Showing posts with label Gabas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gabas. Show all posts

25 September 2026

Aleksas Gabecas (1922-2013): Creative Sportsman, By Rasa Ščevinskienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 16 October 2026.

We already have come across Aleksas Gabecas (often shortened to Gabas) in several guises, as one of the first 12 Displaced Persons sent to Rosebery in Tasmania to cut paths through the bush for geologists, as a Rover Scout, as a writer reporting on the trip to Australia and the first few weeks here, as an artist who illustrated that report with his own cartoons and as crew for Jonas Lipsius’ shark-fishing venture off the Victorian coast.

When we look further, we can see that a man of many more talents who lived a long and doubtless interesting life.

Aleksas, as he was first known in Australia, was from the northern Lithuanian city of Šiauliai. He had been born there on 21 September 1922, to Danielius Gabecas and the former Juzė (Juozapa) Urbietytė. They had another son, Viktoras, on 11 May 1926.

Aleksas’ willingness to crew for Jonas Lipsius might be explained by the establishment of a sailing club in Šiauliai by the Lithuanian aviation pilot Stasys Bulota (1913–1982). The club had about 40 sailors, including 19-year-old Aleksas and younger brother Viktoras. On 11 February 1944, by Resolution No. 204 of the Lithuanian Sailing Union, Aleksas was recognized as a third-rank yacht captain with the right to lead a yacht in local water races.

Aleksas wrote in his memoirs (not available to the public at this time) that from 1942, together with O Truchanas and other Šiauliai sailors, he often sailed on the Lake Rėkyva and participated in regattas.

Olympic-class dinghies on Lake Rėkyva, 1943, ready for a regatta

Would that O Truchanas be Olegas Truchanas, born in Šiauliai one year after Aleksas, and later famed in Australia as a nature photographer and conservationist? Returning to the records of the Šiauliai sailing club (Interwar Siauliai Sports History Pages, in the Sources below), yes, the Olegas who sailed with Aleksas was born in 1923 and died in 1972, so he would be the Olegas who found fame in Australia.

Aleksas’ youth in Šiauliai also involved boxing. Representing the Šarūnas Sports Club, he became the champion in the middleweight category at the Lithuanian Boxing Championships in 1942 and 1943.

In his memoirs, boxer and trainer Vaclovas Peleckis wrote, “In 1940, A. Gabecas started attending boxing training. He was a talented young man. At first, it seemed that nothing good would come of him, because he trained superficially and was afraid of the ring. However, after half a year of training, the guy showed his character: he won all his friendly matches with a clear advantage. He was a technical boxer, very cunning in the ring. His friends nicknamed him the ring leaf.”

The report of his interview for selection for resettlement in Australia notes that he “fled from Russian regime”. At least he was not one of the many forcibly relocated by the Germans.

Aleksas Gabecas' photo from the file about his selection to resettle in Australia:
the sailor's outfit looks like it might have been surplus to the US or British Navy,
since both the Lithuanian Navy and the Lithuanian Sea Scouts had white tops

The report noted that he had 4 years of elementary schooling and 8 years at secondary level. He had been employed as an “Electro Tech” in Lithuania for one year, giving us some idea of the specialisation in his later secondary schooling.

At the time of his interview, he was living in the Emigration Transit Camp, Hannover-Buchholz. He may have been cleared already by the American authorities for resettlement outside Germany.

Diepholz, October 1947, waiting to leave for Australia: 
Ann asked ChatGPT for a "very, very gentle clean-up" of this photograph from Aleksas' collection as reproduced in a thumbnail in 1996 issue of
Mūsų Pastogė — how well the AI has done the job is best assessed by anyone who know the individuals in it, of whom Aleksas could remember
Povilas Baltutis, Petras Baltutis, Vytas Narbutas, Zenonas Janonis, Romas Krausas, himself and Vilius Janonis standing (7/8) but only Albertas Ūsas from the middle of the front row

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

We know from Jonas Motiejunas’ account of how the Lithuanian Scouts in Australia were started on the voyage and during first days in Bonegilla that Senior Sea Scout Patrol Leader Aleksandras Gabecas was one of the founders. Motiejūnas reported that Aleksas was one of the leaders of a Baltic scouting campfire on board the Heintzelman on 22 November 1947.

Again from Aleksas' collection and "very, very gently" enhanced by ChatGPT,
this photo shows a group of Lithuanian Sea Scouts gathered on a huge anchor
 on board the First Transport:  50 years later, Aleksas remembered
J Songaila on the left of the middle row, 
F Sirius on the right of the middle row, himself in the Sea Scout uniform,
N Skidzevičius to his left and A Jurevičius to his right
Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

We already have some idea of Bonegilla camp life for the Lithuanians in the reports by Endrius Jankus, while Jonas Mockūnas has told us about life for the 12 Baltic men, including Aleksas, chosen to work with the Electrolytic Zinc company, nominally at Rosebery in the northwest of Tasmania. A report written at the time by Aleksas for a scouting publication has been translated for this blog. Aleksas wrote more for the 50th anniversary of the First Transport group’s arrival in Australia.

For the Mūsų Pastogė issue of 2 December 1996, he wrote, “After a 28-day journey on the ship General Heinzelman (30.10.1947–28.11.1947) and several days in Western Australia, on 7 December 1947 (actually 9 December) we were taken to the Bonegilla migration camp in the state of Victoria, where we lived until the beginning of 1948.

“During Christmas and the New Year in 1947–1948, it was, at least for us, quite hot —everywhere was full of dust, as a stormy, hot wind blew. Several of us celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas in the former military camp refrigerator room, the walls of which were covered with a thin layer of ice and frost... Having received a bottle of wine and tropical fruits — bananas, oranges — we spent our first holidays singing and singing in Lithuanian.

“While living in Bonegilla, after the holidays they began to divide us into jobs. We were distributed throughout the continent — wherever there was a shortage of ordinary labourers. We, seven Lithuanians and five Latvians, applied in advance for work somewhere further south — to Tasmania, King, Flinders or even Macquarie Islands.

“The application helped and on 17 January 17 1948, a dozen of us ended up in western Tasmania. Before that, while waiting for transport, we stayed in the Melbourne YMCA for a week, because the dock workers and sailors were on strike. We were flown to Tasmania by plane by the Electrolytic Zinc Company, for whom we would have to work.

“Then we went to our first workplace in the forests by what we called the Automatica, a rail motor operated by the local, private Emu Bay Railway. It was about 40 km from the mining town of Rosebery. At that time, the Railway was the only means of communication there with other areas.

“At the foot of the mountain, right next to the railway, there was an unloading platform and several tin houses. We immediately named this place Baltic Bushmen City and nailed a board with this inscription to the poles near the platform. Many people passing by on this small train would take pictures of the board and wonder where and how this Baltic Bushmen City came to be”.

This is ChatGPT's cleaner version of the Baltic Bushmen City photograph
you have seen already in Jonas Mockūnas' entry on the men sent to Tasmania's West Coast,
but only 11 of the 12 are here (one looking remarkably Asian)
as perhaps the photograph was taken by the twelfth: 
a reminder — you can see a larger version of any image in this blog
in a new Web page by clicking once on it
Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

Ramunas Tarvydas, in From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, described Aleksas in terms which correspond with what we can see from other reports.  He wrote, "Whether in the bush or in Rosebery, Alex Gabas provided much of the entertainment.  He was an accomplished artist, musician and all-round entertainer.  He played tunes on a row of beer bottles filled with graduated amounts of water so as to produce notes when struck with a metal object.  On his guitar he accompanied himself and others; he used to walk 15 km to Tullah to play in a local band.  

"He performed magician's tricks, such as breathing fire, swallowing razor blades, walking and lying on glass; he also staged exhibition boxing matches.  One story has it that he walked the length of a viaduct on the Emu Bay Railway — on his hands!  In camp, he tried to stop the drinking by putting recalcitrants against a tree and throwing a knife at a spot just above their heads."

Ramunas recorded that Aleksas stayed at Rosebery or the Baltic Bushmen City for one year only.  He noted Gabecas’ next employer as the PMG Hobart.

PMG needs no explanation for older Australians but for anyone else, the initials stood for Postmaster General’s Department. The Department was responsible not only for Australia’s postal system but also for telecommunications. Its physical activities were devolved into Australia Post and Telecom Australia, later Telstra, on 1 July 1975 (1 July being the start of Australia’s financial year). Aleksas’ previous training and experience as “Electro Tech” must have been recognised.

In Hobart in July 1949, the Launceston Examiner newspaper found Aleksas demonstrating yet another sporting interest. Along with another Heintzelman arrival, Albertas Medisauskas, he was demonstrating fencing moves to a group which was interested in forming a fencing club.

Genovaitė Kazokas fills in more of Aleksas' life for us, in her PhD thesis turned into a book on Lithuanian Artists in Australia, 1950-1990.

He had completed Šiauliai High School studies in 1941.  His favourite subjects there had been sport, music and art.  His art teacher was a theatre set painter, and Aleksas had studied at the Šiauliai Theatre Studio while still in high school.  He had commenced engineering studies at the University of Vytautas the Great in Kaunas.

Before moving to the Emigration Transit Camp, Hannover-Buchholz, he had been in a DP camp in Seedorf, where "he was active as a theatre decorator, actor and musician".  During the voyage to Australia, Aleksas had been a member of a music group organised by Petras Morkūnas.  Our entry on Bronius Bukevičius says that it was a 40-man choir, organised with Bronius' help and that of Kazys Mieldažys.

Olegas Truchanas had helped Aleksas start the fencing club in Hobart.  Aleksas then moved to Melbourne in 1950, "where he studied fine arts at Melbourne University and painting at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology".

In varying theatrical sets to suit particular plays, he painted a backdrop of the Baltic Sea for Jūratė and Kastytis performed in 1951 by the Dana Nasvytis Dance School, enhanced by his lighting effects.

"In 1953, he made the sets for Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale Kelionės draugas (Comrade on the Journey) ..."

Also in 1953, we come across Aleksas crewing for Jonas Lipsius’ boat when Melbourne Lithuanians visited them in San Remo, across a bridge from Phillip Island and its penguin parade. That was on 1 February.

Aleksas married Stase Marcinkus in 1954 and acquired a ready-made family. Stase was 4 years older than Aleksas, having been born in December 1917, and had been married twice already. Presumably her first husband, with the surname Dimindavicius, had been killed during World War II. He was the father of Danute, born in March 1935, and Algimantas, born in March 1936. Knowing that she was a widow, Stase then would have been able to marry Zigmantas Marcinkus and bear his child, Eugenija, in August 1946.

One year later, on 30 November 1955, Alexander Mykolas Gabecas became an Australian citizen. He was living then at 314 Albert Road, South Melbourne, about 400 metres from the high school Ann attended during 1962-65. If and when the National Archives of Australia allows the public to look at the file containing his application for naturalisation, we will be able to see more information about his movements and work during his first 8 years in Australia.

Lithuanians often shorten their surnames to make life easier. In this case, Aleksas became Alexander Mykolas Gabas when he enrolled to vote, as is compulsory for Australian citizens. Finding him on electoral rolls digitised by Ancestry allows us his stated occupation and home address or addresses.

The earliest available electoral roll with Alexander in it is a 1963 roll for the suburb of Reservoir, north of central Melbourne. He gave his occupation then as Technician. He was at the same address in 1968, but Stase had joined him as a voter.

By 1972, they had moved south to the suburb of Beaumaris, on Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay. Eugenia (sic), having adopted the Gabas family name, had joined them on the roll. The last available roll is for 1977, when they had moved again, to another coastal suburb about 5 km north, Sandringham. Eugenia presumably had left home, because she was not on this roll. Alexander’s occupation was still Technician.

During this time, according to Genovaitė Kazokas, he continued with the design and manufacture of theatre sets.  She notes the comedy Teta iš Amerikas (The Aunt from America) by J. Audronis, first performed in Melbourne in 1957 and repeated in 1977, 1978, 1983 and 1984.

Aleksas prepared the stage for Amerika pirtyje (America in a Bathhouse) in 1986.  In the next year, he prepared stage and costumes for the drama Eglės namai (The House of Eglė) by Gražina Markeckaitė.

Aleksas' Amerika pirtyje (America in a Bathhouse) set
Source:  Lithuanian Artists in Australia

From the 1960s, when he was in his 40s, music seemed to take the place in his life previous occupied by sport. In 1966, Mūsų Pastogė reported on an original performance with skudučiai and other folk instruments.

“The performances featuring skudučiai (individual pipes, each with its own pitch) … were truly original, representing a revival of our folk instrument music. Aleksandras Gabas — a Sea Scout recently elevated to the rank of Scoutmaster and a highly talented organizer of various performances — is reviving skudučiai music in Australia.

“He prepared a skudučiai orchestra that played the Sparrow March (Žvirblių maršas) and, with his large comedic orchestra (20 members), performed Buvo gera gaspadinė (There Was a Good Housewife) and Du broliukai kunigai (Two brother priests). The audience could not stop applauding.”

That mention of promotion to Scoutmaster provides an opportunity to mention that Aleksas was singled out during the 50th anniversary of arrival, along with First Transporters Algirdas Liubinskas and Jonas Urbonas, as those who helped Borisas Dainutis start and organise Lithuanian scouting in Australia.

Back to music. The photograph below appeared on the front page of Mūsų Pastogė issue of 20 June 1988. Kanklės is the Lithuanian version of the zither, a family of wooden stringed instruments, mostly without a neck to stretch the strings, which are plucked by the fingers or a plectrum. The Latvian version is the kokle while Estonia has the kannel and Finland the kantele. The zither is not confined to the Baltic, however, as variations are wide spread across Europe and Asia.

Aleksas Gabas is the man in the front right of this 1988 photograph
of a group of Melbourne
kanklės players which had just given its debut performance
Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

An earlier photograph in the Lithuanian Central State Archives, taken in 1980, shows 4 of the 6 above in their earlier ensemble, called Kankles.

Aleksas is on the right of this photograph of the Kankles ensemble in 1980:
second from left is 
Stasys Eimutis, who made their instruments
Source:  E-kinas

A larger group, based on the same players was photographed in 1998.

The Kankles ensemble in 1998 with two singers as well as instrumentalists;
Stasys Eimutis is on the far left, front row, while
Aleksas is third from right, back row
Source:  E-kinas

Mūsų Pastogė started to prepare for the 50th anniversary of the First Transport’s arrival one year earlier, publishing photographs and articles sent to it by Aleksas Gabecas-Gabas. We have used some of those already both here and elsewhere to describe life for Aleksas and the other EZ Rosebery employees in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Given that Aleksas was already in his 70s by the time of the 50th anniversary, 28 November 1997, his public life became quiet. He lived a truly long life, dying on 7 August 2013, when he was 90 years old, some weeks short of his 91st birthday. His remains were cremated in the Springvale Botanical Cemetery and the ashes returned to the family. This may be a case of the ashes then being scattered, in Australia or Lithuania.

The variety in his life seems to parallel the many names available to him.  While his baptismal names were Aleksandras Mykolas, he was known normally as Aleksas.  In Australia, he registered himself on the electoral role as Alexander Mykolas, and was known to have been called by the Alex short form.  Also for the electoral roll, Gabecas became Gabas and he was often known by the Australian Lithuanians as Gabecas-Gabas or plain Gabas.

Doubtless it was his basic interest in the work he was trained to do plus his many outside interests that contributed to that long life.

SOURCES

‘American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) DP Registration Record, Gabecas Viktoras’ 3.1.1.1 Postwar Card File / Postwar Card File (A-Z) / Names in "phonetical" order from G, DocID 67107990, ITS/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/67107990?s=Gabecas&t=2737422&p=0, accessed 22 September 2026.

Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria [Search] https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/search-your-family-history, accessed 21 September 2026.

Bosikis, Vladas (1953) ‘Svečiuose Pas Rykliu Gaudytoju’ (‘Visiting the Shark Hunters’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, NSW, 26 February, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article259362949, accessed 21 September 2026.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1956) ‘Certificates of Naturalization’, Canberra, ACT, 10 May, p 1298 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232877900/25099643, accessed 19 September 2026.

E-kinas ‘P-40826’ https://www.e-kinas.lt/ekinas-photos/photo/344748, accessed 21 September 2026.

E-kinas ‘P-40827’ https://www.e-kinas.lt/ekinas-photos/photo/344749, accessed 21 September 2026

Elektroninis Archyvų Informacinė Sistema (Electronic Archives Information System), 'Joniškio dekanato bažnyčių gimimo metrikų knyga' ('Register of Births for the Churches of the Joniškis Deanery') in Lithuanian [1922, p 79, item 10]) https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/share/?manifest=https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/view/267630365/297161648/lt/iiif/manifest&lang=lt&page=79, accessed 22 September 2026.

Europeana ‘A. Gabecas ir J. Lipčius Australijos vandenyse’ (‘A. Gabecas and J. Lipčius in Australian waters’, in Lithuanian) https://www.europeana.eu/da/item/2021802/LIMIS_100000012810337, accessed 19 September 2026.

Examiner (1949), ‘Fencers’, Launceston, Tas 26 July, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52688092, accessed 21 September 2026.

Gabecas, Aleksandras (1948) '4. "Pažadėtoj Žemėj" Australijoj' ('4. In the "Promised Land", Australia', in Lithuanian) Skautu Aidas (Scouting Echo), Augustdorf bei Detmold, Germany, 15 June, pp 30-31 https://www.spauda2.org/skautu_aidas/archive/1948/1948-Nr05-06-SKAUTU-AIDAS.pdf, accessed 24 July 2026.

Kazokas, Genovaitė (2003) Lithuanian Artists in Australia, 1950-1990, Melbourne, Europe-Australia Institute, pp 204-5.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1966) ‘Jaunimo Vakaras, Pavykęs Talentų Koncertas’ (‘Youth Evening, Successful Talent Concert in Melbourne’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 18 July, p 5 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1966/1966-07-18-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 19 September 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1988) Untitled, Sydney, NSW, 20 June, p 1, https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1988/1988-06-20-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1996) ‘Nuotraukose: I - sis transportas’ (‘In photos: The First Transport’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 25 November, p 8, https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-11-25-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1996) ‘Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (II) (Aleksandro Gabo nuotraukos ir paaiškinimai)’ (‘In photos: The First Transport (II) (photos and captions by Aleksandras Gabas), in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 2 December, p 6, https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-12-02-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1997) ‘Nuotraukose: Pirmasis transportas (III) (Aleksandro Gabo nuotraukos ir paaiškinimai)’ ‘In photos: The First Transport (III) (photos and captions by Aleksandras Gabas), in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 20 January, p 8 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-01-20-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1997) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (IV)’ ['The First Transport: in photographs (IV)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 12 May, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-05-12-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1997) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (V)’ ['The First Transport: in photographs (V)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 19 May, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-05-19-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1997) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (VI)’ ['The First Transport: in photographs (VI)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 23 June, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-06-23-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

National Archives of Australia, Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-1947; 840, GABECAS Aleksandras DOB 21 September 1922, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005956, accessed 21 September 2026.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; DIMINDAVICIUS MARCINKUS ALGIMANTAS, DIMINDAVICIUS (MARCINKUS), Algimantas : Year of Birth - 1936 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - DUNDALK BAY : Number - [UNKNOWN], 1949-1949 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203618267, accessed 21 September 2026.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; DIMINDAVICIUS MARCINKUS DANUTE, DIMINDAVICIUS (MARCINKUS), Danute : Year of Birth - 1935 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - DUNDALK BAY : Number - [UNKNOWN], 1949-1949 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203618266 accessed 21 September 2026.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; MARCINKUS EUGENIJA, MARCINKUS, Eugenija : Year of Birth - 1946 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - DUNDALK BAY : Number - [UNKNOWN], 1949-1949 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203618265, accessed 21 September 2026.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; MARCINKUS STASE, MARCINKUS, Stase : Year of Birth - 1917 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - DUNDALK BAY : Number – 117138, 1949-1949 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203618264, accessed 21 September 2026.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; MARCINKUS ZIGMANTAS, MARCINKUS, Zigmantas : Year of Birth - 1913 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - DUNDALK BAY : Number – 117027, 1949-1949 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203618263, accessed 21 September 2026.

Nearrašius, Jonas (2021) ‘Tarpukario Šiaulių sporto istorijos puslapiai’ (‘Interwar Siauliai Sports History Pages’, in Lithuanian) https://www.snaujienos.lt/kultura-ir-pramogos/44082-tarpukario-siauliu-sporto-istorijos-puslapiai-9, accessed 22 September 2026.

Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust ‘Alexander Gabas’ https://www.smct.org.au/deceased-search/detail?id=c9f25d0a-4e9a-ef11-8a69-00224811c475, accessed 21 September 2026.

Tarvydas, Ramunas, (1997) From Amber Coast to Apple Isle: Fifty Years of Baltic Immigrants in Tasmania 1948-1998, Baltic Semicentennial Commemoration Activities Organising Committee, Hobart, Tasmania, pp 44, 163.

Wikipedia, ‘Emu Bay Railway’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_Bay_Railway, accessed 19 September 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Olegas Truchanas’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olegas_Truchanas, accessed 19 September 2026.

Žalys, Bronius (1996) ‘Pėdsekys, LSS Australijos rajono 50-mečiui artėjant‘ (‘Pathfinder, As the 50th Anniversary of the [Lithuanian Scouts] Australian District Approaches’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, NSW, 25 November, p 4 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-11-25-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 19 September 2026.

09 July 2025

Borisas Dainutis (1918-1960): Always prepared, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 15 August 2025 and 22 September 2026.

This is the story of the founder of Lithuanian scouting in Australia. It is a story of commitment and persistence.

Borisas in Lithuania

Borisas Dainutis was born on 11 August 1918 in Vilnius, still the capital of Lithuania until 1920 after Poland seized it. Given the continued fighting from 1918, it was no surprise that the family moved to Panevėžys, in the centre of Lithuania. Borisas grew up and finished high school there.

In 1939, he completed military training. In 1940, he commenced construction studies at the Vytautas the Great University in Kaunas, in the Technical Studies faculty. The German occupation closed the University in 1943 when Lithuanians refused to raise an SS battalion, so Borisas did not complete his studies there. He resumed them in Germany in 1946 but, again, they were interrupted by his departure for Australia.

Germany, Australia and Scouting

His Personal Statement and Declaration completed in Perth the day after his arrival on 28 November 1947 describes his occupation as “building engineer". For the Melbourne Age newspaper, which published a report on his scouting activities on 27 December 1949, he was a civil engineer.

Apparently, he left behind in Germany no documents that the Arolsen Archives could digitise, so we don’t know how he initially was describing his departure from Lithuania. The selection interview report for migration to Australia says simply that he “fled from Russian regime” and reached asylum in September 1944.

He had been a scout from school days and continued while in a displaced persons camp in Hanover, Germany. He was invited to be the head of the scouts in his camp.

Borisas Dainutis in scout uniform

He worked in that position for half a year and devoted a lot of time and energy in this role. In 1948, he was awarded a scout medal, the Lelijos Ordinas (Order of the Lily). It is awarded to a scout leader who has shown great merit for at least three years and for being active for at least ten years at any scout level.

Borisas organises Scouts

The Lithuanian Scout Society appointed him as its representative in Australia. While on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman coming to Australia, he organised the scouts on board. Given that there were 45 in addition to him, this would have kept him busy.

And while the Heintzelman was coming to Australia, on 7 November the Minister for Immigration honoured Borisas with a special mention in the press release in which he told Australians about the impending arrivals.

In Australia, Borisas had the difficult task of registering scouts scattered all over Australia and organising them into units. From the Bonegilla migrant camp, he was writing to Australian scout officials to establish how the Lithuanian scouts could operate in Australia as a distinct group.

First two jobs in Australia

Borisas was one of 187 men sent from Bonegilla to pick fruit in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley. He left the Bonegilla camp on 29 January. We’ve noted in another blog entry that he did not return to the Bonegilla camp until 5 May, nearly 4 weeks after the last of the other 186. His employer was Messrs Turnbull Brothers of Ardmona.

He had another 5 weeks in the Bonegilla camp in which to continue his scouting organisation until being sent to his next employer. On 16 July he set off on his own to the Dookie Agricultural College in Victoria. It is less than 50 kilometres east of Ardmona, where he had spent 3 months already.

He wasn’t going to be there on his own. Two Lithuanians, Jonas Kildisas and Mecislovas Tutlys had left Bonegilla for Dookie three weeks earlier. The three were to be joined by Vytautas Sakalauskas in early September and Jonas Asmonas three weeks later.

Borisas continued his scouting campaign from Dookie. He would write drafts of his scouting correspondence on Dookie College letterhead and then get someone to correct his English.

Borisas' use of Dookie College letterhead
                Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

He would apologise for his errors and not understanding the culture as well as he would have liked. He persevered, writing to Australian scouting officials and even the Chief Scout in Britain to get a Lithuanian branch of scouting in Australia.

First Pan-Pacific Scout Camp, Yarra Brae, Victoria


Algirdas or Algis Liubinskas, left, and Borisas or Boris Dainutis, right
at the First Pan-Pacific Scout Jamboree, Yarra Brae, Victoria, 1948-49
Source:  Weekly Times, Melbourne, 5 January 1949

After just over a year in Australia, Borisas organised a Lithuanian scout troop to attend the first Pan-Pacific Scout Jamboree on the Yarra Brae property in Wonga Park, Victoria. It commenced on 29 December 1948 and continued for 12 days. The Melbourne Age of 27 December reported that Borisas with 29 other scouts had moved in already on Christmas Day. He would have had his 45 fellow scouts on the Heintzelman as a starting point for this, but all would have had to seek successfully some leave from their employers.

Lunch in the Lithuanian camp at the Yarra Brae campsite
Photographer:  Aleksas Gabecas
Source:  Mūsų Pastogė
Enhanced by Gemini.AI

A souvenir of the Yarra Brae camp
                                    Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

After the Government contract

After completing his work contract as a medical orderly at the Dookie Agricultural College at the end of September 1949, Borisas settled in Melbourne.

He actually was selected in Germany for employment as an urgently needed builder’s labourer. It’s not clear, therefore, why he finished up working as a medical orderly instead, except that he probably had first aid training from his scouting activities. Also, the Bonegilla cards are notable in not showing any of the selected builder’s labourers actually been sent to work with builders.

He was interviewed by the Good Neighbour magazine in 1950. The magazine reported that “After two years in Australia, 31-year-old Boris Dainutis has seen more of the country than many Australians. In his native Lithuania before the war Boris did his travelling by cycle. He finds Australia much too big for that and has bought a motorcycle. On it he tours Victoria at weekends; he visited Sydney from Melbourne on his holidays and next Christmas hopes to tour Tasmania … Boris worked as a fruit picker and medical orderly under contract. Now he has chosen a job with a dry-cleaning company …”

Lithuanian Scouts in Australia

From 1949 to 1953 he was head of Lithuanian scouts in Australia and, later the head of its press department. He led another Lithuanian troop to the 1955-56 Pan-Pacific Jamboree at Clifford Park in Victoria, and also to the 1958-59 National Camp at Mornington, Victoria.

He attended many other scout camps, assisting at them as an instructor or official. One of these activities made it into the press in March 1949, when the Kyabram Free Press reported that Borisas had been the special guest at a cub camp at the Kyabram Scout Hall. He had led the cubs in a number of games and in play-acting.

Borisas becomes an official Australian

Borisas was one of those keen to become an Australian citizen. The two required advertisements appeared in newspapers in November 19, less than five years after his arrival. He had to wait another 6 months though before he took his oath of allegiance before a magistrate, on 12 May 1953.

Work, Study, Marriage

At the time of his application for naturalization, Borisas was working as an assistant to a surveyor. Both were employed by the Victorian Lands Department.

Given his tertiary education in Lithuania and Germany, it was not surprising that he thought to at least work as a draftsman in Australia. To prepare, he studied surveying and drawing at the Royal Melbourne Technical College (now the RMIT University). He then found work as a draftsman with Victoria’s State Electricity Commission.

In 1952 married Elena Šteinartaitė and purchased a house in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg. A daughter and son were born to the couple.

Illness and Death

As his first decade in Australia ended, Borisas was feeling more and more ill. In hospital it was found that his kidneys were damaged and inoperable. This was in the days before kidney transplantation was available in Australia and when dialysis was still in its infancy.

He was only 41 years old when he died on 29 March 1960 at the Prince Henry Hospital. As his daughter had been born in December 1958 and his son in December 1959, they both were babies still at the time of his death.

He was interred in the Fawkner cemetery, Melbourne. His funeral was attended by Lithuanian scouts, who formed a circle about the grave to sing the traditional evening song, Ateina Naktis.

It is sung at the end of every day at scout camp as a prayer.  The words mean, “The night has come, the sun has set from the hills and forests, from all the land. Sweet dreams, go to sleep, God is here”.

Russian, Ukrainian and Estonian scouts attended too, no doubt grateful for the precedent in ethnic community scouting set by Borisas for Lithuanians. His grave was decorated with many wreaths and several farewell speeches were given by community members and family.

Elena was buried with him 58 years later. Their grave is marked by the Australian version of their names, Boris and Helen.

Australia has gained through the training and discipline still acquired by those involved in the Lithuanian branch of scouting here.

Sources

Age (1948) ‘Canvas Tent City Rises at Wonga Park’ Melbourne, 27 December, p 4 https://www.newspapers.com/image/124518561/ accessed 15 June 2025.

Age (1952) ‘Advertising, Public Notices’ Melbourne, 13 November, p11 https://www.newspapers.com/image/123319339/ accessed 15 June 2025.

Ancestry.com ‘Boris Dainutis in the Victoria, Australia, Marriage Index, 1837-1962’ https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/61649/records/2214455?tid=&pid=&queryId=8c597349-35d6-48c7-8922-61ee55dda6e4&_phsrc=lkA14&_phstart=successSource accessed 15 June 2025.

Baltutis, V, Poželaitė-Davis, II, Jonavičius J, Mockūnienė B & Pusdešris, P (1983) 'Australijos Lietuvių Metraštis II [Australian Lithuanian Yearbook II (in Lithuanian)]' Adelaide, Australijos Lietuvių Bendruomenė ir Australijos Lietuvių Fondas, pp 325 – 328.

Context Pty Ltd (2005?) ’Yarra Brae, Place No 262’ in Manningham Heritage Study pp 687-9, http://images.heritage.vic.gov.au accessed 14 June 2025.

Good Neighbour (1950) ‘Meet a New Australian’, Canberra, 1 October, p 3 https://www.newspapers.com/image/901721676/ accessed 15 June 2025.

Krausas, A (1960) ‘Vyr. Skaut. Borisas Dainutis’ (‘Chief Scout Borisas Dainutis’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 29 April, p 2 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1960/1960-04-29-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 15 June 2025.

Kyabram Free Press and Rodney and Deakin Shire Advocate (1949) ‘Scouts and Cubs' Kyambram,10 March, p 15 , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article270432677 accessed 15 Jun 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1996) 'Pėdsekys: LSS Australijos rajono 50-mečiui artėjant' ('Pathfinder: the 50th anniversary of Lithuanian Scouting in Australia approaches', in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 25 November, p 4 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-11-25-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 22 September 2026.

Popenhagen, Luda (2012) 'Scouting' in Australian Lithuanians, Sydney, New South Publishing, pp 251-53

Queensland Times (1948) 'Pan-Pacific Jamboree Great Gathering of Boy Scouts in Victoria', Ipswich, 20 December, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117112254 accessed 15 June 2025.

Sun News-Pictorial (1952) ‘Advertising, Public Notices’ Melbourne, 13 November, p 22 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/279921260 accessed 15 June 2025.

Weekly Times (1949) 'Scouts at Jamboree', Melbourne, 5 January, p30 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224886070 accessed 9 July 2025.

Zalys, B. (1996) ‘Pėdsekys, LSS Australijos rajono 50-meciui artejant’ [‘Footprints, As the LSS Australian District approaches its 50th anniversary’, in Lithuanian] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 18 November, p 5 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge /archive/1996/1996-11-18-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 19 Jun 2025.

05 May 2025

"General Stuart Heintzelman” men to Tasmania’s West Coast, January 1948, by Jonas Mockunas

Updated 8-9 May and 11-15 September 2025, 2 August  and 16 September 2026.

The West Coast is an isolated, rugged and very sparsely populated part of Tasmania. Much of it is wilderness and home to ancient natural wonders, including cool temperate rain forests which are now listed as National Parks and World Heritage sites. The climate can be equally rugged, with over 2000mm of rain per annum and snowfalls in winter. 

Despite its isolation, human activity is now quite evident, with roads linking towns and providing access for locals and tourists. Mining in particular has impacted the environment at many locations.

Remains of the Hercules haulage line between Williamsford and Mt Read, near Rosebery
Source:  Mockunas collection

THE EZ COMPANY AT ROSEBERY

The small town of Rosebery was established in the late 1890s after gold was discovered nearby.  It became the mining base for the Electrolytic Zinc Company (EZ Co).  The processed zinc ore transported by the Emu Bay Railway to Burnie on the north coast of Tasmania and then to the company’s Risdon Zinc Works in Hobart for smelting.

In the late 1940s the mining industry around Rosebery was prospering and the EZ Co wanted to explore new territory. The opportunity of using newly available migrant labour to open up these areas was attractive. The first group of young migrants who had fled the Baltic States as refugees during World War II was sent from the Bonegilla migrant camp in early 1948 to assist with this task. 

THE MIGRANTS ARRIVE 

The First Transport of Baltic displaced persons to Australia arrived at Fremantle aboard the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman in late November 1947; the 839 Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian men and women were then transported to the Bonegilla migrant camp near Wodonga, beside the River Murray in northern Victoria. 

Apart from a contingent of women who very soon after arriving at Bonegilla were sent to fulfill their 2-year work commitments in Canberra, large-scale job allocations of these ‘Balts’ did not begin until the New Year.  Aleksandras Gabecas (see below) recorded that, after a very hot summer at Bonegilla, twelve of the men who had requested job placements somewhere cooler were selected for labouring work in Tasmania.  They would subsequently discover Tasmania’s West Coast to be considerably wetter and cooler than the mainland.

The men left Bonegilla on 13 January to board a ship from Melbourne to Burnie, but a waterfront strike caused a change of plans.  Instead they were flown to Wynyard on the north coast of Tasmania by the EZ Co. They were given a meal at Wynyard Airport and put on the railcar heading south - there were no roads linking Rosebery with the outside world at the time and the narrow-gauge Emu Bay Railway provided the only access. They arrived at their new workplace in the western forests in the middle of the night and company records show they were put to work the next day, 19 January 1948.

Fortunately for us, one of these men, Aleksandras Gabecas, also known as Alex Gabas in Australia, has left a record of his memories with images of those days to enrich the story we can tell today.  As part of the 50th anniversary of the First Transport to Australia, the Lithuanian weekly newspaper, Mūsų Pastogė, published photographs with captions and articles by Gabecas over several editions.

Earlier his impressions of life in the Bonegilla camp and life during his first four weeks working for EZ were published in a Lithuanian-language scouting magazine, Skautu Aidas (Scouting Echo) in June 1948.  They are available in translation here.

Some of the passengers on board the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman
en route to Australia, November 1947;
Aleksandras Gabecas is in the front row with a guitar

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė, 17 April 2013

An announcement in the local press of their impending arrival in Tasmania

THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

Their work for EZ Co involved assisting the company’s exploration program: cutting tracks for surveyors and samplers, followed by wider tracks for bulldozers and heavy equipment. Each day the men would journey a few miles to their worksites where they would clear, dig, blast and burn their way through the forest. They worked a 40-hour week. 

The company supplied their food and tools and took them back to Rosebery every second Friday to collect wages and do some shopping.  Several also frequented the pub.  Saturdays and Sundays were free days, often spent in Rosebery or Zeehan.

While the EZ Co sought to provide all the fundamentals, on occasion the men had to resolve some of the material shortcomings during their shopping trips to town. For example, gumboots were not provided at first as they were in short supply, so some of the men purchased their own in Rosebery as the ground at their worksite was often a quagmire.  

Similarly, for the first fortnight the men had to work in the lightweight clothes that had been issued to them in Bonegilla.  After the first shopping trip, they got into a routine where they would buy a new shirt for the weekend in town and wear it to work for the next fortnight. 

Despite these initial shortcomings, in Gabecas’ view they were fairly well off compared with some of the other migrants: after deductions, the men were paid a wage of 5 pounds and 15 shillings per week.

THE BALTIC BUSHMEN CITY

The men initially lived at a railway siding which they named Baltic Bushmen City and erected an official-looking sign to proclaim their new home. The City was the base for further exploration work in the hinterland; officially known as Pinnacles Siding, it was located near Boko Siding, about 12 miles (19km) north of Rosebery. 

Some of the men with their Baltic Bushman City sign, mid-1948

Gabecas wrote that it consisted of several tin sheds and a few tents set on a hillside in a landscape that was a welcome contrast to the scorched Victorian countryside. Each sleeping hut had 2 bunks, adequate blankets and a fireplace.  Lighting was by carbide and hurricane lamps.  

Meals were prepared by an EZ cook, he remembered, but in February 1948 he wrote about the benefit of sharing a hut with another Lithuanian who was cooking for all the Baltic men.

A second worksite, a much more basic tent city, was located 5 kilometres away.  Here they were able to prepare meals to their own (European) tastes.  

EZ tents in the bush

Gabecas seemed to enjoy the adventure of the new experience, noting that the only drawback was the standard of accommodation.  A descendant of another Balt, Rosie Emerson, had these somewhat sharper observations:

"My father was one of these men who was sent from Bonegilla, to Rosebery in 1948 … these men lived in tents in the harsh Tasmanian climate. My father told how he’d wake up freezing and wet if he happened to roll into the side of the tent...

"There was a Christmas break when Dad went to Melbourne where he met my mother. He refused to return to the harsh conditions and completed the second year of his contract with the government in Melbourne at a brick factory, with much improved living conditions. 

"He used to meet my mother under the painting of Chloe in Young & Jackson's each weekend before they’d head of to dance the night away, a far cry from living in ice- covered tents."

THE WEST COAST BALTS, JANUARY 1948

People List

Name Age Nationality
Blaubergs, Otto30Latvian
Gabecas, Aleksandras25Lithuanian
Jablonskis, Juozas35Lithuanian
Krausas, Romualdas21Lithuanian
Krizanovskis, Edwards20Latvian
Krumins, Alberts25Latvian
Kubiliunas, Jonas22Lithuanian
Kudras, Kirils26Latvian
Marazas, Antanas23Lithuanian
Maslauskas, Karolis24Lithuanian
Martišius, Saliamonas27Lithuanian
Roduss, Augusts37Latvian

LATER ARRIVALS

After about 6 months in the forests, these men were transferred to Rosebery to finish the remainder of their contracts. They worked for EZ Co on the surface as the unions had initially barred migrants from working underground. By that time, other Balts had also arrived to take their place, often after their first job placement in fruit picking. 

Three Lithuanians from the First Transport were sent to Rosebery after their Victorian orchard work, leaving Bonegilla again on various dates in March and April 1948.  They were Viktoras Kuciauskas, Rosie's father, Zigmas Paskevicius and Juozas Leknius.  Those known to have arrived a little later, from apple-picking in south-east Tasmania's Huon Valley, were Leons Mikelans and Izidorius Smilgevicius.

Around 80 Balts worked at Rosebery from the late 1940s and into the 1950s. After the men were released from their work contracts, most moved to Hobart or the mainland.

A small number stayed at Rosebery, having by then secured better paying jobs working underground in the mines. A few worked in the Farrell Mine at Tullah, while others undertook track-cutting and cartage on a contract basis.

One of the latter, Latvian Eizens Princis (Eugene Prince) married a local girl and stayed in Rosebery until retirement.

ANN'S NOTE

For anyone not acquainted with Melbourne folklore, Young & Jackson's is a centrally located hotel on a corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets, across Flinders street from the main railway station for suburban lines.  Chloe is a 1875 painting by French artist, Jules Lefebvre, which has hung in Young & Jackson's saloon bar since 1909.

While Rosie Emerson's father, Zigmas Paskevičius, may have waited for his sweetheart under Chloe, we now know that Rosie's mother was only 17 when she married.  It would have been difficult for her to enter the hotel, as a young woman, under the customs prevailing in 1949.

"Under the clocks" is another well-known Melbourne meeting place, the clocks being across Flinders Street from Young & Jackson's.  Above the entrance to Flinders Street Station, they show the departure time of the next train for each line.  Rosie's mother may have preferred that spot.

SOURCES

Advocate (1948) ‘Balts to Work on West Coast’ Burnie, Tasmania, 12 January, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/69067798, accessed 5 May 2025.

Emerson, Rosie (2020) Comment on post regarding the above news item in the Advocate, in the General Stuart Heintzelman/First Transport Facebook private group https://www.facebook.com/groups/505412590020835/search/?q=rosie%20emerson, accessed 5 May 2025.

Holmes, Michael (2017) Tasmania’s Vanishing Towns: not what they used to be Hobart, The author, p 3.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1988) ’Ankstyvųjų metų albumas’ [‘An album of the early years’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 20 June, p 12 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1988/1988-06-20-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1996) ’Pažadėtoj žemėj Australijoje’ ['The promised land Australia’ in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 5 August, p 7 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-08-05-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1996) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (II)’ ['The First Transport: in photographs (II)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 2 December, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-12-02-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1997) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (III)’ 'The First Transport: in photographs (III)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 20 January, p 8 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-01-20-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1997) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (IV)’ ['The First Transport: in photographs (IV)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 12 May, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-05-12-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1997) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (V)’ ['The First Transport: in photographs (V)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 19 May, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-05-19-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1997) ’Nuotraukose: pirmasis transportas (VI)’ ['The First Transport: in photographs (VI)’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, NSW, 23 June, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-06-23-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 5 May 2025.

Tarvydas, Ramunas (1997) From Amber Coast to Apple Isle: Fifty years of Baltic immigrants in Tasmania, 1948-1998, Hobart, Tasmania, Baltic Semicentennial Commemoration Activities Organising Committee, pp 42-45.

Wikipedia, 'Chloe (Lebvre)' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlo%C3%A9_(Lefebvre) accessed 5 May 2025.