Samuel Rappeport, a Jewish man from Nikopol in Ukraine, came to Western Australia in 1904 with his parents and siblings. In Australia he worked as a boot maker and was employed by his father in their fruit shop.
He served with the 43rd Battalion on the Western Front. In May 1918 he was gassed and returned to Australia.
After the war he married Clara Dabscheek and lived in Perth working as a boot maker. During WWII he enlisted in the AIF and served in a garrison battalion.
William Kolesnikov from Peretin in Chernigov Province consistently provided his place of birth as Kiev, which suggests that he preferred to be associated with Ukraine. He came to Western Australia in the Russian ship Neva in 1907, left the ship and worked in different parts of the state clearing land, mining, gardening, working in a café and in a bark mill. In 1911 he moved to Sydney, working as a hotel useful.
He served with the 55th Battalion on the Western Front and was severely wounded in September 1917 at Polygon Wood near Ypres. He was wounded in the left arm and had his jaw fractured and tongue shot away. After months in hospitals he was returned to Australia.
After the war he lived in Sydney. In January 1923 his coat and hat were found at a Sydney beach. It is most likely that he drowned himself.
Woldemar Wist, a seaman from Revel (Tallinn), came to South Australia in 1915.
He served with the 27th Battalion on the Western Front. In August 1918, during the Amiens advance, he was severely wounded in the right shoulder and legs.
During his service, while in England, he married a nurse, Gertrude Helen Hazell, but she died in December 1918. Returning to Australia, Woldemar married a local girl, Florence Ettie. He received training as a saddler and established his saddler’s shop in Edithburg, where they settled.
Harry Hansen, another Estonian, from Piarnu, was a ship’s carpenter. For five years he lived in South America before coming to Australia.
Enlisting in the AIF in Claremont in Tasmania, he served with the 40th Battalion on the Western Front. In April 1918 he was accidentally wounded in the left hand and it was amputated.
Edward Turunen, also a seaman from Kotka in Finland, enlisted in the AIF in Port Pirie.
He served with the 36th and 33rd battalions on the Western Front. In June 1917 he was wounded in the back, left leg and wrist at Messines. In June 1918 he was gassed and in August 1918 wounded in the thigh at Bray near Rouen.
Recovering, he was discharged in London, intending to return to Finland.
Russian Anzacs