Fighting for Country

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

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. In November 1944 he made history by becoming the first recognised and acknowledged Indigenous officer in the Australian armed forces.

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.