DOCSLIB.ORG

Transcript of Oral History Recording

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Transcript of Oral History Recording TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL HISTORY RECORDING Accession number S00520 Title (337678/VX12843) Saunders, Reginald Walter (Reg) (Captain) Interviewer Dr Peter Read Place made Not given Date made 13 January 1989 Description Reginald Walter (Reg) Saunders, Aboriginal serviceman 2/7th Battalion, interviewed by Peter Read for the Keith Murdoch Sound Archive of Australia in the War of 1939– 45. Discusses education; employment; religion; enlistment; aborigines in WW2; 2/7th Battalion; training; mateship; leave; racism; desert operations; disease; air raids; discipline; rations; AIF Greek relations; promotion; jungle operations; Returned Services League (RSL); Mentions Victoria; Bardia, Middle East; Greece; Crete, Salamaua, Papua New Guinea; Korea. REG SAUNDERS Page 2 of 57 Disclaimer The Australian War Memorial is not responsible either for the accuracy of matters discussed or opinions expressed by speakers, which are for the reader to judge. Transcript methodology Please note that the printed word can never fully convey all the meaning of speech, and may lead to misinterpretation. Readers concerned with the expressive elements of speech should refer to the audio record. It is strongly recommended that readers listen to the sound recording whilst reading the transcript, at least in part, or for critical sections. Readers of this transcript of interview should bear in mind that it is a verbatim transcript of the spoken word and reflects the informal conversational style that is inherent in oral records. Unless indicated, the names of places and people are as spoken, regardless of whether this is formally correct or not – e.g. ‘world war two’ (as spoken) would not be changed in transcription to ‘second world war’ (the official conflict term). A few changes or additions may be made by the transcriber or proof–reader. Such changes are usually indicated by square brackets, thus: [ ] to clearly indicate a difference between the sound record and the transcript. Three dots (…) or a double dash (– –) indicate an unfinished sentence. Copyright Copyright in this transcript, and the sound recording from which it was made, is usually owned by the Australian War Memorial, often jointly with the donors. Any request to use of the transcript, outside the purposes of research and study, should be addressed to: Australian War Memorial GPO Box 345 CANBERRA ACT 2601 REG SAUNDERS Page 3 of 57 BEGIN TAPE 1 SIDE A. This is Reg Saunders, tape 1 on the thirteenth of January 1989. Tape 1 side 1. Reg could you tell me where you were born? Yes I was born at a place called – (laughter) you're not going to believe this – Bunyip Lane. It's just outside old Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve. It was actually called Bunyip Lane. And what year was that? 1920. Seventh of August 1920. I wasn't actually born there, no, I wasn't, no. I tell you a lie. I lived there. .. I wasn't born there, I was born up – no I was born there. I was taken there to be born as a matter of fact. As a matter of fact Aunt Mary – Lionel Rose's great- grandmother, she was the midwife that looked after me. She and Mrs Clarke – from the great Clarke families – the Aboriginal Clarke families – they were two of the great midwives. Yeah I was I was, taken from near Purnim down to where Aunt Mary lived as a matter of fact, it was in her house where I was born. And did you go to school in Framlingham? No no I went to school at Lake Condah. See mother died when I was four years old. My brother was two years old and Dad took the .. he carted us around as an itinerant worker and then he looked after me until he realised that we weren't getting anywhere with him because we weren't being educated. So that was when grandmother – my mother's mother – and she brought us up the dear old soul. And secondary school there too? I didn't go to secondary school. I did for a little while but I didn't consider I ever went to secondary school. I went to Hamilton High School for a short period but I didn't like it because I didn't like being away from home. How far is that away? About thirty miles. It was boarding and I didn't like boarding. I'd never lived with white people before. I'd lived – as an independent I'd never lived dependent on white people before and I didn't like the idea that I should ever have to do that so I just quietly went back to the course at Scots College and I, as many other country kids did, I did a course there. Like the correspondence? Correspondence. Scot's was the big one there in Melbourne, Victoria in those days. What about after school, any kind of education part time before you became a soldier? Not really no, not that sort of education, no. I done nothing of that nature simply because I didn't think – I didn't think a sawmiller would want to be very greatly educated. (coughs) Yeah I don't think it was relevant really. I was a Victorian and I was with all Victorians. What employment did you have before you joined up? REG SAUNDERS Page 4 of 57 Well I was mainly – I was in the timber milling industry and I just remained in that. I was always cutting logs and building sawmills and things like that. It interested me. Bob Bloomfield was also a – he was a timber cutter actually. Yeah well I was both. I was building sawmills and a timber cutter. I was interested in that side of it – very interested as a matter of fact. Any ambitions that you – did you have at the time before the war broke out? What did you want to do? Yes, I wanted to go to South America and fight for the depressed people over there. It was always an ambition of mine to go to South America. It wasn't a romantic thought; it just interested me that people were being so – you know they were being badly depressed and they still are there in South America. I always wanted to go there. I suppose you saw them as one of the repressed nations of the world, a bit like the Kooris? Yes, very much so, yes, very much so. Probably more so than Kooris. It seens that there was only two sides in South America – Kooris have got all sort of people that are Kooris today. Not so much those days but today. Whereas in South America you only have two sides. They're a very religious people and I guess that they're taking advantages of them. (5.00) Do you think you would have gone to South America? I'm sure I would have done yes. I was going to go by boat, and when war came about it was about the time I thought I'd go to the other thing, you know. We'll put the religious question in. Just answer it if you feel like it. Was religion important to you when you were a young man? Oh no I never thought much about it. I did go to church on a regular basis but I was never confirmed. I was christened obviously but I was never confirmed in the Church of England as most of the other people of my age group were and I mean both groups – the whites and the Aboriginal people, but – yes religion was important to me. Still is. Any interest in politics at that time? Not at that time. (Sneezes) You were travelling around a fair bit I should think as a timber worker? No I hardly moved. I didn't move for jobs at all, I moved more as a social thing – just a holiday, little holidays here, little holidays there, that's all – so I didn't do any .. I was constantly employed (sneeze) in the present years. Married at this time? Oh no of course not. Oh no. Before the war I mean. (Break in recording) I wonder how you thought about yourself, as a – fighting for Britain in any way or fighting for Australia or – when the war broke out? REG SAUNDERS Page 5 of 57 Well I think you got to know a little more about the Aboriginal side of that. We've been fighting a war ever since the first whites came, particularly my people that were in the Condah were very proud people. We had quite a legion of Aboriginal servicemen in World War I. My father for example – the man I was named after, Reginald – William Reginald Rawlings – he won a Military Medal and was killed in France. Many of the fellows – Dad's friends – were Aboriginal soldiers – MacKinnon, the five Robert brothers – whom you may have heard of .. was always there. I was born in 1920, what two years after the war isn't it? Mmm. So where'd your identification be – fighting for justice rather than for Britain or for Australia or .. No I never fought for anybody but Australia. I always was loyal to my country. Someone once asked me if I thought so little of the British Crown and the Raj or whatever you'd like to call it. Why did you, you know, go and fight for it. I said 'I didn't go and fight for it at all. I fought for the Queen of Australia – or the King of Australia – I didn't want the King or the Queen of England because I'd have been just as happy fighting against them, Australia is my country.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • How Did Indigenous Australians Contribute to the Defence Of
    How did Indigenous Australians help in the Defence of Australia in World War 2? WHAT DOES THIS TELL US ABOUT CITIZENSHIP? We do not know much about Indigenous service in the Australian armed forces. However, we are now starting to discover more as interest in Australia’s Indigenous history grows. In this unit we have gathered together information and evidence about Indigenous Australians’ service in World War 2, and in particular their involvement in the northern Defence of Australia. By looking at this information and evidence you will be able to explore the two great themes we have been presenting in the Defence 2020 program this year: Citizenship, and Plaque at Rocky Creek, Role Models. Atherton Tablelands, Queensland Your task Indigenous involvement in the Defence of Australia in World War 2 Your task is to look at the sources presented on the next pages, and to use them to answer Who was involved? the sorts of key questions that are part of any What did they do? historical inquiry. You can use a table like this: When did they do it? Conclusion Where did they do it? When you have completed your summary table Why did they do it? from all the sources decide on your answers to these questions: What were the impacts of the involvement? Did Indigenous Australians show good What were the consequences of the involvement? citizenship during the war? Did Indigenous people provide good role models that we could follow today? Further Reading Did non-Indigenous Australians show good citizenship towards Indigenous Australians? Ball, Desmond. Aborigines in the defence of Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • Saunders Scholarship Background Parameters
    The Captain Reg Saunders Memorial Scholarship Background The RSL established this tertiary level scholarship for drug and alcohol abuse studies in 1992 for students of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. The Scholarship was named for Captain Reginald Walter Saunders MBE. In the development of the Scholarship, consultation with ATSIC revealed then, the urgent need for qualified substance abuse professionals among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. As such, the Scholarship required an applicant to follow studies associated with the eradication of drug and alcohol abuse. Where student’s courses did not specifically contain subjects or units dealing with substance abuse, (e.g. nurses aid) the students must be able to provide scope for such studies in their elective subjects and/or field placements. For some years now the RSL administration of the granting of the scholarships has been established through the RSL National Trustees. The Scholarship One scholarship per year of $2000 to a student nominated by the University for agreement by the RSL National Trustees. The successful student must be of good academic standing and have the intention to use their skills or profession for the benefit of the aboriginal community. While a need for the eradication of drug and alcohol abuse remains important in applying the scholarship money, the grants may be used for leadership and personal development of recipients such that on their placement back in their communities they will be better equipped generally to provide a positive example and to advise on and assist in substance abuse among their other professional skills. Half yearly progress reports are required.
    [Show full text]
  • Greek-Australian Alliance 1899
    GREEK-AUSTRALIAN ALLIANCE 1899 - 2016 100th Anniversary Macedonian Front 75th Anniversary Battles of Greece and Crete COURAGE SACRIFICE MATESHIP PHILOTIMO 1899 -1902 – Greek Australians Frank Manusu (above), Constantine Alexander, Thomas Haraknoss, Elias Lukas and George Challis served with the colonial forces in the South African Boer War. 1912 - 1913 – Australian volunteers served in the Royal Hellenic Forces in the Balkans Wars. At the outbreak of the Second Balkan War in 1913, John Thomas Woods of the St John Ambulance volunteered for service with the Red Cross, assisting the Greek Medical Corps at Thessaloniki, a service for which he was recognised with a Greek medal by King Constantine of Greece. 1914 - 1918 – Approximately 90 Greek Australians served on Gallipoli and the Western Front. Some were born in Athens, Crete, Castellorizo, Kythera, Ithaca, Peloponnesus, Samos, and Cephalonia, Lefkada and Cyprus and others in Australia. They were joined by Greek Australian nurses, including Cleopatra Johnson (Ioanou), daughter of Antoni Ioanou, gold miner of Moonan Brook, NSW. One of 13 Greek Australian Gallipoli veterans, George Cretan (Bikouvarakis) was born in Kefalas, Crete in 1888 and migrated to Sydney in 1912. On the left in Crete, 1910 and middle in Sydney 1918 wearing his Gallipoli Campaign medals. Right, Greek Australian Western Front veteran Joseph Morris (Sifis Voyiatzis) of Cretan heritage. PAGE 2 1905-1923 -Sir Samuel Sydney Cohen was born on 11 March 1869 at Darlinghurst, Sydney, and was the eldest son of Jewish Australian parents George Judah Cohen and his wife Rebecca, daughter of L. W. Levy. He was a prominent and respected businessman in Newcastle and was appointed Vice-Consul General for Greece in Newcastle in March 1905.
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Memory and the Second World War
    Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 14, ISSUE 1, FALL 2011 Studies The Second War in Every Respect: Australian memory and the Second World War Joan Beaumont The Second World War stands across the 20th century like a colossus. Its death toll, geographical spread, social dislocation and genocidal slaughter were unprecedented. It was literally a world war, devastating Europe, China and Japan, triggering massive movements of population, and unleashing forces of nationalism in Asia and Africa that presaged the end of European colonialism. The international order was changed irrevocably, most notably in the rise of the two superpowers and the decline of Great Britain. For Australia too, though the loss of life in the conflict was comparatively small, the war had a profound impact. The white population faced for the first time the threat of invasion, with Australian territory being bombed from the air and sea in 1942.1 The economy and society were mobilized to an unprecedented degree, with 993,000 men and women, of a population of nearly seven million, serving in the military forces. Nearly 40,000 of these were killed in action, died of wounds or died while prisoners of war.2 Gender roles, family life and social mores were changed with the mobilization of women into the industrial workforce and the friendly invasion of possibly a million 1 The heaviest raid was on the northern city of Darwin on 19 February 1942. Other towns in the north of Western Australia and Queensland were bombed across 1942; while on 31 May 1942 three Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour and shelled the suburbs.
    [Show full text]
  • Hellenic Anzacs
    HELLENIC ANZACS Anzac Day April 2014 – Sydney so that current and future generations learn from this Anzac Day Sydney services this year started with important Human Legacy. thousands cramming into Martin Place, standing Below is abrief outline of some of the facts that bind sombrely as dignitaries, veterans and serving defence Australians and Greeks as allies in War and in Peace for personnel arrived in the early morning dark to more than a century. remember and pay tribute. 1. In 1899 the first Greek Australians to serve Australia was in the Boer War in South Africa and their names were Frank Manuso, Constantine Alexander, Thomas Haraknoss, Elias Lukas and George Challis. Francis Manusu 1900 2. Some 87 Australians of Greek heritage fought in Gallipoli and France in World War 1. Some were born in Athens, Crete, Castellorizo, Kythera, Ithaca, Peloponnissos Samos, Kefalonia, Lefkada and Cyprus. About 60 of them fought in Gallipoli known as the First Anzac Campaign. Three of these Anzacs fought again in Anzac Day Dawn service 2014, Sydney Cenotaph Crete and Greece in World War 2 which is known as Photo Nick Moir the Second Anzac Campaign. They are also known as dual Anzacs. 3. Two Australian Nurses of the first world war were also of Greek Heritage . One of them was Cleopatra Johnson ( Ioanou ) daughter of Antoni Ioanou gold miner of Moonan Brook NSW. 4. On 4th March 1915 the Greek island of Lemnos was set up the headquarters for the Gallipoli Campaign. It was on Lemnos where the ships anchored, where water and food was sourced, where horses, donkeys and mules were procured, where the beach landings were practised, where the hospitals were set Anzac Day march through city streets 2014 up to look after the Photo Ben Rushton wounded from Gallipoli and if the wounded As we approach the 100 Year Anzac Day Anniversary, died they were buried next year, we should try and remember some of the on Lemnos.
    [Show full text]
  • AH 4.4 Aboriginal Resistance to Colonisation
    ABORIGINAL RESISTANCE TO COLONISATION (WD Nov 2018) Although my forebears established close and friendly relationships with the Woiwurrung when they settled at Templestowe in 1840, some others like Major Charles Newman often shot Aboriginal people with murderous intent. In response the local Woiwurrung waged an economic war against them by burning their paddocks and driving off their stock. This was by no means an isolated event as it was a pattern of resistance across Australia. Nowadays we are more aware of this active resistance by Aboriginal tribes, but some people are still caught up in the myth that Australia was ‘peacefully settled’. I have even often been asked why Aboriginal people ‘didn’t put up a fight like the American Indians or the Maoris’. Resistance actually began very soon after the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. It soon became apparent to the locals that the new arrivals intended to stay and do so on their own terms. They began netting shoals of fish in the harbour and when the local people went to take their share, muskets were fired over their heads to scare them off. With the 1,500 new arrivals having doubled the population overnight, the harbour was fished out and all the game was gone. The newcomers were now starving and for the first time in their lives, so were Aboriginal people. Typically, resistance began by burning the outlying paddocks and huts of the settlers. Convicts not guarded by musket-bearing Marines simply disappeared or were found mutilated. The Lieutenant-Governor, Major Robert Ross, wanted The Governor, Captain Phillip to build a stockade to ensure the safety of the settlers, but Phillip refused.
    [Show full text]
  • Australians in Crete in World War II', Journal of Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand) — Special Issue, Pp
    Archived at the Flinders Academic Commons: http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/dspace/ This is the published version of the following article: Monteath, P 2019, 'Australians in Crete in World War II', Journal of Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand) — Special Issue, pp. 143-162. Reproduced with permission of the publisher. © 2019 the author. Austrins in Crete in or r Peter Monteath his paer arges that the strlian involveent in artime rete took lae in three main hases n the first hse Astrlian fores participated in the defene of rete ginst German invasion over telve das in ay/Jne 1941. he seond hse began ith the srrender of the Allied fores and the strnding on the island of erhps a thosand llied soldiers, inlding Australians. These men “on the run” were forced to rely on the assistance of retns for their ver srival, nd the fond the local polation remarkably reetive to their needs he third nd final hse gre ot of the reios to hases and omrised strlian articipation in resistane ativities in ollabortion ith local resistane eleents nd ritish fores he ke figre in this regrd s om Dnbabin, n strlian ho became a senior offier ith the British eial erations Eetive and ho did much to shape the conduct of “irregular” warfare in Crete. ntroution The ustralian resence in rete in the eond orld r is ssoited priril ith the artiition of ustrlin forces in the ultimtel fruitless efforts to prevent German insion of the island in 1941. Deploed to Crete in the ke of the filed defene of mainlnd Greece in April, the Austrlins nd other embers of reforce the
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Meaning of Indigenous Military Service During the Second World War in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States
    Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 19, ISSUE 2 Studies Exploring the Meaning of Indigenous Military Service during the Second World War in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States R. Scott Sheffield What was the meaning of military service for Indigenous men who volunteered during the Second World War? On the surface it seems a relatively simple question, though invested with a certain gravitas because of the nature of the service and sacrifice being discussed. At its core, this question can help elucidate what is often the “big why?” invariably asked by people encountering this subject for the first time: why did Indigenous people, marginalised socially, economically, and politically by settler society, engage in the national war effort during the Second World War? Or phrased another way, why did young Indigenous men fight for a freedom, democracy and equality that they had never experienced? Perhaps surprisingly, Indigenous oral testimonies and written accounts often never provide clear reasons behind their choice to enlist. The idea was somehow so self-evident to veterans in the context of the totalising nature of the Second World War that it did not require elaboration. Yet as historians we remain fascinated with the question of ‘why,’ a retrospective emphasis which derives from desires to make sense of war service in the context of colonialism. Thus reconstructing the meaning of Indigenous military service moves us much closer to understanding the broader Indigenous involvement in the War. ©Centre of Military and Strategic Studies, 2018 ISSN : 1488-559X JOURNAL OF MILITARY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES This article explores these questions through a transnational lens, drawing on research for a major study of Indigenous contributions and experiences during the Second World War in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
    [Show full text]
  • Aboriginal Australian Black Diggers
    LIBRARY HOT TOPICS ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN BLACK DIGGERS Ancestry: stories of multicultural For country, for nation: an ANZACS written by Robyn Siers & illustrated history of Aboriginal Carlie Walker. Canberra, ACT: and Torres Strait Islander military Department of Veterans' Affairs in service edited by Lachlan Grant association with the Australian War with Michael Bell. Canberra: Memorial, 2015. 940.4 SIE Australian War Memorial, 2018. 355 FOR Includes biography of Trooper Frank Fisher, born 1880 into the Wangan and Jagalingou Aboriginal Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are communities in the town of Clermont, Qld. He enlisted in the advised that deceased people are represented throughout this AIF on 16th August 1917 and served with the 11th Light Horse publication. Regiment. On return to Australia, Frank's pay was not given to “Richly illustrated with over 230 images, For country, for nation him as a lump sum, as it was to others; instead it was placed in uses artworks, photographs and objects from the Memorial’s a trust and controlled by the local Aboriginal protector. collection, combined with the voices of Indigenous men and women, to reveal their experiences of war. In doing so, For The black diggers: Aboriginal and country, for nation considers why so many volunteered to Torres Strait Islanders in the serve when faced with entrenched discrimination in wider Second World War by Robert Hall. society.” – Publisher. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, Indigenous service: investigating 1997. 355 HAL the wartime experiences of “This important book explores the war effort Aboriginal and Torres Strait of Aboriginal and Islander Australians during Islander people from the First the Second World War, and the reasons their contribution has World War to the present: a gone unrecognised for so long.
    [Show full text]
  • Did You Know?
    Long before they were considered citizens of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have had a proud history of contributing to Australia’s military efforts. Often little known, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander war stories are only now being uncovered. Take some time this Anzac Day to discover these untold histories and remember forgotten heroes. Lest we forget. Did you know? “Australian soldiers I met in the Army were not colour-conscious towards the aboriginal…native troops from practically every colony in the Empire fought and died in the struggle against tyranny and oppression, and Australian aboriginals were no exception.”1 Reg Saunders - the first Indigenous Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the 2nd AIF during World War II. Upon returning from World War I, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander soldiers were denied land under the Returned Servicemen’s Settlement Scheme, despite having fought alongside non-Indigenous servicemen2. Although forced to give up their land and rights, the women and children of the Cummeragunja mission, located 32km from Echuca in NSW, knitted 59 caps, 27 pullovers, 41 balaclavas and 77 pair of mittens for Australian soldiers3. 1Ramsland, John, and Christopher G. Mooney. Remembering Aboriginal Heroes: Struggle, Identity and the Media. Melbourne: Brolga Pub, 2006. Print. 2 http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-42_t-49_c-147/indigenous-people/nsw/history/australia-and-world-war- i/different-perspectives-of-the-war Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians fought against British settlers for 146 years on Australian soil, in what is known as the Frontier Wars4. The Sapphires is a true story of four Aboriginal women: Laurel Robinson, Lois Peeler, Beverley Briggs and Naomi Myers.
    [Show full text]
  • Awm Ar 2016.Pdf
    AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015–2016 Annual report for the year ended 30 June 2016, together with the financial statements and the report of the Auditor-General Copyright © Australian War Memorial ISSN 1441 4198 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. Cover: Dedication of the sculpture Elevation of the senses, 8 October 2015. Ewen Coates, Elevation of the senses. (detail) (AWM ART96850) Australian War Memorial GPO Box 345 Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia www.awm.gov.au ii AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015–2016 AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015–2016 iii iv AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015–2016 INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT The Annual Report of the Australian War Memorial for the year ended 30 June 2016 was produced in the format for an annual report for a corporate Commonwealth entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. The report has been constructed to reflect the Memorial’s outcome and outputs structure and to address government reporting requirements. PART ONE Governance includes the Chair’s Report and details of the Council and its operations and performance. PART TWO Corporate Operations includes the Director’s highlights and overview of the Memorial’s performance during 2015–16. PART THREE Corporate Summary provides information on the structure and reporting framework of the Memorial. PART FOUR Annual Performance Statements details performance information against the Memorial’s outcome and against external and internal outputs.
    [Show full text]
  • Saunders: Aboriginal Warrior and Australian Soldier
    CAPTAIN REG SAUNDERS, MBE: AN ABORIGINAL WARRIOR AND AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER Peter J. Grimshaw, MBE A wooden shack facing Bunyip Lane in the Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve, adjacent to Lake Condah in Victoria, was the birthplace of Reginald Walter Saunders. Assisting at the birth was his Aunt Mary, Lionel Rose's great-grandmother. Little did she realise at the time that she was bringing into the world an Aboriginal warrior who would be the first of his race to become a commissioned officer. Those who served under him in Korea expressed openly the view that he was 'the best officer in the world'.1 What made Saunders so unique? Gordon suggests he was a misfit,2 and when his upbringing and military service is examined such a description is not without some justification. If his Aboriginality set him apart from others how lucky Australia and the Australian Army were to have such a 'misfit'. Reg's father, Chris Saunders, contributed significantly to his son's upbringing. After leaving school, where he had been captain of the cricket and football teams, had won the long-jump championship and had had his name inscribed on the Honour Roll, Chris worked for a travelling circus. His ability as a footballer and runner soon enabled him to join the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football Association. Just prior to the First World War he began coaching a Western District team.3 He enlisted in the First AIF and served as a machine-gunner in the Third Division. On returning from the First World War Chris returned to Lake Condah and married a 'full blood' Aboriginal girl of the Wannan tribe.
    [Show full text]