Russian Anzacs

Alien registration (NAA)

Digitised service records (NAA)

Digitised Embarkation roll entry (AWM)

Digitised court martial file (NAA)

Personal case file (NAA)

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From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

In a few cases Russians were indeed guilty of poor behaviour, something that was more common among the unruly seamen so numerous in their midst -- one of whom was Otto Taking, an Estonian. Covered with scars and tattoos, Taking was wounded once while on active service and went absent without leave 12 times, even managing to escape from Longbridge detention barracks in England. On the way back to Australia he missed his ship at one port and the British consul handed him and another reveller, W. Dumont, over to the next troop-ship, whose commander reported back to headquarters: 'They are both foreigners of sorts and the type of men that drag the A.I.F. into disrepute'. It seems that however much such unruly characters might have kept getting into trouble with authority in general, with the men they fought alongside, their comrades and officers, they rarely had problems that resulted from being 'Russians' or 'foreigners'. At one of Taking's courts-martial his commanding officer testified: 'he is a stretcher-bearer ... and has done good work'. Men with such disorderly dispositions were more in the mould of the emerging spirit of Anzac than were the Russian peasants, intellectuals or tradesmen.