Alexander Barr Winning, a British subject, was born in Kharkov. His father, James Winning, conducted business in Ukraine with his brothers, drilling bores for geological surveys. He died three years after Alexander’s birth and his wife returned to England; in 1912 she emigrated with her children to Western Australia, where Alexander worked as a draughtsman.
He served with the 11th Battalion on the Western Front and after the war remained in Glasgow for further education and professional training in the field of architecture.
Returning to Perth, he was involved in designing many buildings there. In 1923 he married Dorothy Major and had three children. Their elder son Ian Stewart Winning served in the RAAF in WWII.
Anthony Januski, a seaman from Kovno (Kaunas) in Lithuania, came to Australia in 1915.
Enlisting in the AIF in Melbourne, he served with the 58th Battalion on the Western Front. In October 1917, in the battle for Passchendaele, he was reported missing in action, but later returned to his unit. In June 1918 he was wounded in the knee and evacuated to England. While in the training depot there he had numerous AWLs and was finally returned to Australia.
After the war his life was not easy. In 1926 he was sent to Goulburn Jail for stealing. The next year his body, wrapped in a swag, was found in a paddock near Stratford in Victoria. In the pocket of his coat police found his discharge certificate and two medals.
Augusta Emelia Enberg, a woman born in Lovisa in Finland, came to Australia in 1913 with her brother Adolf and sister Ellen. Augusta was trained in the Surgical Hospital in Helsingfors (Helsinki) as a nurse and worked as a nurse in Australia.
Enlisting in the AIF in Sydney, she accompanied troop ships to Egypt and England, but upon return to Australia in November 1917 she was discharged, being considered to be ‘of enemy nationality’.
Evert Isidor Backman, a Finn from Kristinestad, came to Western Australia in 1898 and was working in the south-western areas of the state as a timber hewer and labourer.
He served with the 16th Battalion on the Western Front. In September 1917 he was killed at the battle for Polygon Wood.
Isidore Walters, a Jewish man from Ludza in Latvia, came to Western Australia in 1912 with his relatives and worked as a farm labourer. Here his family changed their name from Pasvalsky to Walters. Isidore’s younger brother Louis Pasvalsky enlisted in the AIF in 1915 and was killed in September 1916.
He served with the 11th Battalion on the Western Front. In August 1917 he was wounded in the shoulder and returned to Australia.
After the war he lived in Perth working as a cook and cleaner in the Embassy cabaret. During WWII he enlisted in the AIF and served in the volunteer defence corps, dying during his service in 1943.
Russian Anzacs