It’s a long way from Electrona to Darwin, but that distance was bridged by a remarkable World War II discovery made by Darwin man Alan Anderton, which has now found its way home to the son of a local serviceman.
Alan told the Chronicle, “I have been detecting relics (with a metal detector) at WWII sites in and around Darwin for 16 or so years.
“I was out with my 18-year-old son at Tumbling Waters/Blackmore River re-detecting a WWII defensive site.
“We had found a few pre-decimals (coins) here before within the remains of the camp area, I think there were around 40-50 blokes defending this area in case the Japanese landed on Cox Peninsula and advanced inland.
“This river crossing was a crucial defence area protecting the left flank about 60 kilometres west of Darwin.”
Alan goes on to explain how his son found a half penny and he himself found some silver coins including sixpences and a three pence.
They were on the way back to their car when a tremendous discovery was made.
“On the original track, not 10 metres from the car I got a really nice tone from the metal detector.
“I scraped away the red Darwin soil and there was a flash of silver.
“At first I thought it was another florin, but no, a WWII Australian military identification disc.”
Re-scanning he found the second disc.
Alan’s son, Bradley, was able to read the name on the discs: Archer LJ.
He posted his find on a local “NT metal detecting and relics” social media site.
One of the members pulled the files of Leslie Archer from the National Archives site using the identifying details.
Alan did some further research and found that Leslie Archer had requested his service medals be replaced because of the Black Tuesday fires in Snug in 1967 when he lost everything.
The Snug Facebook page was contacted to see if anyone knew Leslie Archer or a relative.
When Alan discovered that Leslie’s son still lived in the Snug area, at Electrona, he prepared a special memento for him-which consisted of the discs, a photo of Leslie in uniform, photographs of the bridge and other memorabilia from the war years.
David’s son Peter assisted Alan in the final surprise for his father and was able to present the gift.
Both Alan and David were blessed by this event, and they’ll remember it for a long time.
David Archer has placed the framed memento in his “Army Museum” which he has in his home in Graham Street Electrona.
If he’s home, he’s happy to show you around.
It’s an amazing display with all kinds of Army collectables.
Alan, like his father, served in the army, as indeed did his grandfathers.
There are some rare and unusual items on display.
But the pride of place, of course, is the framed display of his father’s army “dog tags”.
