Hugo Michael Walter Saari

Alias Walter; Hugo Walter; Hugo Walter Michael (naturalisation); nickname: Pappinburra Bill
Born 23.02.1897
Place Mariehamn, Aland, Finland
Ethnic origin Finnish
Religion Lutheran
Father Augustus Saari
Arrived at Australia on 1914
per Cumberland
disembarked at Sydney
Residence before enlistment Sydney
Occupation 1917 labourer, 1949 seaman
Naturalisation Applied 1949
Residence after the war Sydney, 1928-49 Adelaide, Whyalla, 1949 Semaphore, SA
Died 12.01.1960, Adelaide

Service #1

Service number 22318
Enlisted 30.10.1917
Place of enlistment Sydney
Unit 15th Field Company Engineers, 1st Motor Transport Section
Rank Private, Sapper, Driver
Place France 1919
Final fate RTA 3.09.1919
Discharged 16.11.1919

Materials

Blog article

Russian

English

Newspaper articles

Police court. - Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate, 6 February 1932, p. 4.

Police court. - Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate, 14 May 1932, p. 6.

Supplied liquor to Aboriginal. - _ News_, Adelaide, 11 June 1941, p. 5.

"Walga! Walga!" and "Cuthera Cobbie". - Whyalla News, 13 June 1941, p. 3.

From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

Sometimes this Australianness comes clad in a vagabond's clothes rather than in hero's attire. So, to the gallery of Russian swagmen already mentioned earlier (Ankudinow, Orloff, Abrahamovitch, Mannerman) I could add another colourful figure -- 'Pappinburra Bill', formerly a Finnish seaman named Hugo Michael Walter Saari. According to the police, he had a long criminal record across the country in every State, from 'stealing a dog' to 'supply liquor to abo' -- at least the police couldn't reproach him for 'fraternising with Russians'.

Gallery

Hugo Michael Walter Saari
WWII alien registration (NAA)

Map