jen kelly

As World War II raged, a daring  Aussie in Europe confounded his captors with a series of prison breaks.  And when he wasn't rescuing himself, he was helping his comrades to freedom too. Professor and author Peter Monteath, from Flinders University, joins the show with more.
More information at: https://www.petermonteath.com.au/book/escape-artist-the-incredible-second-world-war-of-johnny-peck/

Like the show? Get features, backgrounds and more at heraldsun.com.au/ibaw

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was designed to be an unsinkable ship. But just like the Titanic, disaster struck the Dunbar just as it neared home, and it was the passengers who paid the price.

Author Larry Writer joins the show to outline one of Australia's worst maritime tragedies, and the remarkable story of its sole survivor.

More information about Larry's book: https://www.qbd.com.au/the-shipwreck/larry-writer/9781760879105/

Clarification: early versions of this episode state the death toll as 122, the correct figure is 121

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hajime Toyoshima was a crack fighter pilot who flew his Zero in the attack on Pearl Harbor. But it was an Australian machinegun that saw him tumbling out of the sky and into the history books. Historian Mat McLachlan joins the show to start the story.

Get Mat's book: https://www.hachette.com.au/mat-mclachlan/the-cowra-breakout
Like the show, get features, backgrounds and more at: https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

19-year-old Gary McKay was determined to avoid being sent to Vietnam, so he enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces for six years instead. But as fate would have it, Gary wound up in Vietnam anyway and earned a Military Cross for extraordinary bravery under fire. He tells his amazing story.

Learn more about Gary's book at:
https://livinghistorytv.com and http://garymckay.com.au/

Like the show? Go to https://heraldsun.ccom.au/ibaw for more

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After serving his country in the trenches of World War One, Father John Joseph Kennedy wrote a play to expose the futility of war. But the priest's statement drew ire all the way up to the PM. State Library Victoria librarian Andrew McConville tells the story of one man's stand.

Like the show? Get more at: https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the noose tightened around the necks of John Gunn and George Roberts, the great and the good of Geelong were right there to see the spectacle.And they dressed in their Sunday best to review the macabre event. Historian Deb Robinson recounts the tale.

Like the show? Go to: https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw for more

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How cynical electioneering backfired and gave women a voice. When the suffrage movement was close to victory at the ballot box, a male politician tried to wedge the vote with a contentious clause.But when the vote went through, the clause backfired, and gave women their first voice in the halls of parliament. Melbourne author Mark Wilson tells the story

Like the show? Go to https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw for more

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1796, Scottish cargo master William Clark led his twice-shipwrecked crew on an epic 1000km walk to save 7000 gallons of rum, discovering Bass Strait and finding Australia’s first coal along the way. Find out more in Adam Courtenay's book: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780733341861/three-sheets-to-the-wind/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She was  a bush nurse, school founder, bushrangers’ ally and accomplished horsewoman. But Rachel Kennedy’s colourful life was almost lost to history, until newspaper editor and author Jeff McGill uncovered her tale. He joins the show with more.
Like the show? go to heraldsun.com.au/ibaw for more

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Victorian-era Melbourne, it was considered unladylike to talk about sex and using birth control was a sIn. But one pioneering activist set about teaching women how their bodies worked and secretly sold them contraceptives in brown paper bags. Historian Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, returns to the show to tell the story. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After she was abandoned while pregnant by the father of her baby, Maggie Heffernan did the unthinkable. But the murder ignited a wave of public sympathy and sparked moral outrage. Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, joins the show to tell the story.

Learn more at https://www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au/maggie-heffernan/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT

In a shameful moment from Melbourne's past, two girls found themselves victim of an unspeakable crime. But their treatment at the hands of the justice system was just as callous. Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, joins the show to tell the story

Like the show? Go to: https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw for more

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sidney Jeffryes was the brilliant wireless operator that made sure Australia got word of the famous Mawson expedition to Antarctica. But the hardships of the journey wrecked his mind and almost put one of the nation's greatest explorers in jeopardy. Ron Roberts, a tour guide at J Ward, Ararat’s Old Gaol and Lunatic Asylum joins Jen to tell the tale.

Like the show? Make sure you catch Jen's features at https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the corpse of a teenage girl was found bobbing in a trunk on the Yarra, police didn't know what to think. They went to unusual lengths to get the remains identified - and soon their investigations would lead them to a mysterious fortune telling abortionist named Madame Olga. Old Melbourne Gaol tour guide Aurora Llywelyn joins the show to tell the horrible tale.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the Count de Castelnau sailed into Melbourne, elite society welcomed their new French consul. But the aristocrat was hiding the salacious secret of a young mistress, illegitimate children and falsified birth certificates.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a babbling ragged wanderer was found in Melbourne's east, authorities couldn't place him, so stuck him behind bars. It took a piece of extraordinary luck, along with a touch of kindness, to set him right. Historian Val Noone joins the show to tell an amazing story that was almost lost in translation.

Like the show? Go to http://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw for more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When two prisoners aged in their 60s decided they'd had enough, they plotted one of the most notorious jailbreaks in Australia's history. Geelong Gaol Museum manager Deb Robinson describes the ingenious plan, as well as their lives on the lam.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Policeman Michael Ward was an unsung hero who helped bring down the Kelly gang. But in a strange quirk of fate, he may also inadvertently help it form. Author  David Dufty joins the show to explain.

More information about the book: https://bit.ly/3JAQpue

Like the show? Get more podcasts and features at https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas McIntyre had a brush with death when his police posse came up against Australia's most famous bushranger. And years later, it was his words in court that sealed Ned's fate. Author Grantlee Kieza joins the show to tell his story

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Tony Bernard joins the show again to tell more of the story of his father, who saw unspeakable Nazi attrocities as a member of the Jewish ghetto police, and then gave evidence against them after the war.

Information about the book here.

Like In Black and White? Get more at https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.