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ANZAC 100 marks an epic journey to enlist
Date :
13 /
02 /
2015
Author :
Jim Linton - VK3PC
The commemorative WIA callsign VI8ANZAC will soon be on air thanks to Darwin Amateur Radio Club, which is covering the Albert Chalmers Borella journey re-enactment. The Victorian was in the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade, before the lure of a new life and grant of government land saw him move to the Northern Territory.
After a time, farming proved unsuccessful, leading him to be a chef on a telegraph maintenance site near Tennant Creek. He wanted to enlist in World War I. Travelling by foot, horseback and train the 33 year old left Tennant Creek for Darwin, found it did not have a sign-up point, so continued to Townsville in Queensland by boat for enlistment.
Albert Borella (pictured) was posted to the 26th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force. At Gallipoli he served for two months. Then he was sent to the Western Front in France and Belgium. Albert Borella was wounded in battle, decorated with the Military Medal, mentioned by Winston Churchill in military dispatches, and finally received for valour in combat - the Victoria Cross. He is the only VC from the Northern Territory. During World War II he ran prisoner-of-war camps in Australia. As the nation re-traces that remarkable journey to enlist, the Darwin Amateur Radio Club has VI8ANZAC on air from February 20 to March 3.
Please read the requirements including on-line logging, eQSLing and a duration of 1-week for each commemorative ANZAC 100 callsign. These are spelled out on the WIA website Link
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