Russian AnzacsCentenary Stories
To mark the Centenary of the First World War in 2014-2018, this site, in a weekly post, celebrated the Russian Anzacs who enlisted in the AIF that week.
Platonoff, Swanson, Peterson, Rudovsky, Lumberg
- George Platonoff was born in Novoukrainka township in Ukraine. In 1911 he came to Queensland via the Russian Far East with his parents and elder brother Thomas. After working on railway construction, his family bought a sugarcane farm in Booyal.
- Enlisting in the AIF, George served with the 25th Battalion on the Western Front. In October 1917 he was gassed at Passchendaele and stayed for a while in the English hospitals but recovered and finished the war at the front.
- After the war he worked as cane cutter and sawmill worker in the Childers and Innisfail areas. During WWII he enlisted again in the AIF and served in the garrison battalions.
- Franse Frederick Swanson was born in Finland as Saarinen, but when he came to Australia in 1899 as a seaman he preferred to Anglicise his name. He settled in South Australia, working as a ship’s carpenter, and married Australian woman Ruby Dorothy Bright.
- He enlisted in the AIF in spite of the fact that he had two young children and fought with the 50th Battalion on the Western Front. In April 1917 he was taken prisoner of war during the battle for Noreuil, was kept in Dulmen and Limburg internment camps, and was repatriated to Australia after the war.
- After the war he lived with his family in Adelaide. All three of his sons served in the AIF during WWII.
- Larry Peterson, from Wasa in Finland, worked as a boiler maker. He came to Australia in 1913 as a seaman and worked as labourer in Western Australia.
- Enlisting in the AIF he soon asked to be discharged ‘on account of my nationality, as I cannot live on good terms with the other men’. He was discharged in June 1916 as medically unfit.
- It was impossible to trace his life after the war. Most likely he left Australia.
- Joseph Rudovsky jumped ship in South Australia in 1912, when he was just 18, and enlisted in the AIF as a native of Russia born in Odessa. It was only in the 1930s that he revealed that he was a Croat from Yugoslavia born in Susek. Upon his arrival he worked in different places, but finally settled in Sydney working as a barman.
- At the outbreak of war he made the first attempt to enlist, but was rejected because of eyesight. Later he was accepted and sailed to the Western Front with the Mining Company; later he served in the 1st Tunneling Company. In March 1918 he was gassed with other tunnelers; he survived the ordeal but was disabled for life.
- After the war he lived in Sydney, where he married and educated himself. In 1937 he was appointed honorary consul for Yugoslavia under his true name Joseph Mikulicic-Rodd.
- John Lumberg from Feborak (?) in Finland came to Western Australia in 1890, probably as a seaman. He worked as a labourer and sleeper cutter in the south-western areas of the state.
- Enlisting in the AIF, he served in the artillery batteries on the Western Front. In October 1918 he was wounded in the thigh, being one of the last casualties among Russian born Anzacs during the war.
- After the war he continued working as sleeper hewer in the Manjimup area in Western Australia.
Sendon, Selverstoff, Koraysh, Koslovsky, Skudrin
- Edward Sendon was a Latvian from Riga; his family believed that he had some Scottish ancestry. He came to Australia as a seaman in 1903 and by 1915 worked as a miner in Mount Morgan.
- Enlisting in the AIF he served with the 15th battalion on the Western Front.
- After the war he married an Australian girl, Annie Ruby Lacey, and lived in Rockhampton working as a miner and painter. His sons Leonard and Erle served in the AIF in WWII fighting in New Britain.
- Boris Selverstoff, a Russian from Archangel, came to Australia as a seaman in 1914.
- He enlisted in the AIF in Adelaide, but was discharged a few months later as medically unfit.
- After the war he lived in the NSW outback, working as a labourer.
- Paul Koraysh from Orenburg came to Australia in 1908 from Japan and worked in Newcastle and Sydney as a labourer.
- He served with the 47th Battalion on the Western Front until he got sick with hernia and was returned to Australia as medically unfit in 1917.
- After the war he moved to North Queensland, working as a cane cutter and later as a waterside worker in Brisbane.
- William Koslovsky from Kovno (Kaunas) Province in Lithuania came to Australia in 1912 via the Russian Far East. He worked in Queensland on railway construction and as a copper labourer.
- He enlisted in the AIF in Rockhampton, but was discharged nine months later as medically unfit.
- He disappears from Australian records after the war.
- Frederick Skudrin, a seaman from Riga, came to Australia in October 1915 and enlisted a few weeks later.
- Enlisting in the AIF he served in the artillery and machine gun units on the Western Front. During the March 1917 advance he was wounded in the hand, but recovering, continued his service on the Western Front.
- While in England he married an English girl, Amy Daisy White, who joined him in Australia; later on they separated. Frederick lived in Port Stephens working as a labourer. During WWII he enlisted in the AIF and served in garrison battalions.
Makaroff, Zavodtchikoff, Holmstrom, Petersen, Mishkinis
- George Makaroff, a Russian ship’s stoker from Libava (Liepaja) in Latvia, came to Australia in 1913. For several months he worked as a bridge carpenter in Queensland and then enlisted in the AIF.
- He served with the 42nd Battalion on the Western Front until he was returned to Australia in April 1918 as medically unfit.
- After the war he worked as a railway employee and fettler in the Roma district and Rockhempton.
- William Zavodtchikoff came from a Jewish family that moved to Tomsk in Siberia. He arrived in Darwin in the Northern Territory in 1914 and worked there at a meatworks. When he got sick with malaria he moved to Queensland, where he enlisted in the AIF in Townsville.
- After six moths service he was discharged for being under age. He moved to Sydney where he was detained as a prisoner of war, but the interdiction of the Russian consul helped him to get released. After that he made one more attempt to enlist in Sydney, but was discharged as medically unfit.
- After the war he lived in Melbourne and in Sydney, working as a general dealer.
- Axel Hjalmar Holmstrom, a Finnish seaman from Somero, came to Newcatle in 1913. He worked on railway construction and then enlisted in the AIF.
- He arrived at the Western Front with the 19th Battalion and was wounded in August 1916 in the hand at the battle for Mouquet Farm. Recovering, he returned to the trenches and was transferred to the artillery detachment, but in May 1917 he was wounded for the second time at Bullecourt; this time he was wounded in the leg and back, but he recovered and served to the very end of the war.
- After the war he continued working as a seaman and probably left Australia.
- Charles Petersen, a Finn from Abo (Turku), most likely came to Australia as a seaman. By the time of enlistment he lived in Bankstown, working as a labourer.
- He served with the 19th Battalion on the Western Front, being wounded in September 1916, a few weeks after arrival. Recovering in England, he returned to the front and was killed in January 1918 at Le Touquet whilst on outpost duty during an attempted raid by the enemy on the Australian front line.
- His family in Finland has never been found.
- Adolf Ignatieff Mishkinis from Novoaleksandrovsk (Zarasai) in Lithuania came to Melbourne in September 1915 as a seaman and enlisted a few weeks afterwards.
- He arrived with the 46th Battalion on the Western Front and in August 1916, soon after arrival, was wounded in the back and thorax at the battle for Mouquet Farm. Returning to the trenches, he was wounded for the second time in October 1917 in Passchendaele. The damage was severe, with a broken skull, shrapnel wounds to his left foot, arm and back. He survived many operations in England and was repatriated to Australia.
- After the war he married an Australian girl, May Curtayne, and had two sons. After separation with his wife he raised the boys in Ballarat, working as an engineer. His sons served in the AIF during WWII, and Adolf lived long enough to tell them about his childhood in Lithuania.
Kivlen, Gregorenko, Gorgensen, Karhu, Trager, Deckhardt
- Michael Kislithin was born near Kotelnich in Viatka Province. He came to Brisbane via the Russian Far East and worked as a yardman. After settling in Australia he used the name Kivlen.
- His service in the AIF was not long. He was reprimanded for insubordination soon after enlistment and discharged a month later with the formula ‘not likely to become an efficient soldier’.
- After that he worked as a labourer and woodcutter in Brisbane, Broken Hill, Port Pirie, and North Queensland. In 1923, when he applied for naturalization, the policeman recorded that he ‘walks with a stick owing to a spinal injury’. It was also noted that he was ‘not a member of Russian association except the library section’. In the 1940s he was farming at Maranboy at the Northern Territory, but later returned to Brisbane.
- Richard Gregorenko, a Ukrainian from Karapyshi in Kiev Province, spent three and a half years in China and Japan before landing in Brisbane in 1910. He worked there as a clerk and bookbinder.
- He served in the AIF in the Field Ambulance on the Western Front. In October 1918 he was returned to Australia on account of Russian nationality.
- After the war he married Australian girl, Vera Scriven, and had three children. Their marriage did not last long and in 1929 he took a cotton growing selection in Lawgi in Callide Valley, where he moved with his sons. They boys served in the AIF during WWII.
- Charles Gorgensen from Riga came to Australia not long before the war as a sailor and worked in Mount Morgan as a miner.
- A month after enlistment in the AIF he was discharged as medically unfit.
- After the war he worked as a seaman and in 1924 naturalised in New Orleans, USA.
- Hjalmar Karhu, a Finnish seaman, landed in Australia in July 1915 after toiling the sea for eight years.
- Enlisting in the AIF in Perth, he served with the 48th Battalion on the Western Front. In August 1916 he was wounded in the back, but returned to the trenches after his recovery. In April 1917 during the advance against the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt he was wounded in the right knee and taken prisoner of war. His leg was amputated above the knee and he was kept at the Soltau camp. In January 1918 he was released and repatriated to England. While in a depot there he met English girl Lily Violet Warwick, and they married in August 1918.
- After their return to Australia, they settled in Cottesloe near Perth, where Hjalmar worked as a bootmaker.
- Samuel Trager, a young Jewish man from Nikolaev in Ukraine, came to Brisbane from the Russian Far East with his parents and siblings. He was trained as a boot clicker.
- He made the first attempt to enlist in the AIF in November 1915 in Sydney when he was just 18. A month later he was discharged as medically unfit. In February 1917 he enlisted again, but his service went wrong. He had a number of absences without leave, conflicts with his commanders, and escape from detention. After the end of the war warrant for his arrest was withdrawn.
- After the war he lived in Brisbane and Sydney often being in trouble with the law because of petty crimes he became involved.
- Robert Deckhardt, a fireman from Lublin in Poland, jumped ship in Bunbury in 1912.
- He made his first attempt to enlist in the AIF in 1914 and was finally accepted in Rockhampton. He served as a Lance Corporal with the 42nd Battalion on the Western Front. In October 1917 he was killed at the battle for Passchendaele.
- His parents died before he left Russia and in the AIF he made his will out to his mate Corporal Corry.
Cherpiter, Pollanen, Ahbol, Williamson
- John Cherpiter was born in Kamenets-Podolskii in Ukraine. His Ukrainian name was probably Cherpita. He came to Australia about 1912 and worked as a bootmaker in Adelaide. By the time of enlistment he had his wife Anastasia and daughter Lucy living with him in Australia.
- Enlisting in the AIF, he served with the 50th Battalion on the Western front and was killed during the Noreuil advance in April 1917.
- His wife received an Australian pension after his death, but after 1923 she and their daughter seem to disappear from Australian records and it is quite possible that they returned back to Ukraine. South Australian newspapers continued to commemorate his name on the day of his death up to the late 1920s.
- John Pollanen from Kotka in Finland came to Australia on the eve of the war. He was a moulder by trade but worked as a seaman.
- Enlisting in the AIF in Sydney, he missed embarkation in January 1916 and was discharged.
- In 1917 he sailed to San Francisco and registered for Army service there. After the war he continued to work on ships sailing along the American coast and died in 1927 in San Francisco.
- Ludwig Edward Ahbol, born in Grose near Kuldiga in Latvia, came to Newcastle in Australia in 1907 as a seaman. He continued his occupation there, sailing between Australian ports.
- He enlisted in the AIF as William Andersen, under which name he was sailing since 1897, and was naturalised in Australia, but later provided his true name. He went to the Western Front with the machine gun detachment of the 41st Battalion. In October 1916 he was appointed Lance Corporal, but a month later he got sick with pneumonia and died in December 1916.
- His friend, Miss Kathleen Kennedy from Annandale, received his effects after the war. His relatives in Latvia have never been found.
- John Williamson was an Estonian seaman from Saaremaa Island, although he also gave his place of birth as Riga. He came to Australia in 1913.
- Enlisting in the AIF in Sydney he served with the 20th Battalion on the Western Front. In October 1916 he was hospitalised, developing deafness, and was returned to Australia as medically unfit.
- After the war he continued to sail on coastal ships.
Noscov, Wikstrom, Reise, Anderson
- John Noscov from Markushino in Ekaterinburg Province came to Brisbane in 1914, on the eve of the war. After working for several months in Bundaberg, probably as a cane cutter, he enlisted in the AIF in Brisbane.
- His service was short: four months later he was discharged for lack of English along with another Russian, Vladimer Valichea.
- After the war Noscov settled in Townsville and started a business as a motorcar proprietor. In 1924 he married Mary Ellen Mulligan and had a large family.
- Karl Wikstrom, a sailor from Abo in Finland, by the time of enlistment in the AIF, was in Geraldton in Western Australia.
- He came to the Western Front with the 51st Battalion in June 1916; in August 1916 he was severely wounded in the hip and abdomen at the battle for Mouquet Farm, and died of his wounds the following day.
- His father, Karl Wikstrom, who lived in Leningrad, was found after the war and received an Australian pension.
- George Reise, an Estonian sailor from Piarnu, came to Australia in 1914.
- Enlisting in the AIF he served with the 56th Battalion on the Western Front, where a few weeks after arrival he was severely wounded in the hand at the battle for Sugarloaf in July 1916. After spending some time in English hospitals he was returned to Australia as medically unfit.
- After the war he continued working as a sailor, being based in Sydney and Newcastle.
- William Anderson, a Finn from Abo, by 1915 worked in Sydney as a wharf labourer. He stated that he naturalized in New Zealand, where he had lived earlier. He had gunshot scars on his back, which suggests that he had war experience in his younger years.
- In January 1915 he made an attempt to enlist in the AIF while in Perth, but was rejected as medically unfit (he was nearly forty by that time). He was accepted in October 1915 in Sydney and sailed to the Western Front with the 18th Battalion. Reaching France, he got sick and returned to Australia suffering from rheumatism and nephritis.
- In 1918 he married an Australian woman, Florence Maud Peters, but died in Sydney hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage and nephritis in 1922.
Swirgsdin, Hendrickson, Stauwer, Czarnulla, Romashkevisch, Rowehl
- Peter Swirgsdin, a Latvian from Riga, came to Australia in 1910 and settled in Townsville, where he worked at the Alligator Creek meatworks. When enlisting in the AIF he gave his occupation as an engine driver.
- He served as a gunner in the artillery units on the Western front. In October 1917, in the battle for Passchendaele, he was severely wounded in the back and shoulder and returned to Australia as medically unfit.
- He met his future wife, Hilda Alice White, while, probably, in the English hospital. She joned him in Australia after the war. They lived in Townsville and Cairns, where Peter worked as a foreman and labourer. Their son, Herbert Peter Swirgsdin, died while serving in the AIF during WWII.
- Alfred Hendrickson, a Finish labourer from Helsingfors (Helsinki), was, probably, the eldest among Russian born AIF enlistees. Born in 1856 he came to Australia in 1873 as a seaman, later he worked as a miner in Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie in Western Australia, and finally in Broken Hill. His wife Louisa and daughter lived in Sydney.
- In October 1915 he enlisted in the AIF in Liverpool, near Sydney, and was working as staff cook, but in January 1916 he was discharged at his own request.
- He died in August 1918, while working in Broken Hill.
- William Stauwer was a seaman from Riga. After seafaring for 10 years, in 1907 he landed in Port Pirie where he worked as a labourer.
- Enlisting in the AIF, he sailed with the 32nd Battalion to the Western Front, and in July 1916, less that a month after his arrival, was wounded in the right thigh at the battle for Sugarloaf. After spending several months in the hospitals, he returned to the front, serving with the ambulance.
- After the war he returned to Port Pirie where he married an Australian girl, Charlotte Hill, and had a large family. He took an active part in the activities of the local RSSILA branch and two of his elder children enlisted in the AIF during WWII.
- Franz Czarnulla, a Polish sailor from Warsaw, came to Australia in 1913 and worked on coastal vessels.
- He enlisted in the AIF in Brisbane, but deserted his unit three months later and continued working as a sailor, occasionally using the name Constantine.
- In October 1917 he was convicted for assault in Newcastle. A year later he died in Cooktown.
Sigismund Vitold Romashkevisch
- Sigismund Vitold Romashkevisch, a Pole from Kowno (Kaunas) in Lithuania, came to Brisbane in April 1910 with his wife and three children. They were among the first Russian emigrants moving from the Russian Far East to Australia; three more future Russian Anzacs came to Brisbane with the Romashkevisch family. In 1913 Sigismund, with several other Poles, became a founding member of the first Polish association in Australia, Ognisko Polskie. Upon arrival the Romashkevisch family settled in the Russian agricultural colony of Wallumbilla and later moved to Brisbane where Sigismund worked as a saddler and a bag maker. He had one more child born in 1915, but in spite of this enlisted in the AIF.
- He served in the Field Company Engineers as a driver and a sapper on the Western Front. In October 1917, at the battle for Passchendaele, he was wounded in the right side and arm; his condition was aggravated by mental disorders.
- After the war he lived with his family in Brisbane, working as a leather goods worker and waterside worker, being also involved in Polish communal life.
- Armen Rowehl, a seaman from Libava (Liepaja) in Latvia, came to Australia in 1915 per Gunda with his brother Edwin Nicholas, who enlisted in the AIF a few months earlier, and two other Russian mates, Basil Greshner and Favst Leoshkevich, who joined the AIF as well.
- He served on the Western front with the 5th and 8th Battalions and in 1917 was transferred to the Army wireless company.
- After the war he stayed in London and received some vocational training as an artist and decorator in the Goldsmith College. While in London he married Violet Victoria Dilks, with whom he moved to Australia. They lived in Brighton near Melbourne, where Armen worked as an artist.
Papchuck, Matson, Matzonas, Tomson, Clesner
- Denis Papchuck, a Ukrainian from Beresdov in Volyn Province, came to Geraldton in Western Australia in 1913, probably as a seaman. Later he changed his first name to Daniel.
- Enlisting in the AIF in Perth he served as a sapper in the 3rd Tunneling Company on the Western Front.
- While in the UK he married Edith Agnes Fletcher and brought her to Australia. They had three children, but their marriage did not last and in 1932 he married Annie Mabel Hannan. They had a large family, but Annie died in 1943, leaving him to struggle to raise six children. They lived in Fremantle where Papchuck worked as a waterside worker.
- Albert Matson, a Finnish seaman from Waasa, came to Sydney in 1915 and enlisted a few days afterwards.
- He served as a sapper in the 1st Tunneling Company on the Western Front.
- Returning to Australia, he married Linda Moore Schneider from New Zealand. They lived in Sydney where Matson worked as a seaman. During WWII he enlisted in the AIF and served in the Garrison Battalion, while his wife had to register with the police as an ‘alien’, as they did not have money for naturalisation.
- Franc Matzonas, a seaman, stated he was born in Riga, but it is quite likely that he was a Lithuanian, as his mother had a Lithuanian name, Kazimira Maciuniene, and lived in Lithuania after the war.
- Like Matson, he enlisted in the AIF a few days after his arrival in Sydney. He served in the Light Horse regiments and Camel Corps in Egypt. He was killed in the raid at Tel el Khuweilfe in November 1917.
- His widowed mother in Lithuania received a pension from Australian government after the war.
- Edward Tomson, a seaman who also gave his place of birth as Riga, was probably an Estonian from Oesel (Saaremaa) Island, where his father lived. Like Matson and Matzonas he landed at Sydney not long before his enlistment and it is quite likely that they all met in a seamen’s house and decided to join together.
- Tomson served with the 56th Battalion on the Western Front. In July 1916 at the battle for Sugarloaf he was severely wounded in the head, left arm and leg. After months in hospitals he returned to the front a year later and was gassed in April 1918 and then wounded in the head and knee in September 1918 at the battle for Peronne.
- He was discharged in London and continued his occupation as a seaman.
- Sam Clesner was born in Odessa as Sanya Klezner. He came to Australia in 1914 and worked as a printer.
- He enlisted in the AIF in Sydney and worked for a while for the Headqurters Staff Printers, but was soon discharged.
- After the war he left Australia in 1921.
Surovsov, Helm, Mackomel, Grip
- Stephen Surovsov, born in Klimov in Chernigov Province, served for 3 years in the Russian army as a corporal. He probably had some education, as in the records of his arrival to Australia his occupation was noted as clerk and carpenter. He landed in Brisbane in 1914, just on the eve of the war, and worked as a miner in Balgowan Colliery near Oakey in Queensland.
- Enlisting in the AIF, he served as a sapper in a Tunneling Company on the Western Front and was mentioned in the despatches for his service.
- After the war he lived in Dee Why, working as a gardener. During WWII he joined the AIF and died in Brisbane while in service.
- Hjalmar Johannes Helm was born in Abo in Finland. Arriving in Australia in 1911, probably as a seaman, he worked as a labourer.
- Enlisting in the AIF in Brisbane, he served on the Western Front in the Field Artillery Brigade as a gunner. In October 1917, at the battle for Passchendaele, he was wounded in the back and shoulders, but after recovering returned to the trenches.
- After the war he lived in Queensland, working as a labourer.
- Samuel Mackomel (he served as Muchomel) was born in Odessa and came to Western Australia in 1911 to join his uncle.
- He worked as a blacksmith and when he enlisted in the AIF he was allocated to the 4th Division Ammunition Column, serving as a farrier sergeant. He served on the Western Front.
- Returning to Perth, he married Celia Golding from Alexandria in Egypt, and worked as a café owner.
- Harry Grip was a Finnish seaman from Helsingfors (Helsinki).
- He was just nineteen when he enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne. He served in the Machine Gun Battalion on the Western Front until he got sick.
- After the war he returned to Finland.
Six Ossetians from Port Pirie
- In October 1915 six Ossetians from Port Pirie enlisted in the AIF. They were Bekza Gasieff, Mesart Soltanoff, Alexei Tolparoff, Moisai Bembalat Barakoff, Moss Milcag Mamsuroff, and Bekza Boris Dezantoff. Dezantov claimed to be from the capital of Ossetia, Vladikavkaz, Tolparov came from the township of Salugardan, while four others were from nearby Gizel. It is known that three of them came to Australia in 1912, at the time of peak Ossetian migration. They travelled via the Russian Far East and landed in Melbourne, headed to Port Pirie, where they usually found employment at smelters. Soltanoff was the youngest among them, aged 25, all the rest were in their early thirties. Not surprisingly, three of them were married. While Soltanoff’s wife stayed in Russia, the wives of Gasieff and Dezantoff, both Russian women, came to Australia with them. Incidentally, Gasieff’s mistreatment of his wife was discussed in the Australian press, but they nevertheless had two young children.
- Barakoff, who worked as an engineer at the smelters, was discharged soon after his enlistment at the request of the state munitions committee for munitions work and continued his work at smelters. Five others were allocated to the 15th reinforcements of the 10th Battalion and sailed together to the Western Front per Mongolia in March 1916. Upon arrival to the front they all were transferred to the 50th Battalion.
- Mesart Soltanoff became the first casualty here. In August 1916, at the battle for Mouquet Farm, he was buried up to his neck by a shell-blast. He was rescued, but his spine was damaged and for several months he was unable to move his legs. Back in Australia, he was discharged from the AIF in June 1917. Bekza Gasieff soon followed him to Australia after developing chronic bronchitis. The three remaining men became casualties at Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918: Moss Malsag Mamsuroff was killed, Alexei Tolparoff was taken prisoner, and Bekza Boris Dezantoff was wounded. Thee recovering Dezantov was wounded once again, three months later; for him it was the third casualty, and he was finally invalided to Australia. Tolparoff reached Australia only in 1919.
- Two of them, Soltanoff and Barakoff, disappear from the Australian records after the war; it is quite probable that they returned to Ossetia. Tolparoff and Dezantoff stayed at Port Pirie. The Gasieff family first moved to Brisbane, where Bekza worked as a shopkeeper. In the 1921 Bekza’s wife, Dunia, left for Russia with their two children. Bekza disappears from the records soon after that; he could have returned to Russia too, but his Ossetian relatives believe that during the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne an old man came to the members of the Ossetian team, telling that he was their countryman Bekza Gassieff. He mentioned that he had a son and daughter, and indeed in 1934 Peter Gasieff, his Australian-born son, turned up in India, destitute, where he appealed to the Australian authorities after escaping from Russia. He was admitted to Australia and settled in Sydney, serving in the AIF during WWII.