Aaron Lemish from Vishnevichi in Volyn Province of Ukraine deserted from the Russian army soon after conscription and fled to Australia from Harbin in 1911. He worked in Brisbane and Bundaberg as a labourer and flour-mill hand.
Enlisting in the AIF in Brisbane, he was discharged six months later as medically unfit.
In 1917 he married a Jewish girl, Rae Crucheck, in Melbourne and had a large family. During WWII he and his two elder sons enlisted in the AIF.
Martin Nicolay Renaud from Riga in Latvia came to Australia in 1908, probably as a seaman. After working in coastal shipping and on smelters at Ravensthorpe in Western Australia, he settled in Perth.
He fought at Gallipoli with the 11th Battalion and then on the Western Front with the 51st Battalion. He was severely wounded in the head at Armentieres in July 1916 and returned to Australia.
After the war he settled in Mandurah, south of Perth, working as an orchadist, and made several trips to the UK.
Wolf Dorfman came from Rovno in Volyn Province in Ukraine. After three years of service in the Russian Army he became engaged in trade in Eastern Asia.
Arriving in Sydney in May 1915, he enlisted in the AIF a few weeks later and sailed to Egypt with the reinforcements of the 13th Battalion. After training in Egypt he was transferred to the 54th Battalion and sent to the Western Front. A few days after his arrival in July 1916, he was reported as missing in action during his first battle. This was the battle of the Sugarloaf salient near Fromelles. It turned out that he was taken prisoner of war by the Germans and spent over two years in captivity, making an unsuccessful attempt to escape.
Upon returning to Australia in 1919 he settled in Melbourne and was engaged in trade with the Far East. In 1931 he married and had a daughter.
Russian Anzacs