Finn was first to fight

ATOLF Akeksanter Aalto had a thirst for adventure.
The enterprising teenager left his family home in Nystad, Finland, and travelled alone to Australia to try his luck at mining. He was only 19 when his ship docked in Melbourne on Boxing Day 1912.
He found his way to Nar Nar Goon through his friend Samual Batten and obviously settled in well.
Two years later, at the outbreak of World War I, he presented to enlist with a tattoo of an emu and a kangaroo and the words Advance Australia on his forearm.
The patriotic ink wasn’t enough to convince the army brass. Finland was a part of the Russian empire at the time and Atolf had to sign naturalisation papers to make him a British subject.
With all the paperwork out of the way, he was free to join the AIF in July 1915 and sailed for Europe the following November.
Private Atolf Aalto did it tough in the battlefields of France and for the first few months was in and out of hospital with a string of ailments, including trench fever.
By June 1918, he was obviously feeling better. He was awarded a Military Medal for great bravery shown during a German attack near Strazeele in France.
The citation explained that Pte Aalto, who had just taken up his position in a new Lewis gun post, “found himself heavily attacked and, realising that his platoon post was depending on his protection of the flank, he continued to work his gun, causing the enemy many casualties and preventing them from getting round the flank of the platoon post… After having fired 600 rounds his gun was red hot and stopped. Pte Aalto then withdrew under heavy fire carrying his gun.”
At war’s end, Atolf was again on a ship to Australia, the troop vessel Armagh. His movements after that are uncertain, but he left his mark on Nar Nar Goon.
His name is the first on the Roll of Honour that hangs above the main doorway at the Nar Nar Goon Community Centre.