"I was in my room at Puckapunyal just after the Korean War started and the K Force troops were moving into camp and my platoon commander Laurie Watts knocked on the door and came in and he had two officers with him both in ill fitting newly issued uniforms. One of them was Dick Battersby a young lieutenant who went on to command a platoon in Don Company and the other was Reg Saunders. There was no mistaking Reg of course. He was the only aboriginal officer in the Australian Army. I had seen his photo on numerous occasions and I felt rather honoured to be in his presence and meet him because I knew his reputation. I next saw Reg [cough] on the morning of November the 6th at a place called Pakchon in North Korea.

"Reg had arrived with a draft of reinforcements which had come over from Japan and he went straight to A Company when that company had to be rebuilt after a disastrous time they had in a battle the night before on the 5th November, Guy Fawkes Night.

"Reg was very much a part of the battalion from that time on. He served as a platoon commander in A Company. He became second in command of A Company when Major O'Dowd the OC of A Company was wounded at Chumnai.

"Reg took over the company and became its commander and afterwards he commanded C Company and did it very well.

"Reg Saunders was a fine soldier. I heard one officer remark about him, he said regardless of his colour or anything else he said you can't frighten him. He said that means a lot with a soldier and of course it does and we all knew that about Reg and the soldiers who served under him trusted him.

"They would have followed him anywhere and he was just simply a fine soldier."

SERGEANT JACK GALLAWAY