Please join us to launch the publication of I’ll Walk Beside You, featuring author Peter Mitchell with special guest speaker Professor Joan Beaumont

I’ll Walk Beside You by Peter Mitchell is a continuation of the acclaimed Under the Same Moon (2025). A vivid portrait of the most desperate chapter in our nation’s history, I’ll Walk Beside You has been written from never seen before, letters, diaries and oral histories and weaves a story of soldiers against a parallel story of love between real life couple Jean and Cal.

Told through the perspective of ordinary men drawn into the heart of war, I’ll Walk Beside You is an ode to heroism, the unyielding human spirit, and enduring resilience that shaped Australia’s military history.

In February 1942, with a battalion stranded in Java, soldiers are uncertain of their fate. Meanwhile, families in Australia endure the anguish of lost contact.

After a heroic but futile defense of Java, the Australians surrender and endure years of captivity where they are forced to work on the Burma Railway under savage conditions. Disease, starvation, violence and cruel guards claim many lives, yet courage, resilience and a distinctly Australian humour persist, offering moments of humanity amid the horror. Peter deftly personalises the narrative with letters, diaries, official documents and newspaper reports to vividly bring these experiences to life.

Running alongside the soldiers’ ordeal is a love story between Jean and Cal. Rooted in wartime Melbourne, Jean waits for Cal, uncertain whether he is alive. After victory finally comes in 1945 and the survivors return home, the long-awaited reunion brings both joy and unease. Who have they become in the wake of what they have endured? I’ll Walk Beside You is a masterful narrative portrayal of resilience, courage and love, diving into the deeply human experiences of real people through these wartime years.

About the author

Peter Mitchell is a lawyer by training and was a partner in a major law firm. More recently, for many years he ran a regional non-profit organisation, based in Singapore. History is his passion. He grew up listening to his father and his friends regularly talk about their wartime experiences and has read extensively. He lived in Singapore for twenty years and has travelled and worked extensively throughout East Asia.

Housekeeping

This event can be attended in-person or online via Zoom (the zoom event will begin at 6:30pm).

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The RHSV Downstairs  Gallery is an accessible venue.