By Cam Lucadou-Wells
At the end of a four-year labour-of-love, Berwick author Michael Madden has produced an instant classic in Australian military literature.
His meticulous 420-page tome The Victoria Cross: Australia Remembers is set to be launched on the eve of Anzac Day – a year that marks 100 years since the end of World War I.
The book ambitiously features all of the nation’s 100 Victoria Cross medal recipients over the past 130 years.
Each of these soldiers is honoured with a hero-shot and a detailed account of their awarded act of extreme valour.
Remarkably, Mr Madden was able to collect a current photo of each recipient’s medal.
He travelled the world to grave-sites and to interview 67 VC recipients or families, capturing the essence and background of each hero.
“It’s been done through the families – that’s where it’s got its power and energy from.
“I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a history book – not just a list of bullet points and facts.”
Aside from the literary triumph, the project will have a lasting legacy in different ways.
For one, some of the neglected grave-sites were discovered and are set to be restored to a fitting state.
Australia’s UK ambassador Alexander Downer was moved to demand the repair of Neville Howse VC’s resting place, which had been condemned due to public safety concerns.
In the course of the project, the Victoria Cross ‘families’ have been brought together. A VC Families Association spanning Australia and New Zealand has been formed.
And most nobly, the book will raise the profile for the critical service The Totally and Permanently Disabled Soldiers Association of Victoria.
Both book and association will be featured in a five-page special in the upcoming AFL Footy Record.
All of the book’s proceeds will go to the TPI Association. Mr Madden and the book’s publisher Blue Sky Publishing have entirely donated their labour.
Mr Madden speaks of a profound indebtedness to the TPI Association for saving his veteran father’s life by helping him secure his TPI pension.
He remembers how at the time the association helped lift his family from homelessness.
The association is the least well-known of the veteran support groups. It ought to be regarded as the most important, helping the most disadvantaged of veterans, Mr Madden said.
Four weeks out from the book’s deadline, Mr Madden says he was nearly at breaking point with his father critically ill and facing a quintuple heart bypass.
At the same time, he was stressed about the 30 stories he still had to write.
Mr Madden told his father he would give up the project to be by his bedside.
His father told him to finish the project that had obsessed over for the past four years.
“I want my son back,” his father said.
TPI Association president Michael Williams says Mr Madden’s commitment has shone throughout the project.
“It’s been done for the right reasons.”
On 21 April, the book will be festively launched in a free public event at Bunjil Place’s 838-seat theatre.
Victoria Cross medallist Keith Payne and Mr Madden will be on hand to sign copies of the book, with 60 Minutes reporter Ross Coulthart as the event’s MC.
In all, 120 family members representing 33 Victoria Cross recipients are expected in attendance – believed to be the largest-ever gathering of VC families.
Under strict security, visitors will get the chance to view an actual Victoria Cross medal.
As a further flourish, there will be fly-overs by Yakovlev Yak-52 and North American T-6 Harvard planes at 12.12pm.
The Victoria Cross: Australia Remembers will be launched at Bunjil Place, Narre Warren at 12pm, 21 April.
Bookings required at bunjilplace.com.au
Copies of the book are available at https://www.tpivic.com/products/our-merchandise
