Russian AnzacsBen Goffin
| Alias | Pinchas; Pinie Gochin; Benjamin; Giffin |
|---|---|
| Born | 10.05.1896 |
| Place | Tulchin, Podolia, Ukraine |
| Ethnic origin | Jewish |
| Religion | Enlisted as Lutheran |
| Father | Max Goffin / Mendel Gochin |
| Mother | Leah (Dvora) Soskin |
| Family | Wife Anne Goffin (née Koodak), married 1921; sons Maurice and Steven (b. 1925), daughter Shirley (1928-1937) |
| Contacts | Army friend Gregory Kunin |
| Residence before arrival at Australia | Emigrated with family to America in 1912 |
| Arrived at Australia |
from America on 18.02.1916 per Aerian disembarked at Melbourne |
| Residence before enlistment | Melbourne |
| Occupation | 1916 painter (ships); 1921 plumber; 1923 ironmonger; since the late 1920s farmer |
| Naturalisation | 1921 |
| Residence after the war | Melbourne, in the 1920s moved to soldiers settlement in Walpole near Albany, WA |
| Died | 5.10.1931, Walpole, Plantagenet, WA |
Service #1
| Service number | 5014 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted | 18.02.1916 |
| Place of enlistment | Melbourne |
| Unit | 22nd Battalion |
| Rank | Private |
| Place | Western Front, 1916-1918 |
| Casualties | WIA 1917, 1918 (gassed and wounded) |
| Final fate | RTA 16.01.1919 |
| Discharged | 14.05.1919 |
Materials
Digitised naturalisation (NAA)
Digitised service records (NAA)
Digitised Embarkation roll entry (AWM)
Letter about Kunin's death in Kunin's digitised Red Cross wounded and missing file (AWM)
Application for assistance (NAA)
Family tree on Ancestry.com
Blog article
Newspaper articles
Victorian news. - Hebrew Standard of Australasia, Sydney, 7 July 1916, p. 11.
Settler killed at Walpole settlement. - Albany Advertiser, 8 October 1931, p. 1.
From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:
Sometimes the officials dealing with the naturalisation applications were pedantic to the point of absurdity. Ben Goffin had enlisted in the army on the day he landed at Melbourne, and on the Western Front was severely wounded twice and gassed once. Goffin was refused naturalisation because he could not write, even though during the war the army had been happy enough to enlist illiterate Russians who could only sign their papers with a cross. The Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA) appealed on his behalf, but it was another two years before he was naturalised, and only when a policeman had ascertained that he could write.
Gallery
Ben Goffin
Courtesy of Richard Goffin