In Their Footsteps

Episode Synopsis

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?