A bit about my Dad ...
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 10:19 am
A little about my Dad .. he was born in Russia 1911. My grandfather was an architect working for the Tsar (Nickolas) outside of Moscow in Kolomna managing works on a new paper mill. In the country in those days there was little religious connection except occasionally visits by travelling 'Monks'. My father was christened by Rasputin who happened to be in the area at the time.
Ironically, the family were close friends of Prince Felix Usupov (who later instigated the successful demise of Rasputin)
During the Revolution, Grandfather was beaten by a mob and subsequently died in Moscow. So, at the onset of the Russian winter during the Revolution, Grandmother pushed a hand-cart back to family estates in Latvia ... a mere 600 miles on foot with 2 young boys in tow.
Dad, grew up on the farm then moved to Riga, went to Military College, decided
to go abroad and joined the Foreign Legion. He spent some time in Abyssinia in the late '30s. At the onset of WW2, joined the Latvian Legion 19th then 17th brigades (with the Germans against the Russians) and spent the duration of the war on the Russian Front. He fought at the seige of Leningrad. Towards the end of the war he was captured and spent time as a POW in Belgium ... After the war he retrained as a typewriter mechanic, met Mum and migrated to Australia to (in his words) "..get far avay from zis bloody rubbish.!" ... meaning the many conflicts.
He worked of his indenture, bought some land and built our family home BY HAND (no power tools) and proudly became an Aussie. I remember the Naturalisation Ceremony where Mum, Dad and myself were up on the stage and my sister was screaming her lungs out. She was being 'sat' in the crowd and couldn't join us on stage because she was born here and was already an Australian.
Ironically, the family were close friends of Prince Felix Usupov (who later instigated the successful demise of Rasputin)
During the Revolution, Grandfather was beaten by a mob and subsequently died in Moscow. So, at the onset of the Russian winter during the Revolution, Grandmother pushed a hand-cart back to family estates in Latvia ... a mere 600 miles on foot with 2 young boys in tow.
Dad, grew up on the farm then moved to Riga, went to Military College, decided
to go abroad and joined the Foreign Legion. He spent some time in Abyssinia in the late '30s. At the onset of WW2, joined the Latvian Legion 19th then 17th brigades (with the Germans against the Russians) and spent the duration of the war on the Russian Front. He fought at the seige of Leningrad. Towards the end of the war he was captured and spent time as a POW in Belgium ... After the war he retrained as a typewriter mechanic, met Mum and migrated to Australia to (in his words) "..get far avay from zis bloody rubbish.!" ... meaning the many conflicts.
He worked of his indenture, bought some land and built our family home BY HAND (no power tools) and proudly became an Aussie. I remember the Naturalisation Ceremony where Mum, Dad and myself were up on the stage and my sister was screaming her lungs out. She was being 'sat' in the crowd and couldn't join us on stage because she was born here and was already an Australian.