RIP Reg Chard, the Last Digger of Kokoda

July 25, 2026 / Alex Lloyd

This is a re-release of the 2022 podcast, with a tribute from host Alex Lloyd at the start. The original video podcast is still available on YouTube. Rest in peace, Reg.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Reg Chard was an infantryman in the Australian Army in the Second World War. He fought in the jungle against the Japanese in New Guinea along the Kokoda Trail in 1942 for months. Since 2011, Reg has been a volunteer guide at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Sydney. In 2022, the 98-year-old celebrates the release of his biography, THE DIGGER OF KOKODA by Daniel Lane. Reg spoke with Alex Lloyd about his military service, his experiences in New Guinea and how Kokoda still lives with him today. This conversation can be watched as a video podcast on YouTube or heard through all podcast apps.

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tags / Reg Chard, World War II, Kokoda, Biography

#127 Reg Chard

July 05, 2022 / Alex Lloyd

Alex Lloyd interviews World War II veteran Reg Chard.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Reg Chard was an infantryman in the Australian Army in the Second World War. He fought in the jungle against the Japanese in New Guinea along the Kokoda Trail in 1942 for months. Since 2011, Reg has been a volunteer guide at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Sydney. In 2022, the 98-year-old celebrates the release of his biography, THE DIGGER OF KOKODA by Daniel Lane. Reg spoke with Alex Lloyd about his military service, his experiences in New Guinea and how Kokoda still lives with him today.

This conversation can be watched as a video podcast on YouTube or heard through all podcast apps.

They returned to the podcast, in an audio-only interview, in Christmas on the Line Vol V.

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tags / World War II, Australian Army, Kokoda, Author, Video Podcast

#90 Glenn Azar

September 15, 2020 / Alex Lloyd

Alex Lloyd interviews aviation medic and Bougainville and Timor veteran, Glenn Azar.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Glenn Azar served in the Australian Army for 17 years, where he specialised as an Aviation Medic performing Aero-Medical Evacuations in Blackhawk Helicopters. He is the founder of premier adventure trekking company Adventure Professionals where he has completed over 60 crossings of the Kokoda Track. Glenn spoke to Alex Lloyd about his difficult youth, memorable deployment experiences in Bougainville and Timor, the power of mindset and the capacity of the human spirit.

Alex also spoke with his daughter, Alyssa Azar – the youngest Australian to summit Mt Everest – about how she believes the military influenced Glenn, from resilience to his parenting style to his outlook on life.

Glenn and Alyssa returned to the podcast in Christmas on the Line Vol III.

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tags / medic, Timor, Bougainville, transition, psychology, resilience, Glenn Azar, Alyssa Azar, Mt Everest, Kokoda

Beyond the Legend with Dr Karl James

April 13, 2018 / Alex Lloyd

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Every week we also have a bonus episode, where we speak to historians, authors and others in the veterans community. Today's bonus episode is with Dr Karl James, senior historian at the Australian War Memorial. Dr Karl spoke to Alex Lloyd about the enduring resonances of Gallipoli and Kokoda to Australians, going beyond the Anzac legends.

Dr Karl James spoke with Thomas Kaye in Season 1, about Australia's Special Forces.