Reginald Walter Saunders, MBE was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. He came from a military family, his forebears having served in the Boer War and the First World War.
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Reg Saunders' father Chris, while serving with the Australian Imperial Force, c. 1916
Sergeant Saunders with fellow soldiers of the 2/7th Infantry Battalion in North Queensland, October 1943![Lieutenants Reg Saunders and Tom Derrick VC congratulate each other on receiving their commissions in November 1944. The two men shared a tent during their officer training.[27]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Reg_Saunders_with_Tom_Derrick_1944.jpg/500px-Reg_Saunders_with_Tom_Derrick_1944.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail)
Lieutenants Reg Saunders and Tom Derrick VC congratulate each other on receiving their commissions in November 1944. The two men shared a tent during their officer training.[27]
Captain Saunders leading his company in Korea during March 1951
Reginald ‘Reg’ Saunders, Australia, August 1950
Saunders' medals on display at the Australian War Memorial in 2017Awards 1
About this person
Reginald Walter Saunders, MBE was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. He came from a military family, his forebears having served in the Boer War and the First World War. Enlisting as a soldier in 1940, he saw action during the Second World War in North Africa, Greece and Crete, before being commissioned as a lieutenant and serving as a platoon commander in New Guinea during 1944-1945. His younger brother Harry also joined the Army, and was killed in 1942 during the Kokoda Track campaign.
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