks with David Sutton, historian at the Australian War Memorial. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Most weeks 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 David Sutton. David works at the Australian War Memorial and his area of expertise is on conflicting Soviet and Nazi accounts of the Eastern Front in World War II.

#13 Elizabeth Matthews

Alex Lloyd interviews peacekeeping and Afghanistan veteran Elizabeth Matthews. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with WO1 Elizabeth Matthews, who is currently serving in the Australian Army. We spoke to Elizabeth about her service in peacekeeping operations, her deployment to Afghanistan and life in the modern military. Our thanks go to Defence Media for organising the interview.

From WWII to the Reserves with Norton Duckmanton

Alex Lloyd speaks with World War II veteran Norton Duckmanton at the Reserve Forces Day Parade. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. For today’s bonus episode of Life on the Line, Alex Lloyd spoke with Norton Duckmanton, a World War II veteran. Alex met Norton at the Reserve Forces Day Parade held at Sydney’s Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park. This is the they had chat while they waited for the parade to start.

Alex also covered the Reserve Forces Day Parade in 2018, the final such parade.

#12 Ron Aitken

Angus Hordern interviews Vietnam veteran Ron Aitken. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Vietnam veteran Ron Aitken. Ron flew 261 operational bombing missions over Vietnam.

Ron returned to the podcast in the episode Panel - The Vietnam War.