Russian AnzacsDenis Papchuck
| Alias | Daniel (used since 1930s) |
|---|---|
| Russian spelling | Денис Максимович Папчук |
| Born | 3.09.1891 |
| Place | Berezdov, Volyn, Ukraine |
| Ethnic origin | Ukrainian |
| Religion | Russian Orthodox |
| Father | Maxim Papchuck |
| Mother | Ulyana (or Olga) Papchuck |
| Family | 1919 married Edith Agnes Fletcher in England, 3 children, 1928 divorce; 1932 married Annie Mabel Hannah (1912-1943), children Alexander John, Olga, Robert Daniel, Evelyn, Raymond, Fay, Leslie; 1949 married Olive Emily Ivey |
| Residence before arrival at Australia | South America 08.1912 - 01.1913 |
| Arrived at Australia |
from South America (?) on 20.03.1913 per Marie disembarked at Geraldton |
| Residence before enlistment | Geraldton, WA |
| Occupation | 1915 farmer, 1952 painter and docker |
| Naturalisation | 1952 |
| Residence after the war | Geraldton, Busselton, Churchman's Brook, Perth, Fremantle, WA |
| Died | 1958 Fremantle |
Service #1
| Service number | 2358 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted | 16.10.1915 |
| Place of enlistment | Blackboy Hill, WA |
| Unit | Mining corps, 3rd Tunnelling Company |
| Rank | Sapper |
| Place | Western Front, 1916-1918 |
| Casualties | WIA 1918 |
| Final fate | RTA 12.03.1920 |
| Discharged | 18.07.1919 in London |
Materials
Digitised naturalisation 1 2 (NAA)
Digitised service records (NAA)
Digitised Embarkation roll entry 1 2 (AWM)
Court martial file 1 2 (NAA)
Alien registration 1 2 (digitised) (NAA)
Wife's alien registration (NAA)
Investigation Branch file 1 2 (NAA)
Personal case file 1 2 (NAA)
Blog article
Newspaper articles
Stories in divorce. - The Daily News, Perth, 14 August 1928, p. 6.
Six divorce cases. - The West Australian, Perth, 15 August 1928, p. 13.
Divorce mill grinds unceasingly. - Truth Perth, 19 August 1928, p. 16, 15, ill.
Unemployment. The march on parliament. - The West Australian, 4 December 1930, p. 17.
Little boy scalded. - The West Australian, 7 July 1937, p. 8.
Knocked off bicycle. - The West Australian, 15 March 1943, p. 5.
Lumper steals chocolate. - The Daily News, Perth, 1 May 1944, p. 5.
Russian here 40 years is naturalised. - The West Australian, 29 July 1952, p. 4.
From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:
On 25 September [1918] two sappers from the 3rd Tunnelling Company -- Denis Papchuck, a Russian with a faultless service record, and his Australian comrade T.W. Johnson -- refused to get into a lorry that was to take them to the trenches, without their paybooks, arguing that they were acting in accordance with company orders. They were court-martialled together and, finally, given suspended sentences.
[...] some Russians considered that taking an oath of allegiance to the king at enlistment dispensed with the need to take another oath for naturalisation -- in the words of Peter Swirgsdin, who had been severely wounded at Passchendaele in 1917: 'I have taken the Oath of Alligian to His Majesty the King once and I consider it true for all times'. One of the last of these Russians to take out naturalisation papers (in 1952), Denis Papchuck, was reported as expressing similar sentiments: 'Having served with the A.I.F. in France and Egypt for three and a half years and been gassed and wounded, ... said he had regarded his honourable discharge as sufficient proof of naturalisation'.
Gallery
Daniel Papchuck in the 1940s
WWII alien registration (NAA)