George Kamishansky

Alias Kaminshansky (NSW death records)
Russian spelling Георгий Петрович Камышанский
Born 21.01.1890
Place Kerch, Ukraine
Ethnic origin Ukrainian/Russian
Religion Greek Catholic [Russian Orthodox?]
Father Petr Kamishansky (Петр Константинович Камышанский)
Mother Katherine Kamishansky (Екатерина Григорьевна (?) Камышанская)
Family

Wife Jean (Janet) Elizabeth Kamishansky (née Smith), married 1921

Arrived at Australia from Russia
on 10.10.1913
per Essen
disembarked at Melbourne
Residence before enlistment Wanalta district, Vic, on ships at the Interstate coastal service
Occupation seaman AB, after the war - electrician, telephone mechanic, officer at the Customs Dept, Sydney
Naturalisation 1918
Residence after the war Sydney
Died 19.06.1934 Sydney

Service #1

Service number 271
Enlisted 28.08.1914
Place of enlistment Sydney
Unit 1st FAB; 1st Anzac Headquarters, attached to the 2nd Army Intelligence Staff
Rank Gunner
Place Gallipoli, 1915, Western Front, 1916, England, 1917-1918
Final fate RTA 10.03.1918
Discharged 20.07.1918 MU

Materials

Blog article

Russian

English

From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

It was common for seamen to have been at sea from an early age but, as previously noted, many of them had unexpected family backgrounds -- like George Kamishansky from Kerch, whose work in Australia as an ordinary seaman on coastal ships belied his original background. His father, Petr Konstantinovich Kamishansky, was a St Petersburg court prosecutor who had committed some kind of legal infraction and been sent into internal exile; but, because of his high social rank, he served out his exile as a provincial governor. George knew French, German and English and was obviously well-educated; later, when serving in the AIF in military intelligence, he was able to put his linguistic skills to good use.

[...] The very first contingent [...] -- this First Fleet of the new Australian nationhood -- left Australian waters in early November 1914 with at least 12 Russians: the Finns Baer and Hiltunen, the ethnic Russians Arn, Kamishansky, Sast and Sindeeff, the Polish-born Markowicz and Watson, the Jews Zander and Levene, and the Russian-born Englishmen Ball and Dyson.

[...] George Kamishansky was another educated Russian, with a knowledge of French and German; after getting sick in France, he was transferred from the artillery and attached to Intelligence staff at 1st Anzac Corps Headquarters.

[...] A few Russians who managed to gain qualifications and experience ended up having successful professional careers here. [...] George Kamishansky, whose health was shattered after Gallipoli, studied electrical engineering, also at Sydney Technical College. He found work first as a telephone mechanic, studied accountancy and, after passing his exams, was finally employed in the Customs Department in Sydney, where 'he found scope for his linguistic ability'.

[...] George Kamishansky 'spent the greater part of his time up to 1921 in hospitals and convalescent homes' and married an AIF sister, Jane Smith, in 1921.

Map