The first book to detail the life of Victoria Cross recipient Kevin “Dasher” Wheatley with accounts from family and fellow servicemen was launched in Warragul last week.

Author Michael C. Madden, who currently resides in Berwick but grew up in Warragul and Drouin, gained the support of Dasher’s widow and children to finally write of the husband, father, champion rugby player and larrikin from Sydney who became one of Australia’s finest soldiers in “Dasher: The Kevin Wheatley VC Story”.

“Nobody has ever done a book about him before,” Madden said.  “I know his family, so I’m uniquely positioned to do it.”

Madden has long had a passion for the Vietnam War, Victoria Cross recipients and Dasher who paid the ultimate sacrifice after refusing to abandon a dying comrade.

It wasn’t the first time he put others before himself, having previously ran through a gunfire fight to save the life of a small child.

“Everybody in the military knows who Dasher is, he’s a legend.

“I thought I knew a lot about him, but I didn’t.  Nobody did.

“I just think it’s a book Australia needs at the moment. 

“There’s not enough gratitude given to stories like these.  What we can do for each other when we look out for our mates.”

Originally scheduled to be launched in Canberra with dignitaries such as the Governor-General and US Ambassador in attendance, COVID restrictions resulted in the “happy accident” of the launch in Warragul.

Madden attended his former school, Marist-Sion College in Warragul on Friday for two launch events before a third took place at Warragul RSL that evening.

The Canberra launch, also recognising Dasher being awarded the US Silver Star, is scheduled for December 14.

It follows Madden’s previous book “The Victoria Cross: Australia Remembers” which saw him meet families of VC recipients to tell the stories beyond a soldier’s service.  Sales raised funds for veterans and a copy is even owned by the Queen. 

Madden was even invited to Windsor Castle after its 2018 release to view the prototype of the first VC medal and hold the metal they are made from.

One of the first families he met upon starting his research was that of Kevin “Dasher” Wheatley.  The encouragement of his son George was pivotal in the book’s success.

When COVID hit, Edna agreed to Madden writing a book on his life, but nobody else.

“I was terrified at the idea of doing it.  He’s such an enormous figure and I’m not an historian,” Madden said.

“I don’t like writing non-fiction.

“But I kind of had to, as I can write and I’m the only person in the world the family will give their blessing to.”

Having grown up on a Drouin South dairy farm before moving into Warragul as a 15-year-old, Madden faced hardships which saw him drop out of school in year 11 to find work to support his family.  However, his love of writing stories never faltered.

“I remember walking past bookstores in Fountain Gate as a teenager and in my 20s thinking one day I’m going to walk past and one of my books will be in the window.

“If I had the choice between a rockstar, movie star and an okay author, I’d take the author every day.  It’s such a big deal, I feel like a rockstar.  That dream was so big and unattainable, now it’s happened,” he said.

Madden’s military connections also go back generations.

His father was a Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Veteran, his grandfather E.S. Madden served in World War II and was an author and journalist, and two great-grandfathers also served.

However, Madden will now return to his passion of writing novels.

His next project is a series of six children’s books, with the first two set to drop next year.

For more information visit bigskypublishing.com.au/michael-c-madden.  An audio book is also due out next month.