Author Talk: Fighting For Country - James Saunders

The story of Captain Reginald Saunders MBE, Australia's first Indigenous commissioned officer, a true leader who served with daring and distinction in World War II and Korea, as told by his nephew James Saunders.

April 1940: Reginald Saunders, a 19-year-old Gunditjmara man, walks into the enlistment office in Milltown, Victoria, following in the footsteps of his father 24 years earlier. It's the beginning of an extraordinary journey of service and adventure for Reg - a journey that will take him across three continents and two wars. He will be decorated, discriminated against, wounded, bereaved, forsaken - but ultimately victorious.
Captain Reg Saunders had, by any measure, an exceptional military career, serving with distinction in North Africa, Greece and New Guinea during World War II, and later in the Korean War. His exploits - including surviving on the run from the Nazis in Crete for eleven months and leading a company of soldiers against a massive Chinese force in the pivotal Battle of Kapyong - have become part of Australian Army folklore.
Fighting for Country is more than the story of Reg's military career: it is also the story of his family and his people, the Fighting Gunditjmara of Western Victoria, and of Reg's postwar life of struggle and service. James Saunders, Reg's nephew, has drawn on military archives and family records to bring this incredible story vividly to life.

James will be talking about his new book and then joined in conversation by Matt Poll, Head of Indigenous Programs at the Maritime Museum.

About the Author

James Saunders is a Gunditjmara Wiradjuri and Wongaibon man from the Saunders and Parker family lines. He is the nephew of Captain Reginald Saunders, whose life and service sit at the heart of this book. Born in Pambula on the south coast of New South Wales, James grew up with a deep awareness of the responsibilities that come with family, Country and history. James runs the Barragi Mawang agency and is a former Chief Operating Officer of IndigenousX. He lives on Gadigal Country. His writing reflects a new generation of Indigenous storytelling, grounded in family truth, cultural responsibility and a clear commitment to telling history as it was lived. Fighting for Country is his first book.

Copies of the books will be available for purchase and be signed by the author.

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