Showing posts with label Gabecas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gabecas. Show all posts

02 August 2026

Aleksandras Gabecas: In the “Promised Land”, Australia, translated by Ann Tündern-Smith and Jonas Mockūnas

Ann used Google Translate and her English language skills to draft a translation, but asked our Lithuanian-speaking, Rosebery expert, Jonas Mockūnas, to clean up her efforts and thanks him for the result.

Aleksandras' story

The journey [to Australia] and the impressions it left were interesting for us, but they were not yet life in Australia itself.

Today, it has been two and a half months since we came to Australia, but we only started working on January 17. Until then, we lived in Bonegilla, 600 miles north of Victoria’s capital city, Melbourne,* in an Australian Army camp, which in appearance did not differ much from the DP camps in Germany.

Only the nature is a bit different. There are so-called "gum trees" and other trees that look like willows. There are no spruces, pines, birches, maples, or other European trees here. Maybe they are grown as ornamental trees in gardens, parks, or near houses.

We were constantly visited by various journalists, bishops, photographers, filmmakers, ministers, and all sorts of people in the Bonegilla camp. During that time, we learned English, swam, had scout bonfires, played basketball, held swimming competitions, sailed, gave concerts, organized a three-nation show, and, most importantly, ate and dressed well.

At the beginning of January, they began to divide us into work groups. I, along with 6 other Lithuanians and 5 Latvians, ended up with the Tasmanian zinc mining company, Electrolytic Zinc. On January 17, we 12 were sent to Tasmania in planes as there was a seamen’s strike going on.

They settled us in northwestern Tasmania, about 12 miles from the Rosebery zinc mining town, in the middle of forests and wild mountains. The only road here is the railway. Rosebery is the only town that has no other communication than the railway, which is also run by a private company.

Uncredited, but highly likely to be Aleksas Gabecas' mind map of his trip to Rosebery
Source:  Skautu Aidas

Currently the newspapers here write a lot about the use of emigrants for new road construction work.

As I mentioned, we live in the mountains and in impenetrable forests. Our camp is on the slope of a mountain and consists of 8 cabins and 2 tents. We live in pairs in the cabins, which really are only tin shacks as it is not cold here and the snow melts as soon as it falls in winter.

I happen to live with Romualdas Krausas, who is our camp cook and who also says hello to you. At the moment he is making Lithuanian pancakes and suggests that I try them. All right!

This drawing was captioned, 'Mūsų brolių stovyklos vartai Tasmanijoj', which can translate as
'The entrance to our camp in Tasmania'
Source:  Skautu Aidas

Each day we travel 2 to 4 miles from our camp into the mountains to our workplaces. Here we cut, dig, clear, blast or burn the forest to build a new road to future large zinc mines. We work 40 hours a week. Every other week on Fridays, we get a free day to go shopping in Rosebery. We get paid for that day as well. Saturdays and Sundays are free from work. After all the deductions, we get five pounds and 15 shillings in our hands each week. Compared to others, we are quite well provided for.

The food is good, especially since one of us cooks it according to our preferences in a European way, because the Australians, despite having so many good things, don't really know what to do with them. In general they are backward, in music, in art, in clothing and in other areas. Everything that is modern and new comes from America or England.

Given the ladle crossed with the pickaxe, this looks like Aleksandras' rendition
of the hut he shared with the group's cook, 
Romualdas Krausas --
note that the chimney is freestanding although approached from inside the hut,
which is to offer the hut some protection if the chimney catches fire
Source:  Skautu Aidas

In general, Australia is a land of great extremes and a new future. Even in the wild grasslands, forests and mountains you can see modern trains, buses, cars, etc.

Food here is quite cheap. You can live for a week on a pound. A man's suit costs from 4 to 10 pounds. If made by a tailor, the price would be from 10 to 20 pounds. Only those things that are imported from overseas are expensive here. For example, take musical instruments: an accordion costs from 20 to 100 pounds, a radio from 20 to 30 pounds. Watches are priced from 20 to 100 pounds, if they are gold, of course. Simple ones only cost from 10 to 30 pounds.

The only problem here is with accommodation. We and many mountain workers live in blocks or tin shacks, because the government does not allow the construction of any slum dwellings and cannot keep up with the demand for modern houses. However, the climate here is warm and many Australians are happy to live in tents during the summer.

If you met me, you wouldn't recognise me. Living far from the city, I have grown a beard, bought two guitars even, and a radio. In my free time I draw, play or write letters.

Tomorrow, is 16 February [Lithuania’s Independence Day]. With that day's earnings, we will send a parcel to Germany for other DPs and remember our homeland with those struggling there.

The most senior people in the zinc company have promised to come and listen to our songs and music. This evening we will rehearse.

In closing, I wish all fellow scouts fair winds and can report that the 12 Vyčiai [Rover Scouts] scattered throughout Australia have not forgotten their scout promise, no matter where they are.

I am always prepared! 

Aleksandras Gabecas

FOOTNOTE:  *Bonegilla in fact is only about 200 miles (335 kilometres more or less, depending on which route you take) from Melbourne and it definitely is northeast, not north, making us wonder how much training in navigation this Rover Scout had received.  As for Rosebery, there now is a road and no railway.  Aleksas' guess for the distance here was closer to the what the modern traveller finds:  68 miles (110 kilometres).

SOURCE:  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.


23 July 2026

Jonas Motiejūnas on How the Lithuanian Scouts in Australia Started, with Ann Tündern-Smith (with much help from Google Translate and Gemini.ai)

Updated 1 August 2026.

Back in August last year, we looked at the life of Jonas Motiejūnas, who had been made leader of the Lithuanian men on the First Transport in the Diepholz camp where all had been gathered to await their departure to Australia one week later.

Jonas Motiejunas' ID photograph from his Bonegilla card

We have also looked at how Borisas Dainutis, chosen by the Lithuanian scouts' organisation in Germany to lead the scouts going to Australia, devoted himself to a campaign of having them recognised as a discrete unit within the Australian scouting movement.  That was in July last year.

Photograph of Borisas Dainutis attached to his selection papers

Now these two themes come together, in an article written by Jonas for a scouting publication in Germany detailing how the scouts organised themselves while on the General Heintzelman and in their first days in Australia.  It is in English below, with lots of help from Google Translate and Gemini.ai.

The first meeting of the Lithuanian Scouts going to Australia took place on 9 November 1947, on board our ship, General Stuart Heinzelman, passing through the Suez Canal. The scout authorised to take care of the Lithuanian scouts travelling to Australia, Assistant Section Leader Borisas Dainutis, took over the duties of the leader, choosing Assistant Section Leader Algirdas Liubinskas as his deputy.

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

Here, the idea of dividing the scouts into groups was introduced. It also was decided to strictly monitor the behaviour of the scouts and, if necessary, to immediately remove them from scouting, because our task as the first Lithuanian scouts is to represent our homeland and its culture in the best possible way.

On the evening of 10 November, the next meeting took place on the deck of the ship.  After reading the orders to the group, its leader reminded everyone in warm words of the tasks of the Lithuanian scouts in Australia.  He highlighting the consequences of good behaviour and scouting for our nation and for the future of the country.  

Scout and folk songs echoed on the ship and the waves of the Red Sea, uniting the scouts of the new company in close friendship. It was proposed to think about the name of the group and prepare for a bonfire.

On the evening of November 14, on the deck, while the ship was sailing in the Arabian Sea, there was a joint meeting of the younger scouts and senior scouts. In the official proceedings, order No. 3 was followed by a rendition of the anthem, "Lithuanians we were born".

The leader read a long essay by Lord Baden-Powell about the tasks and duties of a Venturer Scout.  At intervals, there was singing.  On this occasion, the leader once again urged us, in sharp words, to think carefully about remaining in the ranks of the scouts, because the tasks were great and the duties heavy.  Participation in the national dance group was clarified and it was asked to prepare performances for the next meeting.  Finally, the Vyčiai song (the anthem for the Rover Scouts) was performed.

On 15 November, the management met, with the participation of the Girl Scouts' leader, Konstancija Brundzaitė.

The leaders of the groups were ordered to collect personal information and scouting knowledge from the scouts, to repeat all scout knowledge in the groups and to prepare for a joint public bonfire with the Latvians and Estonians. 

After discussion, it was agreed that the Vyčiai (Rover) badge must be worn below the Union badge near the left pocket. The name of the society should express our irrepressible desire to return to the homeland. The meeting was concluded with a minute of silence, remembering our native land and our Vyčiai duties to it.

In the evening of 19 November, a joint meeting of Venturer and Rover scouts was held. Many did not participate.  The songs intended to be sung at the joint bonfire were rehearsed.

The long-awaited joint Lithuanian-Latvian-Estonian bonfire was held on the upper deck of the ship  on 22 November at 7 pm.  All free seats were occupied by passengers interested in the bonfire. The IRO representative, Lithuanian Captain Žibāsand the ship's commander with his team watched the performances from the bridge. 

The countless Estonians performed especially beautifully.  The Lithuanians were weak, especially in singing, although two-thirds of the participants were from our country.  Not enough effort and practice!

I cannot discuss the bonfire program in more detail, because the wind caught hold of my sheet of notes, lifted it to the top of the mast and blew it into the ocean. 

The bonfire was led by Lithuanians, Assistant Section Leader Algirdas Liubinskas and Senior Sea Scout Patrol Leader Aleksandras Gabecas.

In  Fremantle, on 30 November, in order to get acquainted with the newly arrived scouts, the Australian Sea Scouts’ District Commissioner, Brother Jack, arrived at the Swanbourne camp.  There, some of our men had spent a few days of rest after a 10,231 nautical mile (18,948 kilometre) journey.  He invited several senior scouts to go and see the Sea Scout headquarters.  It was agreed immediately to hold a joint bonfire in the evening.

The Australians liked our program at the previous evening's bonfire so much that they invited us to repeat it during the scout hour on radio on the evening of 1 December. The hastily gathered Lithuanians and Estonians went by train to the radio station.  Balanda Dulaityte (already Mrs Liubinskienė, although this was not known to the authorities) explained our origin and arrival in English .

The sailors' march was sung, and Juozas Songaila played a medley of national melodies (on his piano accordion). The Estonians sang several songs. Everywhere we were shown great sincerity.

None of these three Skaudu Aidas articles mention the arrival in Melbourne
but Gabecas' article includes this photograph of Australian Girl Guides
waiting to greet the Lithuanian scouts;
there's at least one equally interesting element in the upper right,
which looks like a young lady in a very short skirt for the times and white boots
Source:  Skaudu Aidas

In the Bonegilla camp, on 18 December, a Chief Scout representative from Melbourne, another scouting official and a Girl Scout leader came to visit. Having greeted the scouts of all three nationalities who had gathered together with kind words, he was pleased that Australia had received many new scout leaders, whom it lacked. A few songs were sung in the visitors' honour.

Later on 18 December, scouts of the city of Albury visited. Unfortunately, due to the long drought, the danger of bush fires was so great that we had to be content with a kerosene lamp.

Here I should note that in Australia, bushfires are quite frequent and cause very great losses, as entire grain farms, sheep and cattle herds burn, and it is very difficult to fight the fire when everything is completely dry. 

Again, there was a singing session.  Aleksandras Gabecas performed excellently with a string of bottles tied to a pole and filled with water.  The Australian leaders were presented with our scouting publications, and they rewarded us with fruit.

On 4 January 1948, there was another meeting, during which a tracking exercise was conducted.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  This story ends abruptly, perhaps due to a decision by the editor of the publication in which it appeared, Skautų Aidas or Scouting Echo, published during 1923-2023 and, in 1947, being edited in a DP camp in Augustdorf bei Detmold, Germany.  I thought it might be because the next item, by Jonas Urbonas, might continue the story without a break.  It does not.  Instead, it is about a campfire on 6 January when the Scouts farewelled their "first swallow", Vytas Kunciunas, who was off to Pyramid Hill.

We've already used some of that article in a biography of Vytas in this blog, when we found it reprinted in Mūsų Pastogė some 50 years later.

What is missing from this sequence is the drowning of Aleksandras Vasiliauskas on 4 January 1948 and his funeral, in which the scouts played a leading role, on 5 January.

NOTE:  This is the second item in a series written by Lithuanian Scouts who resettled in Australia.  We have not translated the first item, as it is about the voyage to Australia on a later Transport.  The second item, on a campfire at Bonegilla in early January was written by Jonas Urbonas and the third, from Aleksandras Gabecas, is about moving to his first job in Tasmania (at Rosebery, about which Jonas Mockūnas has written already.)

CITE THIS AS:  Motiejūnas, Jonas (1948) (How the Lithuanian Scouts in Australia Started) Translation and comments from Ann Tündern-Smith with Google Translate and Gemini.au.

SOURCE:  Skautų Aidas (Scouting Echo) (1948) 'Įspūdžiai Is Kelionės Australijon, 2. Jau Laive' ('Impressions From a Trip to Australia, 2. Already on Board', in Lithuanian) Augustdorf bei Detmold, Germany, 15 June, p 29 https://www.spauda2.org/skautu_aidas/archive/1948/1948-Nr05-06-SKAUTU-AIDAS.pdf, accessed 17 July 2026.

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, and 2 August 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 main bar since 1909.

While Rosie Emerson's father, Ziggy Paskevičius, may have waited for his sweetheart under Chloe, Rosie's mother would not have been allowed into the main bar under the customs prevailing in 1949.  They were more likely met outside or in another part of the Hotel.

"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, , pp 42-45.

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