IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS

The first series of IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS will be 10 one-hour episodes. In each episode viewers will join a descendant of our veterans is they take an uniquely personal journey of discovery - literally walking in their forebears' footsteps - to learn what their loved ones endured as they served our nation.

The first episode features searcher, Julie Bryce, as she retraces the remarkable experiences of her great uncle Tommy Johnson, who survived the sinking of the HMAS Perth only to suffer the horrors of the Thai-Burma Railway, then another hellish trip to Japan, during which he was again shipwrecked, to be taken to a POW camp in Tokyo, then to meet an astonishing fate.

Subsequent episodes will take us to the sacred shore at Gallipoli, to the killing fields of the WWI's Western Front in France, up the deadly Kokoda Track, to relive Spitfire dogfights over Malta, the secret world of the Z Specials in Borneo, the terrifying bombing raids on Darwin and to Vietnam and Korea.

Patrick conceived the format for IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS as he watched the growing number of Australians who were making pilgrimages to honour their forebears to iconic battle sites like the Kokoda Track, to Gallipoli, Fromelles and Villers-Bretonneux.

"I firmly believe that you can't know where you're heading unless you know where you've come from," Patrick said. "The service and sacrifice of our veterans is deeply embedded in our national DNA and a growing number of Australians want to find out more about their stories.

"IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS will give all Australians the chance to watch over the searchers' shoulders s they make their emotional journeys. Each family's story reveals the devastating impact of war on those who stayed at home and waited and it traces the impact on subsequent generations." 

Shine Australia is producing IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS. The Executive Producer is Michael Caulfield (Australians At War) and the Series Producer is former ABC and 60 Minutes' Producer, Jonathan Harley.

VALE Stan Bisset MC OAM (1912-2010)

Stan Bisset, who died on the Sunshine Coast on 5 October, aged 98, was one of the heroes of the Kokoda campaign in WWII, and Australia’s oldest Wallaby rugby international.

I’ll never forget watching Stan as he stood in front of his beloved brother Butch’s grave at Bomana War Cemetery outside Port Morseby. It was August 1998 during what Stan and his fellow Kokoda Diggers called The Last Parade, their pilgrimage to say a final farewell to the mates they left behind. 

It was the first time Stan had visited the grave since Butch had died in his arms on the Track 56 years earlier. He stood there silently for a long time.  I could see the emotions surging through him.  As always, he stood ramrod straight but tears welled in his noble eyes as the memories flooded back. 

There before him lay Butch, his life cut short by the terrible random selection of war like so many others on the Track. Stan had vowed to lead a good and productive life to honour Butch’s sacrifice. And he had been as good as his word.  He had raised a fine family, forged a long and successful career and had done all in his power to keep Butch’s memory and the story of Kokoda alive. 

While I watched, Stan gently wiped the tears from his eyes with his powerful hands and then brought them to his side. He squared his shoulders and paused. Then he swept his right arm up in a crisp, practised salute: an homage from a warrior, a farewell from a brother.

Stan has a deep rooted sense of duty and an unshakeable sense of honour. He had, and still has, star quality: that indefinable amalgam of physical presence and character that sets the remarkable ones apart. He was a genuine sporting hero who blossomed into a military hero in the cauldron of war. 

I vividly remember when I met him for the first time, doing interviews with the veterans for a documentary. My immediate thought was that they’ve ordered a hero from Central Casting and they’ve sent the perfect specimen.

Stan’s former commanding officer and lifelong friend, the late Phil Rhoden, told me that Stan had no time to grieve for Butch during the battles along the Track and took many years to recover from the loss. Like so many other Kokoda veterans, the campaign was one of the defining experiences of Stan’s life. Somehow, Stan dealt with the blows and got on with his life. 

Stan Bisset is quite simply one the finest men I have met. I have been privileged to call him a friend and a mentor for twenty years. He personified so many attributes of the Digger to me: courage (both moral and physical); compassion; selflessness; independence; loyalty; resourcefulness; devotion; coolness; and humour.

He carried himself with the bearing of a natural leader and a champion sportsman.  Even as he neared his century, he continued to inspire me and all those who know him with his dogged refusal to surrender any ground to Father Time. 

Since the rediscovery of the Kokoda story about 15 years ago, barely a day would go by without someone wanting to contact Stan and meet him. Without fail, he gave his time and his support.

In 2000, Stan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to veterans, particularly through the 2/14^th Battalion Association.

Stan is survived by Gloria and his children and grandchildren

Stan Bisset, like his story, is timeless.

Time for a Fair Go for Fuzzy Wuzzy Descendants

The people of Oro Province, at the northern end of the Kokoda Track in PNG, have been waiting for more than two years for their government to help rebuild the roads, bridges, schools and villages destroyed by Cyclone Guba in November 2007.

Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands lost their homes when Cyclone Guba hit the province. Around 60 bridges and almost 100 schools were lost in the disaster.

Two years on, and just a handful of temporary bridges have been put in place. Thousands still live under tarpaulins in temporary shelters and kids are being taught in bush lean-tos. Much of the province is still cut off from the main thoroughfare for food and basic supplies – the road to Kokoda from the port of Oro Bay and the town of Popondetta.

Just when you think things couldn’t get worse, two things happen: first, the region suffers more floods during last month’s torrential rain; and second, it now seems the government has lost the funds it committed for the province’s rebuilding.

Yes, that’s right, the Kina 60 million earmarked for the restoration of the province’s infrastructure has apparently disappeared in Port Moresby!

In the latest issue of his PNG Attitude newsletter, respected commentator, Keith Jackson, writes:

“Over K60 million allocated by the PNG Government for relief and restoration efforts after Cyclone Guba devastated Oro Province in 2007 has ‘gone missing’. Provincial authorities briefed Public Services Minister Peter O’Neill of the situation but were not able to say where the money had gone.”

The Province’s administrator, Owen Awaita, was quoted as saying that K11 million had been allocated for restoration work during the state of emergency declared following the disaster and another K50 million had been “parked” at the Treasury Department in Port Moresby. Unbelievably, apparently all this money has disappeared.

In addition, a further K600,000 committed to land owners in Girua village, north east of Kokoda, allegedly had not been paid, prompting the villagers to ban authorities from their land until the payment is made.

The time has come for the PNG to show some political will and some transparency. Any qualified accountant could trace the missing funds within days.

While this disgraceful abrogation of responsibility continues, the people of Oro – many of whom are the descendants of the beloved Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels – are relying on NGOs like the Kokoda Track Foundation and the Anglican Church for food and water. They are being denied justice and access to basic resources. Their children are being denied a future.

The PNG Government cannot proclaim its success in securing massive gas projects while turning a blind eye to massive fraud and ignoring the plight of so many of its people.



It's Never Too Late

If police officers and international footballers are starting to look like kids to you, you know you’ve reached that ‘certain age’. But, instead of stressing about getting there, I reckon we should celebrate making it. 

It’s a great age: an age when you have more time to consider things and when you can spend more time doing the things you love, rather than the things you have to do.  It’s an age when you even feel like you’re starting to gain some wisdom - or at least some perspective.

Sometimes we have to ask ourselves some of life’s really tough questions. Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? How can I be the best that I can? What percentage of my potential do I normally achieve? And what is the main internal obstacle preventing me from achieving more?

For most of us the answer to that last question is fear.  Fear of failure.  Fear of pushing outside the boundaries we draw around ourselves. When we realise that most of our boundaries are illusions, we can set ourselves free.

I’m convinced that it’s never too late to be what you might have been! It’s never too late to push through your boundaries … to open your mind … to make your own decisions … to do something great.

In case you think it might be too late for you, consider a few examples: 

Consider Ray’s case. He was 52, diabetic, arthritic and had gall bladder and thyroid problems. He’d dropped out of high school, worked as a chalkie in a broker’s firm, sold paper cups, even tried his hand as a jazz musician.  He was selling milkshake machines when he met two blokes named Mac and Dick who owned a restaurant.  Ray saw the potential and followed his dream. Ray Krok bought the restaurant from the McDonald brothers and gave birth to the Golden Arches.  It wasn’t too late.

It was never too late for Nelson Mandela either.   He began his real career on the world stage at 72.  And what an impact he has had and is still having!

Winston Churchill took over as Prime Minister of Britain at the age of 65 and guided his nation through to victory in WWII at the age of 71. Coincidentally, both John Winston Howard and Edward Gough Whitlam were both 56 when they became Prime Minister.

My great friend, Stan Bisset, is about to turn 97.  He’s one of the heroes of the Kokoda campaign and our oldest living Wallaby rugby international.  Some circulation problems recently left him with a leg sore that wouldn’t heal. Did he lie back and accept it?  No, he did what he always has done: thought positive.  He checked things out on the net (yes, at 96!) and saw that some of the top footballers used hyperbaric chambers to improve blood flow for healing injuries.  So he organised a couple of weeks’ treatment in the chamber and solved his problem.  Now he’s working on a new exercise regime.  It’s never too late.

The one thing which has changed dramatically over our lifetimes is the pace of change. A very wise man once wrote: “Some people don’t like change.  Change couldn’t care less!”

It’s time to pause and reflect.  Whatever our age, whatever our stage in life, it’s never too late to take control of our destinies, to rethink our priorities, to rekindle our passions and to chase our dreams … and, most importantly, to have fun doing it!  Perhaps that bulging brain, Edward de Bono, summed it up best: “You can analyse the past but you have to design the future.”

It’s never too late to design your future!

(An article Patrick wrote for All About You, the magazine of the Queensland AMA)



Fromelles Missing ... Are we doing enough?

Last year was wonderful year for our missing Diggers from three world wars: Jim Bourke and his team brough home the last of our remaining six missing Vietnam vets, the HMAS Sydney was finally located  and we confirmed that the mass graves at Pheasant Wood contained the remains of the missing soldiers from Fromelles.

The task of identifying the missing Fromelles Diggers is underway. But is it too little and perhaps too late?

The man behind the discovery of the Pheasant Wood missing, Lambis Englezos, is deeply concerned at the way the process of identification is heading. He, and many others, are also concerned at the paucity of detailed information emanating from the investingating team.
 
"There is a joint ownership, it is not blood specific.  It has been suggested to me that the descendants are our constituents.  With the recovery work at Pheasant Wood, I would suggest that our constituents are the soldiers of Pheasant Wood," Lambis says.

"Each of the soldiers will receive the dignity of individual reburial and hopefully, their identity.  I believe that every effort should be made to identify as many of the soldiers as possible.  To that end, I suggest that, if  LGC Forensics don't get viable DNA from particular soldiers, then we should go back and re-sample them before their final burial.  I ask that a full range of samples be taken, including load bearing bones, for example the femur and toe, and that those samples be sent elsewhere for testing.  We can't be held back by a restrictive tender process, professional pride or the dollar.  We must do everything we possibly can to get viable DNA  from each set of remains.  We must maximise the chances of identification."

And that's  thre central question at this stage: are we doing everything to maximise the chances of identifying the remains found at Pheasant Wood?

Lambis again: "Given the veracity of the German list, I had hoped that donor samples could have been taken earlier.  Once the decision was made to recover, samples could have been taken and sent over for matching, prior to the sitting of the Panel and before the soldiers are reburied.  I'm not a descendant, however, if I was, I'd rather be given the opportunity to be there for the burial of my soldier, rather than be there for the changing of a headstone.  Maybe it has all been too hasty, too neat. The process continues, research is fluid and ongoing.  There has been a lot of speculation, perhaps misinformation, this has been amplified by what some might say is a lack of transparency and inclusiveness."
 
"We are guessing that the majority of the 250 recoveries are Australian, especially if the pattern of recovery from the first three pits was repeated in the remaining pits.  As was suggested, they were not all at Pheasant Wood.  The question of alternative sites is apparent.  It has been contended that there is an even bigger British site behind the Wick Salient.  If there are 25 British among the Pheasant Wood recoveries, there are as many as 306 ''missing'' British  from the 19-7-16 battle.  The ''missing'' of the 9-5-15 battle of Aubers Ridge are also to be considered."
 
Lambis and his team forced the hand of the bureaucrats over Pheasant Wood. They encountered a solid wall of negativity and skepticism when they initially tried to persude them to investigate their claims. Without their tenacity and the weight of their research, the Fromelles missing would still be languishing unrecognised behind the wood at the foot of the town.

The bureaucrats are now concerned that Pheasant Wood has set a precedent that could open the floodgates for other discoveries of war dead. To me that's not even a consideration: we have a unbreakable moral obligation to recover our war dead, to try every means within our power to identify them and to give them a dignified individual burial

Lambis has no doubt: "What I saw at Pheasant Wood was certainly very grim and confirmed for me that they were not at rest. We had to recover.  We have a moral obligation, it offers dignity, hope, identity, ownership and pilgrimage. If our ''missing'' can be found, they should be recovered. The passage of time has not diminished our obligation, our honouring of their sacrifice. They will be restored."

On a positive note, it's possible that Tim Whitford's great uncle, Harry Willis, may be one of those who is identified by DNA matching with his descendants. Harry Willis' medallion was one of the first artefacts found during the original non-invasive examination of the Pheasant Wood site in 2007 and was one of the items confirming the presence of Australian remains in the graves. The Army's team of experts has asked for DNA samples from Harry Willis' surviving niece, Tim Whitford's grandmother, Marjorie Whitford from Yarram, Victoria.

The Army is seeking comparative DNA samples from two of Harry's descendants: Marjorie Whitford and Harry Willis' nephew "young" Harry Willis from Melbourne. Tim Whitford reports: "The experts believe these two sources offer the best chance of getting a match, should our soldier-relative's remains produce viable DNA, now that he is out of the burial pit and into a temporary mortuary."

Tim was concerned that other surviving relatives may feel slighted and added: "Please don't think that the choosing of these two DNA donors detract from your own contributions or indicate a lesser relationship to our soldier uncle, far from it. The two donors are simply the closest and best sources of a match with either Mt DNA or Paternal DNA based on uninterrupted female-female-female line or the shortest possible male-male line. To those who have supported our search and fight for Harry in any way over the years, thanks so much."

Tim points out that although DNA testing brings no certainties, it takes the family another step closer to the resolution they've sought for more than 90 years.

Let's hope this signals a concerted effort by the Army's experts to exhaust every avenue possible - including modern and ancient DNA testing - to identify the missing so as many as possible can be buried under a named headstone next year on the anniversary of the battle, July 19 2010 at the new cemetery at Fromelles.

If you're a relative of one of the missing, please call the Army, between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday on 1800 019 090 and register your contact details so they can take DNA samples from you if needed.