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Centenary 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.

Jacobsen, Ek, Anderson

Charles Jacobsen

  • Charles Jacobsen from Latvia came to Western Australia in 1903 and made his living as dray carter and kangaroo shooter.
  • Enlisting in the AIF on the same day as Aaltonen, he sailed to Gallipoli with the 28th Battalion. He received a shrapnel wound to the head in December 1915, at the very end of the Gallipoli campaign. Although he recovered in Egypt, his wound re-opened just before he was due to leave for the Western Front, and he died from a cerebral abscess.

Emil Ek

  • Emil Ek from Abo (Turku) in Finland came to South Australia in 1907.
  • Enlisting in the AIF, he served with the 27th Battalion at Gallipoli and then with the 2nd Pioneer Battalion on the Western Front. He was killed at the battle for Mennin Road at Ypres in September 1917.

John Arthur Anderson

  • John Arthur Anderson from Vaasa in Finland came to Western Australia probably as a seaman in 1902. He spent some time on gold digging, worked as a labourer and on railway construction. In 1910 he married an Australian girl, Blanche Janes, and they settled in Marrinup in south-west Western Australia.
  • Enlisting in the AIF, Anderson came to Gallipoli with the reinforcements to the 16th Battalion and was severely wounded in the leg six days later during the Chunuk Bair Turkish attack in August 1915. He was evacuated to an English hospital and later returned to Australia as medically unfit.
  • After the war he moved with his family to Perth and worked as a tarpaulin maker.

Harbert, Toivonen, Aaltonen

Gershun Harbert

  • Gershun Harbert, a Polish Jew, was a tailor who moved first to London, where his relatives lived, and in 1910 sailed to Australia.
  • Enlisting to the AIF he served with the 4th Battalion at Gallipoli and with 59th on the Western Front, where he was killed in the battle for Sugarloaf salient in July 1916.

Emil Evert Toivonen

  • Emil Evert Toivonen was a labourer from Helsinki in Finland.
  • Enlisiting in the AIF in Sydney, he fought with the 19th Battalion at Gallipoli, where he was wounded in the eye in September 1915. Recovering, he returned to the trenches. He was wounded in the shoulder at the Somme on the Western Front in November 1916 and gassed in June 1918. The last months of the war he served in the UK in the Australian Provost Corps.
  • He was discharged in England, intending to return to Finland.

Emil Alarik Aaltonen

  • Emil Alarik Aaltonen from Abo in Finland came to Australia in 1909 and worked as a labourer in Bunbury in Western Australia.
  • The first time he enlisted was in October 1914, but he was discharged ten weeks later. He reenlisted in May 1915 and sailed to Gallipoli with the 28th Battalion. He got seriously sick there with paratyphoid and was invalided to Australia. In 1916 he tried to reenlist again, but was rejected on medical grounds.
  • He stayed after the war in Bunbury.

Raitt, Haapanen, Morozoff

Charles Henry Raitt

  • Charles Henry Raitt was a Britisher with a long-lasting connection with Russia. His grandfather, Charles Raitt, an officer in the British Army, in 1835 married Anne Hill, who was born in St Peterburg. Her ancestors – Hills, Wishaws, Focks, and Ammers – lived in St Petersburg since the eighteenth century. For instance her great grandfather Bernhard Fock worked as a gardener for the Russian Emperor’s family since the 1730s. In the 1830s Charles and Anne Raitt came to Australia and started a family, but their son Arthur returned to St Petersburg where Charles Henry was born in about 1869. The latter, according to his service records, spent a number of years in the British consular service in Russia. He received a good education and came to Australia in the 1880s working as an accountant and then as a bank manager in Melbourne.
  • Enlisting in the AIF he was appointed a commander of A Company of the newly formed 21st Battalion with the rank of Major. His war experience started in a dramatic way when his ship, the Southland, on approach to Gallipoli, was torpedoed with loss of life. Raitt survived the ordeal but his nervous system was shattered, which aggravated his other health issues. He was invalived to Australia and continued his service in the depot as a commanding officer, where his knowledge of Russian was occasionally put to use. Being discharged in early 1917, he reenlisted into the Sea Transport Service Unit, travelling to England and back to Melbourne.
  • After the final discharge from the army he could not find a job and his family life began to crumble; by that time he had three children. After separation with his wife he left for the US in 1920 and settled in La Grange, Illinois. In 1942 he applied to enlist in the army, taking ten years off his age.

Toivo Alexander Haapanen

  • Toivo Alexander Haapanen, a Finnish seaman from Tammerfors (Tampere), came to Australia in 1913 and worked in outback New South Wales and Queensland.
  • Enlisting in the AIF in Goondiwindi, he served with the 15th Battalion at Gallipoli and later in the Camel Corps in Egypt, where he became sick. Recovering in Australia he reenlisted and joined the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force with which he served in New Britain.
  • After the war he continued his outback lifestyle, working as as seaman and carpenter in the Northern Territory, Kimberly and Broome. During the Second World War he enlisted in the AIF and served in Broome.

Alfroniza Morozoff

  • Alfroniza Morozoff had deserted from the Russian naval ship Gromoboi when it visited Australia to take part in the celebrations for Federation in 1901. His original name was probably Afanasy Kargopolov, but he changed it to Morozoff and then to Jack Morris. Similarly variable was the place of his birth – from Odessa in Ukraine to Tobolsk in Siberia. He worked as a bridge carpenter at Bunyip Swamp in Gippsland, Victoria, but by the time of enlistment migrated to Cloncurry in North Queensland.
  • Enlisting in the AIF, he went to Egypt with the 25th Battalion, but was returned soon to Australia as medically unfit. He reenlisted once again, but was discharged due to a fracture of his left kneecap.
  • After the war he continued his wandering life in North Queensland.

Pertel, Jofs, Pivinski

Charles Pertel

  • Charles Pertel was most likely a native of Arensburg (Kuressaare) in Estonia, although in the notice about his death a local newspaper wrote that he was born in Moscow. He came to Port Pirie in 1908 as a sailor and worked in the South Australian Coastal shipping company.
  • Enlisting in the AIF he served with the 12th Battalion at Gallipoli and later with the 52nd on the Western Front, where he was wounded twice at Mouquet Farm in September 1916 and at Dernancourt in April 1918.
  • After the war he lived in Broken Hill, working as a rigger. He married a local girl, Edith White, in 1927, but sadly she died the next year, leaving him with a young daughter. During WWII Pertel enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps and died while serving in the army. His war medals were recently found by Glyn Llanwarne and returned to his daughter.

Jacob Lamban Jofs

  • Jacob Lamban Jofs was a machinist fron Vaasa in Finland.
  • Enlisting in the AIF in Sydney, he served at Gallipoli with the 13th Battalion and was killed in November 1915, at the end of the Gallipoli campaign, being the last Russian born Anzac to be killed in Gallipoli.
  • His sister Anna, who settled in Wisconsin, USA, was found after the war and received his medals.

Walter Pivinski

  • Walter Pivinski, a Ukrainian sailor from Odessa, served in the Russian Navy for two years.
  • He enlisted in the AIF soon after arrival to Australia and sailed with the 18th Battalion to Gallipoli. In August 1915, in the battle for 971 Hill, he was ‘wounded on the left eye with a bayonet’, also had shrapnel wounds to the hand, a ‘fracture of skull’, and was ‘wounded to the back through explosion of shell’. After recovering in Australia he reenlisted, but experiencing severe headaches on the boat he was returned to Australia from Egypt.
  • After the war he went to America and enlisted in the US Army, serving in Manila. He later married and lived in Tacoma, Washington.

Lopaten, McCleland, Pennanen

Vladimir Lopaten

  • Vladimir Lopaten from Alexino near Smolensk came to Queensland in 1913 via Far East; in Australia he worked in the railway construction.
  • Enlisting in the AIF in Longreach joined Smagin and Volkoff in the 15th Battalion and sailed with them per Karoola to Gallipoli. He was wounded five days after the landing in August 1915 at the Lone Pine battle. His countryman Volkoff was killed the next day. Lopaten with gunshot wound to the chest and right lung was evacuated to Australia.
  • He mastered a trade of printer, married an Australian girl Elsie Clarkson and raised a family.

Kenneth Cyril McCleland

  • Kenneth Cyril McCleland was a Briton born in Moscow; his family had connections with Russia lasting for generations. His mother Ann Schanks was born in Moscow as well, where her father, a British subject, was trading with habedershary. Kenneth’s father died when he was young and his mother moved to England, where Kenneth was educated at the Oxford University. He came to Australia in 1913, bought land and started an orchard at Tresco near Lake Boga in Victoria.
  • Enlisting in the AIF he served in Egypt and Palestine in the Light Horse Field Ambulance and later in the Machine Gun Squadron. During the Gaza operations in April 1917 McCleland, according to his commander, ‘did splendid work for at least four hours under heavy shell and rifle fire in the capacity of AMC orderly. […] Although wounded early in the engagement he still carried on’. He was awarded Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery.
  • After the war he went to Samarai Island in Papua New Guinea and then worked as a patrol officer in Buna Bay. In 1922 he married a Melbourne girl Cecil MacDevitt, but the next year, as they were going to travel south for holidays, he died of blackwater fever in Samarai Hospital.

Alfred Henrik Pennanen

  • Alfred Henrik Pennanen was a ship’s fireman from Vyborg in Finland. By the time he landed in Australia not long before the enlistment he has travelled several times around the world.
  • Enlisting in Sydney in the 19th Battalion he served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. He was killed at Pozieres in July 1916.
  • His parents in Vyborg were found after his death.

Gedwillo, Kozakoff, Kachan

Alexander Gedwillo

  • Alexander Gedwillo came from Riga in Latvia and was of Polish ethnic origin. He probably came to Australia as a seaman and lived in New South Wales working as a carpenter.
  • He served in the AIF in Field Ambulance on the Western Front and was killed in the Somme battle in December 1916.

Evan Kozakoff

  • Evan Kozakoff from Moscow came to Australia having behind 4 years of Russian Army service. He was an engine driver by trade.
  • Enlisting in the AIF he was appointed as a nurse on the hospital ship Karoola, worked in the Clearing Station in Gallipoli, but upon reaching Western Front he was discharged for insufficient knowledge of English.
  • He planned to return to Russia.

John Kachan

  • John Kachan, a Ukrainian from Berdichev, served in the Russian Army in artillery and fought in the Russo-Japanese War.
  • He enlisted in the AIF in Bundaberg and served at Gallipoli as a signaller, but got gravely mentally sick and died soon after return to Australia.
  • He is missing from the Roll of Honour.

The Centenary of Gallipoli Landing

Today, in the Centenary of Gallipoli landing, let’s remember the names of Russian born Anzacs who took part in this historic event.

They were

  • Alexander Arn, Thomas Baer, and Robert Mayer (1st Battalion)
  • Julays Beern, Adolf Eckland, and Arnold Sander (3rd Battalion)
  • Abraham Levene, Alfred Markowicz, Erwin Rosberg, Nicholas Sindeeff, and Frederick Turner (4th Battalion)
  • George Ball (7th Battalion)
  • August Arreta, John Hendrickson, Karl Ljung, Albert Lukander, Alexander Sast, Charles Zander (10th Battalion)
  • Alexander Hiltunen, and Edward Watson (12th Battalion)
  • Martin Antin, Schija Fels, Martin Hamman, Fritz Zeeman (13th Battalion)
  • Paul Zenewich and Thomas Lind (15th Battalion)
  • Marian Pshevolodsky, Charles Cepkouski, Rudolph Mahlit, Eliazar Margolin, Charles Reppe, Kazis Walinkevic (16th Battalion)
  • George Kamishansky and Francis Dyson (Artillery brigades)
  • Sidney Luck (1st Hospital)
  • Charles Haroldson (Service Corps)

Antti Kujala (he served as Thomas Lind), a fisherman from Vyborg, was killed during the landing, while Arn, Baer, Beern, Ball, Lukander, and Hiltunen were wounded.

Vort-Ronald, Pinkevitch, Plotnikoff

Victor Romul Sylvester Vort-Ronald

  • Victor Romul Sylvester Vort-Ronald is a bit of a mystery man. He stated he was born in St Petersburg, but sometimes referred to other places in France. He also stated that his father was Scottish, and his mother French. He, nevertheless, served in the Russo-Japanese war. He also claimed to have a good university education with subjects studied including commerce, political economy, history and philology. He probably came to South Australia from the Far East not long before his enlistment in the AIF. He stated his occupation as ‘formerly interpreter’ and a clerk with accounting experience.
  • While still in the depot he married an Australian girl, Hilda Hoskins, their son Eugene Romul was born when Victor was already with the army in Britain. Originally he was in the 10th Battalion, but in London he was transferred to the AIF pay corps section. In 1918 he was returned to Australia suffering from fibrosis of lungs.
  • After the war he worked for Broken Hill Smelters as Stores Accounting Officer for a while, and his second son Ron was born in 1919. In 1920 he joined no. 1 Flying Training School of Australian Air Force in Laverton, Victoria on an administrative position. He was discharged a year later due to medical problems. He found employment as a storekeeper with the Irrigation Department in Barmera in South Australia. In 1927 he suicided by drowning. His both sons fought for Australia in WWII.

Constantine Pinkevitch

  • Constantine Pinkevitch, a Ukrainian from Kiev area, came to Brisbane from Harbin in 1911 and worked in Mount Morgan.
  • Enlisting in the AIF, he was allocated to Field Ambulance and served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, occasionally being detached to work as a cook.
  • After the war he returned to Mount Morgan and married an Australian girl, Ellen Reynolds; they later moved to Newcastle where Pinkevitch worked as a turner and mechanic in the Railway workshops. Their two sons served in the 2nd AIF in WWII.

George Plotnikoff

  • George Plotnikoff from Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains was a civil engineer. By the time he landed in Brisbane in 1913 he was a widower approaching to his forty. In Australia he had to work as a labourer.
  • When war broke out he enlisted in the AIF and served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front where he was in July 1916 he was wounded in face and left thigh at Pozieres. After recovering in British hospital he was employed by the Russian Government Committee in London. But after the Russian revolution he made his way to Vladivostok and from there returned to Australia in March 1918. He immediately reenlisted in the AIF and returned to the Western Front. But, as his sight became failing he was repatriated to Australia and discharged.
  • He had a hard time, being unable to find engineering job and being unfit to work as a labourer. In 1923 he returned to Russia and disappears from the documents.

Karelin, Morozoff, Lautala

Alexander Peter Karelin

  • Alexander Peter Karelin came from Vladivostok to North Queensland in 1907 as a sailor. He was an educated man from a well-off St Petersburg family; his father worked in the St Petersburg Naval Office. In Australia Alexander worked as a railway-construction labourer at Proserpine, Rockhampton and Blackall in Queensland and, in letters sent to the Russian newspaper in Brisbane, wrote about working conditions in Queensland.
  • Enlisting in April 1915, he fought at Gallipoli with the 9th Battalion, but contracted enteric fever there and was returned to Australia. With other members of the 9th Battalion he singed the photograph of Gallipoli landing testifying his blending into the Gallipoli mateship.
  • Recuperating in Australia he re-enlisted and rejoined his unit in France, fighting at the Somme. In April 1917 at the battle for Lagnicourt, when the Germans counter-attacked, his moment came. His commanding officer wrote how he ‘led a party across 150 yards of open roadway swept by machine gun and rifle fire and took up a position where he brought fire to bear on a party of the enemy which was attempting to outflank the company’. For ‘his coolness and courage’ he was awarded a Military Medal – the award was made the day after he was killed in action at Second Bullecourt.
  • There was a diary in his kit but it never reached his Russian family.

Albert Nickalay Morozoff

  • Albert Nickalay Morozoff, a seaman from Odessa, deserted his ship in Port Adelaide in November 1914.
  • Enlisting in the AIF six months later, he served at Gallipoli with the 10th Battalion and then continued his service on the Western Front with the 50th Battalion. In August and September 1916 he was twice wounded at the battle for Mouquet Farm and then wounded again in January 1917 in the arm and invalided to Australia. Recuperating there he reenlisted, but came to England when the war was nearly finished.
  • He left Australia soon after the war, worked on the ships in the Pacific and died in San Francisco in 1945.

Charles Lautala

  • Charles Lautala, a Finnish seaman from Hamina, came to Australia in 1896 as a young man. He lived in Sydney, Repton and Nambucca Heads working as a labourer and fisherman.
  • Enlisting in the AIF he served at Gallipoli with the 19th Battalion; he was wounded there in the wrist in September 1915 but upon recovery returned to the trenches and fought till the final evacuation in December 1915. He continued his service on the Western Front, where in July 1916, he was severely wounded at Pozieres, receiving gun shot wounds to his arm, leg and back. He survived and was invalided back to Australia.
  • After the war he lived in Nambucca Heads working as a fisherman.

Boltinkof, Carlsson, Novotny

Vasily Boltinkof

  • Vasily Boltinkof, an engine fitter, came from the village of Boguchar near Voronezh in Central Russia. In 1912 he boarded a ship in India together with Jackow Petroff and landed in Fremantle. They worked together in Holyoake district, but then Boltinkof moved to Sydney and Melbourne.
  • His service in the AIF was not long: he was discharged six weeks after entering with a note ‘to rejoin his regiment in Voronezh’.
  • He disappears from the records after that.

Arthur Florentin Carlsson

  • Arthur Florentin Carlsson from the Kimito in Abo area in Finland came to Australia in 1907 and worked as a labourer and a miner in Gippsland, King Island and in Derby in Tasmania.
  • He was the first Russian subject to enlist in the AIF in Tasmania. He served with the 7th Field Ambulance in Gallipoli and on the Western Front. In July 1916, in the battle for Pozieres, he received a gunshot wound to the forehead and shell shock and was invalided to Australia.
  • After the war he lived in Derby with his wife.

Frank Novotny

  • Frank Novotny was a Bohemian from Prague, which was within the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. He came to Australia in 1911 and lived in Sydney working as a tailor.
  • In 1915 he enlisted in the AIF as a Russian Pole from Warsaw. While training in the camp, he wrote a letter to the military authorities, admitting that he was a Bohemian, rather than Russian, and asking to allow him to serve in the AIF, as, he argued, ‘we, Bohemians, are the bitter enemies of Germans’. Nevertheless he was discharged as an enemy subject.