Albert (Bert) Borella

Albert Chalmers Borella MM VC served with the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during World War I. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Military Medal during the war. He also served with the Australian Military Forces in Australia during World War II.

Early life

Albert was born in 1881 at Korong Vale in western Victoria. He grew up on a farm at Wychitella in the foothills of Mount Egbert, known locally as the Granites. Albert was the second of 3 children born to Louis Borella and his first wife Annie Chalmers.

Annie died from typhoid in early 1885 when Albert was only 3. Albert lived with his maternal grandparents at Mount Rowan for 4 years, some 150 km to the south. When Louis remarried in 1889, Albert returned to the family farm. Louis and his new wife moved to a farm at Thyra in New South Wales, and they had 6 children together.

Albert attended small primary schools at Borung and Wychitella. His family exhibited dogs, produce and handicrafts at local agricultural shows. A drawing by Albert, aged 14, was commended in a Weekly Times competition. The Borella men were foundation members of a gun club at Mysia (now Borung) in 1899. On a hunting trip, Albert was said to have blown off the top of his finger after he'd been bitten by a snake. For 18 months, Albert volunteered with the Victorian Rangers, a local group of the Militia Forces.

Albert worked on his father's farm until about 1910 when he moved to Melbourne. He applied to the police force, but there were no vacancies. So, he worked as a fireman with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade for 3 years. He cared for the horses and drove the fire cart. Then, with 2 fire brigade friends, R. Parker and A. Lewis, he moved to Darwin, in the Northern Territory. They did casual labouring while waiting to take up farming. They soon won a ballot for a lease of land on the Daly River. Albert's friends decided to leave him to it. With help from First Nations labourers, he built a house and started clearing and fencing the land for farming.

It was difficult to succeed with limited funds and little in the way of government subsidies. A detailed account of his experience was published in the Northern Territory Times and Gazette. With the war raging in Europe, Albert returned the improved land to the Settlers Board. Then he walked alone from his casual camp cook job at Tennant Creek to Darwin and sailed on SS Aldenham to the nearest recruiting depot in Townsville, Queensland.

World War I service

Albert enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at Townsville on 15 March 1915. He named his father as his next of kin. He was 31. The medical examiner described him as 5 foot 11 inches tall, weighing 10 stone 8 pounds, with a dark complexion, grey eyes, and brown hair.

Albert was assigned to the 26th Infantry Battalion (Queensland and Tasmania). After basic training in Australia, Albert embarked on overseas service. After more training in Egypt, he left Alexandria on 4 September 1915, was promoted to corporal on 8 September and landed at Gallipoli on 12 September.

In late November, he was evacuated from Gallipoli to Hospital Ship Delta with stomach pain, vomiting and jaundice. He was sent to the 1st Australian General Hospital (1AGH) at Heliopolis on the outskirts of Cairo to recover. Although Albert did not rejoin his unit until February 1916, he wrote a letter to his friend Ern in Darwin about training in the desert to get fit for fighting at the front.

Albert's unit was sent to France in March 1916 to serve on the Western Front. He was treated for mumps (a viral illness) and parotitis (swollen glands) in May, returning to his unit in June.

Between 23 July and 3 September, the 26th Battalion was involved in operations near the village of Pozières, including the Battle of Mouquet Farm. Albert was treated for a 'slight' gunshot wound to his right arm on 24 July. Then on 29 July, he received a more serious shrapnel wound to his right forearm. He was evacuated to No. 3 Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne and invalided to England for recovery.

Albert returned to France in early November 1916, missing his unit's action in the Battle of Flers. The British Somme Offensive ended with the first fall of snow on 18 November. It was the start of a wet and bitterly cold winter. The men of I ANZAC Corps spent 3 months in mud-filled or frozen trenches. Albert was promoted to sergeant in January, although he spent the month recovering from influenza at Norfolk War Hospital in Norwich, England.

From 21 March 1917, Albert's unit was involved in a series of attacks in open fields and on villages between Bapuame and the German army's newly reinforced Hindenburg Line. For his actions at Malt Trench, Warlencourt, on 31 March, Albert was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field.

Citation for Military Medal

His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to award the Military Medal for bravery in the field to the undermentioned non-commissioner officer –

No. 275 Sergeant Albert Borella

[Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. 140, 27 August 1917]

Albert received a special mention in Sir Douglas Haig's dispatch of 9 April, and he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant.

Albert's unit was involved in the Second Battle of Bullecourt from 3 to 17 May. After over 2 weeks of bitter trench fighting, the I ANZAC Corps helped to clear and hold part of the Hindenburg Line.

On 17 July 1918, the 26th Battalion attacked the German line east of Amiens. Albert led his platoon towards the German held Jaffa Trench even though it was beyond their official objective. He maintained the position against 2 German counterattacks. This earned him the Victoria Cross, which was then Britain's highest award for gallantry.

Citation for Victoria Cross

His majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officer:–

Lieutenant Albert Borella, M.M.

For most conspicuous bravery in an attack. Whilst leading his platoon with the first wave, Lieutenant Borella marked an enemy machine gun firing through our barrage. He ran out ahead of his men into the barrage, shot two German machine gunners with his revolver, and captured the gun. He then led his party, now reduced to ten men and two Lewis guns, against a very strongly held trench, using his revolver and later a rifle, with great effect, causing many enemy casualties. His leading and splendid example resulted in the garrison being quickly shot or captured. Two large dug-outs were also bombed, and thirty prisoners taken. Subsequently the enemy twice counter-attacked in strong force, on the second occasion outnumbering Lieutenant Borella's platoon by ten to one, but his cool determination inspired his men to resist heroically, and the enemy were repulsed with very heavy loss.

[Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No 23, dated 12 February 1919]

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Albert returned home from Europe on the transport ship Marathon. Due to an influenza outbreak amongst the crew, the passengers were detained on the ship for nearly 3 weeks in Plymouth, England, before starting their voyage. He disembarked in Melbourne at 4 pm on 1 January 1919.

The town of Echuca gave Albert an official hero's welcome when he arrived by train to see his parents on 3 January. He reportedly responded that ‘he had endeavoured to do his duty, and that he had a most remarkable run of luck.’

The AIF terminated Albert's appointment as an officer on 23 February 1919. He was deemed medically unfit for service due to poor dental and physical health. And the war was over.

Siblings who also served

After Albert joined the AIF on 3 March 1915, 3 of his siblings enlisted for service overseas. Photographs of the 4 men were published in Graphic of Australia in September 1918.

Private Rex Thomas Borella, aged 18, enlisted in the AIF on 2 August 1915 with written permission from his father. He served with the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment and the Australian Camel Corps in Egypt and Palestine and trained as a signaller. He arrived home after the war in March 1919.

Private Charles 'Charlie' Borella, aged 22, enlisted in the AIF on 3 October 1915. He served on the Western Front with the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion. Charles returned home in 1918 after being wounded in action a second time.

Private James 'Jim' Borella, aged 21, enlisted in the AIF on 8 June 1916. Like Charles, he served on the Western Front with the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion. James was wounded twice in action and then medically discharged due to poor dental health. He arrived home after the war in March 1919. Sadly, he passed away in July 1919 with suspected blood poisoning.

The brothers kept in touch during the war. In a letter home to his parents in 1918, Albert wrote:

Well, I believe Charlie is on his way home, and probably before you have received this he will be back with you. I am glad that he has gone back, because he has had rather a rough spin, poor old boy. I have had letters from both Jim and Rex lately. They are both well, I am glad to say. I have not seen Jim for many months; many miles separate our respective divisions, and I have been busy of late.

Between the wars

Albert was living in Port Melbourne in 1920. He then took a Soldier Settlement block at Hensley Park in Victoria's western district. The property was named ‘Fleurbaix’ after a village near where the AIF first encountered German forces on the Western Front in 1916.

On 16 August 1928, Albert married Elsie Jane Love in Hamilton, Victoria, and they had 3 children. The family left their farm in 1939, towards the end of the Great Depression. Albert wrote letters criticising the Soldier Settlement Scheme's unviable small rural blocks.

World War II service

Soon after the outbreak of war, Albert received a call from Victoria Barracks to report for duty. He enlisted in the Australian Military Forces (AMF) in Melbourne on 15 October 1939. He nominated his wife, Elsie Chalmers Borella, as his next of kin.

Albert served with the 12th and 24th Garrison battalions and various training battalions in Broadmeadows, Shepparton, Wangaratta and Myrtleford and the POW Garrison at Rushworth internment camp. He was promoted from lieutenant to captain by September 1942. His son Rowan recalled following his father from town to town during wartime.

In May 1945, Albert was placed on the retirement list and terminated from his appointment as an officer in the AMF. The war against Japan in the Pacific ended on 15 August.

Albert worked for the Commonwealth Department of Supply and Shipping in Albury as an inspector for dangerous cargoes at Albury Railway Station. In August 1945, Albert joined the Albury Sub-Branch of the Returned Sailors, Soldiers, & Airmen's Imperial League for Australia (now RSL). The family moved into a Soldier Settlement hut for several years and then to a government house in Sylvania Avenue, Albury, which Albert later purchased. Later, Albert worked at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, sold tractors for a time, and ran a small shop in Albury.

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Commemoration

Albert passed away in Albury on 7 February 1968, survived by his wife Elsie. He had a state funeral with full military honours. Albert is commemorated at Albury's Glenmorus Memorial Gardens & Crematorium.

In Albury, Borella Road and Borella House aged care facility are named in his honour.