Peter Cundall

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Peter Cundall (born in 1927 in Manchester, England, UK) is a horticulturalist and television personality in Australia. He currently lives in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, and is a presenter of the ABC TV program Gardening Australia.

1 Military career
2 Political Career
3 Gardening career
4 The Ronnie Johns Half Hour
5 External links and references

[edit] Military career

Near the end of World War II, Cundall joined the British Army's Parachute Regiment, where he was stationed in various countries in post-war Europe (France, Austria, Germany, Italy and Yugoslavia) and the Middle East (Egypt and Israel).

In 1946, Cundall mistakenly wandered across the border into Yugoslavia, and was arrested by Marshal Tito's forces. He was sentenced (without trial) to four years imprisonment for espionage, but was released into Trieste, Italy after six months in Ljubljana after pressure from the British government.

Eager to hasten his emigration to Australia, Cundall enlisted in the Australian Army in 1950. In interviews he has stated that he naïvely believed he was enlisting for a non-combat role as a librarian. However, he was immediately posted to Korea, and once again saw action overseas as a machine gunner during the Korean War.

[edit] Political Career

Cundall was a Tasmanian Senate candidate for the Communist Party of Australia

[edit] Gardening career

After leaving the Australian military in 1956, Cundall moved to Tasmania, where he started his own gardening and landscaping business.

In 1967, he started a gardening talkback program on a Launceston radio station. In 1969, he began a long working relationship with Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

[edit] The Ronnie Johns Half Hour

Comedian, Dan Ilic, impersonates Cundall on the sketch comedy program The Ronnie Johns Half Hour. Illic's Cundall finds himself in problem situations and uses his know-how of manure and compost to solve them.