From Hill 60 to Home: The 1st Australian Tunnelling Company “The hidden war beneath the Western Front — and the families who carried its shadow.”
Beneath the mud and trenches of the First World War, Australian tunnellers fought a war few have ever heard about - digging in silence, laying mines, and enduring gas attacks in the suffocating dark. This podcast series follows the story of Alphonsus Joseph Edwards, a motor driver from Maitland who joined the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company, survived mustard gas, and carried its damage for the rest of his life.
Through immersive sound design, archival detail, and family testimony, we trace the journey from the tunnels of Hill 60 to the kitchen tables of Depression-era Australia. It is a story not only of soldiers, but of wives, children, and communities who bore the long shadow of war across generations.
From the resilience of Elsie Agnes Austin, who raised six children after her husband’s early death, to the service of their son Bernard in the Second World War, this series reveals how ordinary lives carried extraordinary sacrifice.
This is not just military history. It is the story of endurance, memory, and the cost of freedom - told through one family, and the Company that shaped them.
Producer & Host: Dr Paul Watters
This podcast is supported by the Department of Veterans' Affairs through the Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program.
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