Myrtleford's Albert Lowerson remembered by Doug Power

Sergeant Albert (Alby) Lowerson received the Victoria Cross for his leadership and courage on September 1, 1918, when he led the storming of a German strong point at Mont St Quentin.

With him that day was Doug Power's grandfather, William, who served in the same battalion in France.

"He was a good mate of Alby's," Mr Power said.

Ahead of Remembrance Day 2020, Mr Power, himself a Vietnam veteran, spoke to The Border Mail about his family's Defence history and ongoing North East connections.

Bill Power lived in Melbourne, as his grandson does now, but he and others kept in touch with Sergeant Lowerson.

"Because he won a VC and he was a bit of a hero to those guys, and he lived in Myrtleford, every year after they came home, they used to have a pilgrimage, not on Anzac Day but during the year," Mr Power said.

"All the guys that could go went to Myrtleford for a long weekend and would catch up with Alby.

"But then even after he died, they still went up there."

Mr Power, now 74, has since visited Myrtleford RSL, seen photos of the group and talked to members who remembered his grandfather's visits. He recalls Bill Power every Sunday visiting the repatriation hospital to see friends in there, a routine he maintained for 30 years.

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"These guys were pretty messed up by the time they got home," Mr Power said.

"In Vietnam you just had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to get hurt but in the First World War, if you were there, you were a fair chance of getting hurt."

Each Anzac Day, the Power family would line up along St Kilda Road to watch Bill Power march in the Melbourne parade.

"Of course then later on, it was his three sons, and then much later on, it was me," Mr Power said. He catches up with his own mates from Vietnam, including Albury's Stewart Leaf, around Anzac Day each year.

On April 23, 2015, the group met in Myrtleford at the official unveiling of a statue in honour of Sergeant Lowerson.

He and his cousin also visited Mont St Quentin about seven or eight years ago to learn more about the medal-winning attack.

"We followed the footsteps of exactly what happened," he said.