This has been a sleeper success for the 9 Network – so much so many have wondered why it was left to launch after ANZAC Day, instead of with it to build greater connections with the audience. Still, the stories of our past heroes being unearthed as their relatives follow their footsteps is compelling viewing. The sacrifices, the heartache, the determination… all of it welling up as we learn more of these brave men and women who did their all to protect Australia during war times. From the press release:

THE WAR LEGEND WHO NEVER FIRED A SHOT

This Sunday’s episode of In Their Footsteps on Channel Nine tells the extraordinary story of wartime legend Albert Moore, who saw some of the fiercest 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 carried out from the searing deserts of the Middle East to the impenetrable jungles of the Kokoda Trail.

Moore’s commitment and bravery inspired amazing respect and affection. As well as being immortalised in a photograph lighting a cigarette for a wounded Digger in 1942, he became a symbol of one of the great legacies of Australians at war: the bonds of mateship.

Albert’s service record has also left a strong impression on a young descendant. His great-great nephew, Nathan Folkes, has been inspired by the example of Albert who, at the age of 42, left his wife and son to assist in the war effort with such courage and conviction.

This Sunday at 6.30pm on Nine, In Their Footsteps follows Nathan as he retraces Albert’s footsteps along the Kokoda Trail – a sweaty, gruelling trek that takes him waist-deep through the rivers and up the steep mountains of Papua New Guinea. At 21, Nathan is the same age as many of the brave Aussie troops who fought and died in the brutal jungle campaign to repel the fanatical Japanese invaders.

And all along the way, this young accountancy student from Ballarat in Victoria asks himself a burning personal question: what would I have done in their place?

In Their Footsteps – Sun 29 May 6.30pm, Ch9.