Johannes Lembit

Born 24.05.1893
Place Pärnu, Estonia
Ethnic origin Estonian
Religion Presbyterian
Father Mihkel Lembit
Mother Liisu Lembit
Family

Wife Anna Marie Lembit, son Valdek, b. 1924, served in the AIF in WWII
Contacts

Brother Alexander Lembit
Arrived at Australia from London
on 24.04.1916
per Port Albany
disembarked at Sydney
Residence before enlistment Sydney
Occupation Seaman, 1916 labourer, after the war worked on water front
Naturalisation 1937
Residence after the war Penshurst, NSW; Piarnu, Estonia; 1926 Sydney, Pendle Hill
Died 3.09.1988, Pendle Hill, NSW

Service #1

Service number 6510
Enlisted 9.05.1916
Place of enlistment Sydney
Unit 4th Battalion
Rank Private, Lance Corporal, Temporary Corporal, Corporal, Temporary Sergeant, Sergeant
Place Western Front, 1917-1918
Casualties WIA 1918
Final fate RTA 10.12.1918
Discharged 30.03.1919 MU

Materials

Blog article

Russian

English

From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

In their day-to-day trench-life Australians accepted the Russianness of their comrades as some sort of harmless peculiarity. Valdek Lembit talks about his father Johannes: 'He was a wrestler and they used to have an army wrestling championship, and I think he won that. He swam across the Baltic Sea and came second at the race. He was a bit of a devil in his young years and I believe my father was known as the "mad Russian" by his fellow soldiers.' (the irony being that, ethnically, he was in fact Estonian).

[...] Johannes Lembit went back to his native Estonia after the war, married there and in 1926 returned to Australia with his wife and son Valdek, who recalls: 'After settling in Australia we had a few Estonian friends, but my parents were keen to assimilate and spoke English as much as possible. I know no Estonian.'

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