Nicholas Gulevich from Odessa came to Brisbane in 1910 via the Far East. In spite of his training as a fitter, upon arrival he worked as a labourer on the Kannagur and Blackbutt railway line, north-west of Brisbane and then found a job as a tailer at a sawmill near Benarkin in the same area; by the time of the war he had become a sugar cane farmer in Cairns area.
Enlisting in Cairns, he sailed to Egypt with the 2nd Light Horse Regiment and served at the Western Front as a gunner. In 1918 he was invalided back to Australia after suddenly developing traumatic neurasthenia. His medical history has only a brief reference to its possible causes, stating that he was ‘well … until April 1918 – mistaken for spy – very nervy’.
He recovered in Australia and worked as an overseer in North Queensland shire councils.
Carl Carlson, a Latvian seaman from Riga, toiled the sea since his youth and claimed to serve as a marine in the American Navy. Landing in South Australia in 1909 he worked on coastal vessels, and later moved to Newcastle, where he worked as miner.
Enlisting in the AIF in Sydney, he was discharged two months later on medical grounds.
Jack Vengert, a cook from Ukraine, came to Australia in 1913 from the Far East and settled in Sydney.
Enlisting in the AIF, he sailed to Gallipoli with the 18th Battalion. They landed at Gallipoli in August 1915; a few days later, during a fierce engagement at close range in the battle forHill 60, Vengert was bayoneted in the wrist. He was returned to Australia and worked as a railway watchman at Dora Creek Bridge near Newcastle. There he met Emma Adeline Gudshus, a fisherman’s daughter. They married and had a baby, but the marriage did not work; they separated, and Jack enlisted in the AIF once again. He sailed to England in July 1918 but arrived to the Western Front already after the armistice.
Returning to Australia, he had several turbulent years in Sydney running a ‘gyx-shop’ (illicit wine bar), allegedly selling ‘sly grog’ and being involved in a couple of court cases with prostitutes. Finally he left for Brisbane where he opened a fruit shop on Stanley Street, the focal point of the Russian-Jewish community. Later he returned to Sydney, making his living as a flat proprietor.
Russian Anzacs