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Sir Neville Howse VC. Image courtesy Orange City Library.

Sir Neville Howse VC.
Image courtesy Orange City Library.

During the Boer War in 1900 Neville Howse became the first Australian to be awarded a Victoria Cross.  When WWI began in 1914 Howse – then Mayor of Orange – was appointed the principal medical officer to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force that went to German New Guinea. He then went to Gallipoli and was based in London when the AIF moved to France. After the war Howse became the federal member for Calare and held several ministerial portfolios, including Defence and Health.

* Patrick Bourke