A First Day of Issue 'Australian Legends: The Last ANZACS' postcard signed by Alec Campbell
The official Australia Post postcard reproduces a photograph by C.E.W. Bean ('Wading ashore 25 April 1915'); the recto is postmarked Canberra, 21 January 2000; the verso is inscribed in another hand 'Hobart 30 Jan 00' (possibly where and when the signature was collected); in fine condition.
The stamp is captioned 'Alec Campbell, aged 100'; it features a portrait photograph of Campbell at the age of 16, when he first joined up in 1915. He 'landed at Anzac Cove in early November 1915. He assisted in carrying ammunition, stores and water to the trenches. He received a minor wound in the fighting at Gallipoli; when evacuated with the rest of the Australian forces in 1916, he became ill with a fever which caused partial facial paralysis. He was subsequently invalided home aboard HMAT "Port Sydney" on 24 June 1916, and was formally discharged on 22 August 1916, a Gallipoli veteran at only 17. He only fought in the war for two months; he later explained tersely, "I joined for adventure. There was not a great feeling of defending the Empire. I lived through it, somehow. I enjoyed some of it. I am not a philosopher. Gallipoli was Gallipoli"' (Wikipedia). He died in Hobart on 16 May 2002, aged 103. A colour photograph (150 × 100 mm) of Alec Campbell and his wife Kathleen, taken in his last years, is included.
Item #116904
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