Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Leslie James Hiddins , known as "The Bush Tucker Man" is a retired

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

soldier and war veteran. He is best known for his love and knowledge of the Australian bush, in particular "

bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal ...

", as featured in the TV series ''Bush Tucker Man'' (1988–1996). Hiddins is recognised by his distinctively modified Akubra hat. He has also written several books for children and adults, and in 2019 launched a website that includes a searchable digital database of bush tucker.

Early life and education

Leslie James Hiddins was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia.

Career

Military service

As a soldier with the Australian Army, Hiddins did two deployments in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

between 1966 and 1968, the first as a forward scout in the infantry. Upon return from the war in the late 1960s, feeling the need for a change, he transferred from

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

to army aviation, which led him to flying around northern Australia and

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

in a helicopter. In 1987, he was awarded a Defence Fellowship to research survival in northern Australia, and was the principal author of the Australian Army's military survival manual in that year. As part of this research, Hiddins was introduced to the Kakadu plum (''Terminalia ferdinandiana'') by the Aboriginal people, who had used the plant for thousands of years. He claims that the analysis finding it to have the highest concentration of Vitamin C of any known natural substance in the world was made on fruit he provided. Hiddins retired from the Australian Regular Army (ARA) in 1989 with the rank of Major, but continued to serve with the Army Reserve (ARES) until 2001, working with

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

communities in northern Australia. This research turned into the TV series '' The Bush Tucker Man'' in 1993.

Kalpowar Station/Pandanus Park

In 2001, Hiddins led an effort to establish a wilderness retreat, exclusively for war veterans, on a 9 km² parcel of government land along the banks of the Normanby River at "Kalpowar Station", adjoining Rinyirru National Park in

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

. The remote and relatively inaccessible area, devoid of amenities of any kind, was named "Pandanus Park". After years of conflict with government over their illegal occupation, the group secured a 15-year lease when the entire Kalpowar Station was returned to

Aboriginal title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the Indigenous land rights, land rights of indigenous peoples to customary land, customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty to that land by another Colonization, colonising state. ...

in 2005.

Recognition, awards and honours

In 1987, Hiddins was awarded a Defence Fellowship to research survival in northern Australia. In September 1985, he was awarded a National Medal. In the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 1987, he was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, for service to the Australian army in the field of combat survival. On 28 March 2008, Hiddins was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by James Cook University's Faculty of Science, Engineering and Information Technology: The

National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia (NMA), in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''Nation ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

has a Bush Tucker Man display with some of his original bush gear – his original hat, camera and backpack.

TV programmes

''Bush Tucker Man''

Hiddins' research led to the TV series ''The Bush Tucker Man'', made for

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

in 1993. The series was co-written, co-directed, and co-produced by Stephen Burstow, David Telfer, and Richard Walker. In the series, Hiddins drives around in a Land Rover Perentie with his trademark hat, finding and describing native Australian bush food or "

". Hiddins appeared in two ABC TV series of ''Bush Tucker Man'', as well as the series ''Bush Tucker Man – Stories of Survival''. *''Bush Tucker Man'', Series One (1988 – 8 episodes, released on DVD in 2004) – ABC Episode 1: Arnhem Land (Aborigines of Ngukurr, NT)
Episode 2: The Wet in Port Keats (Northwest Northern Territory in the Wet Season)
Episode 3: Desert (Desert Country)
Episode 4: Prince Regent Gorge (Heart of the Kimberley)
Episode 5: Rain Forest (Rainforest at Iron Range)
Episode 6: Coastal (Northern Queensland Coastline)
Episode 7: Doomadgee (Gulf Country)
Episode 8: Aurukun (West Coast of Cape York) *''Bush Tucker Man'', Series Two (1990 – 7 episodes, released on DVD 1 October 2009) – ABC Episode 1: Wet Season
Episode 2: East To West
Episode 3: Kimberley
Episode 4: Top End
Episode 5: Wildman
Episode 6: Desert Story
Episode 7: Coastal Story *''Bush Tucker Man – Stories of Survival'' (1996 – 8 episodes, released on DVD in 2004) – ABC Episode 1: The Coffee Royal Affair
Episode 2: The Cannibal Convict
Episode 3: The Great Misadventure ( The Burke and Wills expedition)
Episode 4: The Best of Them All (

John McDouall Stuart John McDouall Stuart (7 September 18155 June 1866), often referred to as simply "McDouall Stuart", was a Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to tra ...

)
Episode 5: The Dutch Settlement
Episode 6: Gold Fever ( Lasseter's Reef)
Episode 7: The Passionate Prussian (

Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (; 23 October 1813 – ), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's disappearanc ...

)
Episode 8: Into The Vilest Country (

Edmund Kennedy Edmund Besley Court Kennedy J. P. (5 September 1818 – December 1848) was an explorer in Australia in the mid-19th century. He was the Assistant-Surveyor of New South Wales, working with Thomas Mitchell (explorer), Sir Thomas Mitchell. Kenned ...

and

Jackey Jackey Jackey Jackey (also spelt Jacky Jacky) (c. 1833–1854), Aboriginal name Galmahra (or Galmarra), was the Aboriginal Australian guide and companion to surveyor Edmund Kennedy. He survived Kennedy's fatal 1848 expedition into Cape York Peninsul ...

in the

) A DVD containing the complete series was released in 2010, called ''Bush Tucker Man: The Collection'', re-released in 2019.

Other TV

Hiddins narrated and presented two TV documentaries for ABC, both created by Paul Hawker: ''Pandora – in the Wake of the Bounty'' (1993), and ''The Resurrection of the Batavia'' (1995). Ray Mears made a BBC programme about and with him, shown on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

in June 2009 as part of his '' Ray Mears Goes Walkabout'' series. Hiddins featured in an episode of ABC TV's ''

Landline A landline is a physical telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber from the subscriber's premises to the network, allowing multiple phones to operate simultaneously on the same phone number. It is also referred to as plain old ...

'' program in 2019.

Other media

Hiddins and wife Sandy set up an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account, in which they post their archival and current photos, which has brought them a new and younger group of fans, as well as primary school teachers in remote Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land. In 2019, Hiddins launched a user-pays website that includes a searchable digital database of bush tucker. Users can search by location and season, and the website returns a list of flora and fauna likely to be found in that area at that time.

Publications

Hiddins' publications include ''Bush Tucker Man – Stories of Exploration and Survival'' (1996), ''Bush Tucker Man – Tarnished Heroes'' (1997), ''Explore Wild Australia with the Bush Tucker Man'' (1999), ''Bush Tucker Fieldguide'' (2002). In 2000, Hiddins published four books specifically for children: ''The Coral Coast'', ''The Top End'', ''The Tropical Rainforest'', and ''The Living Desert''. *Bush Tucker Man Series **''Bush Tucker Man – Stories of Exploration and Survival'' (1996) **''Bush Tucker Man – Tarnished Heroes'' (1997) **''Explore Wild Australia with the Bush Tucker Man'' (1999) **''Bush Tucker Field Guide'' (2002) *Children's Books **''The Coral Coast'' **''The Top End'' **''The Tropical Rainforest'' **''The Living Desert'' He also released two CD-ROMs, ''From the Rainforest to

'' and ''From

to the Kimberley Ranges''.

External links

Bush tucker bibliography – linksBush Tucker Man-8 Classic Stories Of Survival With Les Hiddins (1996)Gone Bush: Bush Tucker Man Les HiddinsExplore Australia Bush Tucker Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiddins, Les Australian television presenters Australian male television actors Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Living people Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Year of birth missing (living people) Survivalists