Russian Anzacs

Juhan Kilter, an Estonian sailor from Arensburg (Kuressaare) on Saaremaa Island, came to Australia in January 1916 and enlisted five days later.
In two months he was discharged and probably left Australia.

Robert Ernst, a sailor from Libava (Liepaja) in Latvia, came to Australia in 1912 after working for 5 years in New Zealand.
Enlisting in the AIF as Robert Arnst, he served with the 55th Battalion on the Western Front. In March 1918 he got sick with a tubercular bone infection aggravated by active service, was returned to Australia and discharged.
In 1918, while in English hospital, he married Ada, but their union did not last long. In 1930 he committed suicide in Newcastle.

John Ketvell, a Finnish seaman from Vyborg, came to Australia in November 1915 and soon enlisted in the AIF in Goulburn together with Robert Ernst.
Four months later he was discharged and left Australia in August 1917.

Mitrofan Koropets, a Ukrainian from Dobrotov in Chernigov Province, worked in Australia as a miner.
Enlisting in the AIF, he served as a sapper with the 1st Mining Corps on the Western Front. In March 1918 he was gassed, but returned to the trenches.
After the war he lived in Sydney, was unemployed, and wanted to return to Russia. In April 1920 he committed suicide in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney.

August Fagerstrom, a ship’s carpenter from Wasa in Finland, by the time of his enlistment in the AIF lived in Melbourne.
He served with the 5th Battalion on the Western Front, but got sick and was returned to Australia in May 1917. Soon after his discharge he reenlisted but got sick with asthma upon arrival to England.
After the war he returned to Finland.