Brad Chalmers has penned “Next to Impossible” The remarkable life of Albert Charles Borella VC, a 528-page biography, which will be launched in Albury on Friday.

The book traces how Borella began life on a farm in north-west Victoria, shifted to the Northern Territory and then served Australia with distinction in both World Wars.

Borella, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery at Villers-Bretonneux on the Western Front, moved to Albury in 1945 and worked at the city’s railway station before retiring.

Mr Chalmers, a cousin of Borella and Deniliquin farmer, said he had been inspired to write a biography after being invited to speak about his famous relative at an Anzac Day commemoration at Wedderburn in 2001.

“I grew up with the story, having grown up on the same farm (near Wedderburn),” Mr Chalmers said.

“But although I knew about him in family folklore it was only when I started to do the book that I realised how big he was.

“As my father said he was a humble, very quiet man and not the sort of person who you would think did the things he did.

“There’s an old saying ‘it’s not the rowdy blokes you should look out for, it’s the quiet ones’ and although he didn’t have a big formal education he was articulate.

“In 1956 he wrote his own diary of his trip to go to London for the VC centenary and when you look at that and the way he wrote it and the quality of his handwriting you could tell he was articulate.”

Mr Chalmers said Borella’s son Rowan and his daughter-in-law Mary had helped with anecdotes and photos for the book, while other Albury residents also contributed to the publication printed by Border firm Speciality Press.

Fellow Victoria Cross recipient and soldier settlement pioneer Ted Kenna, who died in 2009, also gave his recollections, describing Borella as a “man of very few words”.

"Next to Impossible" will be launched at 10am Friday at Cafe Borellas with copies of the book available for purchase.