Jihad Jake
A week ago Melbourne teenager Jake Bilardi drove a van laden with explosives into Iraqi troops on a failed suicide bombing mission. He was acting under his assumed name, Abu Abdullah al-Australi. Only a year earlier Jake was a normal Australian kid studying for his Year 12 exams. The youngest of six children, he was brought up an atheist. So how did a suburban kid end up as the new face of radicalisation and martyrdom? It’s a story as non-descript as it is frightening.
Reporter: Michael Usher
Producers: Ali Smith, Stephen Rice
Martin’s Miracle
Martin Pistorius was a bright, fun-loving, happy young boy when a mystery illness stole his life away. Martin fell into a virtual coma and lost his intelligence, his memory and his ability to function. Four years later he slowly started coming back to life, but had no way of telling anyone. For six more painful years he could see and hear everything, but no one knew he was “there”. Then one miraculous day, a relief nurse saw that behind Martin’s eyes was an incredibly bright brain at work. With her help Martin proved his awakening and began his inspiring journey back to life. Now he has finished school, university, moved countries, and has a successful career. He has also discovered something much more elusive, which he never thought he’d experience – Martin has found true love.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Rebecca Le Tourneau, Gareth Harvey
Who Shot The Red Baron?
It is one of the Great War’s unsolved mysteries. Who shot down the famous Red Baron? German pilot Manfred von Richthofen was renowned for his daring aerial manoeuvres and precision aim. He shot down more allied planes than any other pilot and had 80 confirmed kills to his name. The red flash of his fighter plane would strike fear into enemy pilots, but in April 1918, as the war was nearing its end, von Richthofen faltered and chased a plane across enemy lines. Canadian pilot Roy Brown intercepted him, fired his gun
