Our Wartime Heroes: firsthand stories from men and women who were there

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Minefields were the bane of the Australians. They had to be patrolled so that the Vietcong couldn't dig them up. It was an almost impossible task, Trevor said.

His scariest moment though, might have been when he had to jump the barbed wire. His mates thought it was funny...

Narration Sharon Kennedy. Original interview, Bunbury Oral History Group.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Trevor won the lottery that no young person wanted. In the late 1960s, the Australian government ran a birth date ballot lottery for young men turning 20. If your birth date came up you were conscripted.

End prize - fighting in Vietnam.

Trevor was sent for training and discovered his couldn't tell his left from his right. No good for marching! He turned 21 while on training.

Narration Sharon Kennedy. Original interview, Bunbury Oral History Group.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Olive faced the same heartbreaking and back breaking work of all the Australian nurses during WWII.

Narration Andrew Robinson. Voice of Olive, Michelle Durrant. Written Jeffrey Peirce.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

While in Egypt, Olive caught sight of a very famous person. Her assessment was a trifle unflattering.

She was a calm and assured nurse to whom patients responded. One in particular.

Narration Andrew Robinson. Voice of Olive, Michelle Durrant. Written by Jeffrey Peirce.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Tom was unlucky enough to be wounded and convalescence dragged on. He was eager to get back to his battalion.

Narrator Ron Tait. Voice of Tom, Rhys Hughes. Written by Jeffrey Peirce.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Four of the eight Shaw brothers volunteered for WWI. Their fates were varied.

After the war, Tom continued a life of service, helped other returned soldiers and sailors.

Narration Jennifer Kain. Voice of Tom, Lachlan Kelly. Written by Jeffrey Peirce.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Tom rubbed shoulders with some of the most influential people of both the First and Second World Wars.

He and his five brothers all volunteered which must have been heart breaking for their parents. He survived some close encounters, including scrapes with the officers.

Narration Sharon Kennedy. Voice of Tom, Lachlan Kelly. Written by Jeffrey Peirce.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Kevin was young man who had the job of converting cars to run on gas during WWII. Occasionally, It interfered with his love life. Kevin tells the story of the night the gas went phoof.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Bunbury was a quiet country town during WWII. Imagine the panic one night when Spitfires flew over. No one knew what was happening or what to do.

Narration Sharon Kennedy. Original recording May 1999, Norm Flynn

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Neville was thrilled to be able to visit the Sydney while she was in Bunbury port. He and the other young boys were fascinated by the aircraft on board. How did they get off, they wondered.

Bunbury was to be one of Sydney's last ports of call.

Narration Michelle Durrant. Original recording, Bunbury Oral History Group.