Moysey Dossoeff

Alias Dosoeff
Russian spelling Моисей Доцоев
Born 21.01.1886
Place Ardon, Ossetia, the Caucasus
Ethnic origin Ossetian
Religion Lutheran (?)
Father Asabe Dossoeff
Residence before arrival at Australia Served 1 year in the Russian army, fought in Russo-Japanese war with a Cossack regiment
Arrived at Australia on 1913
Residence before enlistment Port Pirie, SA
Occupation Labourer at Broken Hill Pty Works at Port Pirie
Naturalisation Served as Russian subject
Residence after the war Adelaide, Port Pirie, Melbourne; 1919 permitted to return to Vladivostok

Service #1

Service number 2189
Enlisted 4.05.1916
Place of enlistment Adelaide
Unit 4th MG Company, 13th Light Horse Regiment
Rank Private, Trooper
Place England, 1917
Final fate RTA 27.09.1917
Discharged 29.01.1918 MU

Materials

Blog article

Russian

English

Publications

Елена Говор, Осетинские анзаки. - Северная Осетия, 14 сентября 2007.

Newspaper articles

Russian Citizens' Association. - Daily Herald, Adelaide, 19 February 1918, p. 2.

Wages claim. - Daily Herald, Adelaide, 3 June 1920, p. 4.

From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

An over-suspicious attitude on the part of one was often counterbalanced by commonsense from others. In August 1916 Major Hogan, from [...] machine-gun depot at Seymour, reported about Dossoeff and Raisanen, two privates in his unit who 'are supposed to be Russian subjects ... These men simultaneously asking for transfer from Machine Guns to Artillery and Light Horse struck me as being peculiar, and I thought possibly they may be Enemy Agents.' He added, probably feeling he was making too much of it, 'I forward this information for what it worth'. The Intelligence officer who had to deal with this 'information' did not seem particularly concerned about them: 'The fact that both of them applied for a move at the same time would not mean anything as they evidently talked the matter over together and both came to the same conclusion'. The irony of this situation was that any contact between them would be highly unlikely: one, the smelter-man Moysey Dossoeff, was an Ossetian from the Caucasus; the other was a Finn, Otto Abram Raisanen, a former butcher who had enlisted just three days after his arrival in the country. Dossoeff's file adds some more detail to the range of attitudes experienced by the Russians. In his application to be transferred from the machine-guns to the Light Horse Dossoeff argued that, while his limited knowledge of English prevented him from mastering machine-gunnery, he was 'a very good horse-man', having served 'through the Russo-Japanese war with a Cossack regiment'. The commander of his company wrote on his application 'Forwarded and strongly recommended. One of my best men but handicapped in MG work because of poor knowledge of language.' Dossoeff was then transferred to the Light Horse, only to be later discharged with remark, 'Deficient mentality'.

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