The RFDS in SA/NT
The Tom Kruse Collection
A tribute to the Mailman The Back of Beyond. This historic double DVD set celebrates the life and times of legendary outback mailman Esmond Gerald (Tom) Kruse MBE.
Tom Kruse was immortalised the key figure in the classic Australian docudrama The Back of Beyond, directed by the Shell Film Unit’s John Heyer and released in 1954, which captured Kruse on his fortnightly run delivering mail and supplies to outlying stations along the famous Birdsville Track joining Marree in South Australia to Birdsville in Queensland.
Graphic: Tom Kruse
Produced to coincide with his 100th birthday (in 2014), the double DVD set The Tom Kruse Collection includes more than 3.5 hours of material about Tom Kruse, the rescue, restoration and re-enactment involving his 1936 Leyland Badger mail truck, the stories behind the making of The Back of Beyond and the past 100 years of history of the mailmen of the Birdsville Track.
The DVD set includes Mailmen Back of Beyond, a result of 28 years of research by producers Ian Doyle and Keith Webb who gained unprecedented access to the significant photographic collections of the Kruse, Heyer, Ding, Crombie and Teague families.
It also include elements of never-seen-before movie footage filmed by filmmaker and adventurer Colin Wagener who took a trip on the Marree to Birdsville mail run with driver Monty Scobie in 1953 – and the Cooper Creek in flood in 1956 and 1963.
RRP A$39.95 (includes P&H within Australia)
Proceeds from the sale of this DVD set are in support of the RFDS.
ORDER YOUR COPY
Click below to complete the order form or call RFDS (08) 8238 3333.
