Mečys Laurinavičius (1922-1984) Becomes Max Laurin, by Rasa Ščevinskienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

Mecys' first assignment

You may never have heard of Togganoggera in New South Wales. Neither has Google Maps, although the Australian-based Bonzle Maps can locate it. So can Phillip Simpson’s massive 2020 publication, Historical Guide to New South Wales.

We want to know where it is because the Commonwealth Employment Service at the Bonegilla Camp sent 2 of the First Transporters to work for WL Moore, Sawmillers, at Togganoggera, NSW. They were Mečys Laurinavičius and his fellow Lithuanian, Bolius Kunčiunas.

Mečys Laurinavičius photograph from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Simpson writes that Togganoggera is 29 Km southwest of Braidwood, on the Shoalhaven River. Its main industry is grazing. It has an airfield and a quarry, but there is no mention of a sawmill. The telephone arrived in 1918. The population of the locality in 1933 was 49 people (and 1933 probably was the last time anyone found it for a census).

Mecys finds trouble

Mečys appeared in the local newspaper, The Braidwood Review and District Advocate, a little after the first anniversary of the First Transport arriving at Fremantle, on 30 November 1948. He had been found drunk on the main street of Braidwood at “4.5 o'clock on the morning following the Ambulance Ball”, arrested by a constable and taken to the police station.

Presumably he had been released later that day because on the following day, when called at the Court of Petty Sessions, he failed to appear and his 10 shillings bail was forfeited.

The Ambulance Ball would have to be held in Braidwood’s Show Pavillion on 27 November, so Mečys was found to have overindulged on the morning of 28 November, exactly one year after he disembarked for a new life in Australia. Had he been trying to forget the next year? Had he been celebrating how wonderful it was compared with the previous 7 years of his life?

Mecys in NSW and citizenship

Mečys stayed in New South Wales after finishing his contract, presumably on 30 September 1949 along with nearly all the other First Transporters. We know that because on 29 June 1954, in the Sydney Morning Herald and one other newspaper, he was advertising that he intended to apply for naturalization under the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948-1953.

He was naturalized, granted Australian citizenship, on 30 November 1955, from an address in Eastwood, a suburb in the north of Sydney.

Mecys married, their address and occupations

In 1958, the first time Mečys appeared on a publicly available electoral roll, he had already married his Australian wife, Joan, and his occupation was given as rubber worker. Joan was a typist. They lived in Eastwood. In 1963, their occupations and street address were the same, but their suburb had become Rydalmere. All the details were the same on the 1968 and 1977 rolls.

Given that any marriage occurred more than 50 years ago, its record should be available, but a search of the New South Wales Government’s Marriage records said initially that it was unavailable. That was because someone has managed to massacre the spelling of both Mečys’ first name (“Mercys”) and his last name. A wildcard (*) is essential in such situations.

The marriage took place in 1951.

Mecys becomes Max

Before the production of the 1980 electoral roll, Mečys had decided to make things easier for his fellow Australians and, perhaps, especially his wife. He had changed his name to Max Laurin.

On the 1980 roll, Joan Laurin is still a typist but Max also may have made life easier for himself in another way, by ceasing to work with rubber and becoming instead a driver.

Mečys is a very Slavic name, short for Mečislovas, which in turn is the Lithuanian form of the Slavic forename whose Polish version is Mieczysław. This name combines miecz or meč meaning “sword” and slava or slav meaning “glory” or “fame”, so its meaning approximates “one who gains glory with the sword.” There being no immediate English or Germanic equivalent, Max was a well-chosen alternative.

Mecys and Mūsų Pastogė

The Lithuanian-Australian newspaper, Mūsų Pastogė, had thanked Mečys in its 8 October 1973 edition for donating 8 books and 3 Lithuanian records to the Sydney Lithuanian Club Library’s Reading Room. No, it was more than mere thanks: it was sincere gratitude

Mūsų Pastogė next had occasion to discuss Mečys in its 14 January 1985 edition, when it reported that he had died of cancer on 14 October in the Westmead Hospital. He was buried in Castlebrook Rosehill Cemetery. He left behind a grieving wife, an Australian woman. They did not have a family. He was a relatively youthful 62. Although he did not participate in Lithuanian life, he was a long-time reader of Mūsų Pastogė.

Mecys' death, funeral, burial

The Sydney Herald Sun newspaper of 15 October 1984 had carried the English-language death and funeral notice. Not only was Max Laurin the beloved husband of Joan but he also was the loved brother-in-law of Eric, Ken, Ron and Gwen and loved uncle of their families. He still was living on Bennetts Road, which original had been in Eastwood but which now, 30 years later, was in West Dundas.

His relatives and friends were invited to attend his funeral to leave the all Saints Anglican Church, Victoria Road, Parramatta after a service commencing at 9.30 for the interment in the Castlebrook Lawn Cemetery, Windsor Road, Rouse Hill. If Mečys was originally Roman Catholic like the majority of Lithuanians, he had become a Protestant for Joan’s sake.

Mecys and assimilation

He had assimilated even more by becoming a Freemason. The newspaper notice invited officers and brethren of Corinthian No 100 UGL of NSW attend the funeral of their late esteemed member Max Laurin. Regalia was to be worn. UGL was the United Grand Lodge.

At least Max and Mečys had never stopped the subscription to Mūsų Pastogė.

Mecys' past

We do not have access to a digitised version of Mecys’ selection papers at this time. The Arolsen Archives has yet to digitise any papers relating to his time in Germany. All we know about Mecys’ past is that his parents were Bronius and Marija; we know this from his death certificate. We will update this page with particular reference to Mecys’ time before Australia as more information becomes available.

SOURCES

Ancestry.com, ‘All results for Max Laurin’, https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=max_laurin&event=_australia_5027&searchMode=advanced, accessed 23 March 2026.

Ancestry.com, ‘All results for Mecys Laurinavicius’, https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=mecys_laurinavicius&event=_australia_5027&searchMode=advanced, accessed 23 March 2026.

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup, ‘Mecys Laurinavicius’ https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203619596, accessed 23 March 2026.

Braidwood Review and District Advocate (1948) ‘Ambulance Ball’, Braidwood, NSW, 30 November, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/119376162, accessed 23 March 2026

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1956) Canberra, ACT, 24 May, p 1513 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/25099858, accessed 23 March 2026.

Death Search Results, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, ‘Laurin Max, 23254/1984’ https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search/deaths?1, accessed 23 March 2026.

Herald Sun (1984) ‘Deaths, Laurin, Max’ Sydney, NSW, 15 October, p 27 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=lL5f5cZgq8MC&dat=19841015&printsec=frontpage&hl=en, accessed 23 March 2026.

Herald Sun (1984) ‘Funerals, Laurin, Max’ Sydney, NSW, 15 October, p 27 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=lL5f5cZgq8MC&dat=19841015&printsec=frontpage&hl=en, accessed 23 March 2026.

Klubo Valdyba (Club Board) (1973) ‘Padėka‘ (‘Acknowledgements‘ in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, NSW, 8 October, p 8 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1973/1973-10-08-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 23 March 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) 1985 [No heading] Sydney, NSW, 14 January, p 12 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1985/1985-01-14-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 23 March 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A446, Correspondence files, annual single number series with block allocations [Main correspondence files series of the agency] 1926-2001; 1955/32795, Application for Naturalisation - LAURINAVICIUS Mecys born 19 August 1922, 1954-1955.

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; 175, LAURINAVICIUS Mecys DOB 19 August 1922, 1947-1947

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; LAURINAVICIUS MECYS, LAURINAVICIUS, Mecys : Year of Birth - 1922 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GENERAL HEINTZELMAN : Number – 572, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203619596, accessed 23 March 2026.

Sydney Morning Herald (1954) ‘Public Notices’ Sydney, NSW, 9 June, p 15 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18427320,  accessed 23 March 2026.

Kazys Alseika (1917-1984), the Tasmanian One, by Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 13 March 2026.

3x Kazys Alseika

The first thing to note about Kazys Alseika is that there were 3 of them.  That is to say, 3 men called Kazys or Kazimieras (the long form of Kazys) with the family name Alseika came to Australia during the 1947-49 period.  What’s more, the 3 were the only men with the family name Alseika to arrive under the IRO Mass Scheme, to give the movement of Displaced Persons to Australia during 1948-54 its formal name.

How do we separate them one from the other?  If you haven’t thought about it before, the answer is birthdates, the reason why officials, the health system, and anyone else who needs to sort one namefellow from another, immediately wants to know your birthdate as well as your full name.

Our Kazys Alseika, the one who came on the First Transport, the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman, was born on 8 June 1917.  The second Kazys was born on 15 December 1918 and arrived on the Nelly on 15 July 1949.  Kazimieras was born on 27 February 1918 and arrived on the Second Transport, the General MB Stewart, on 14 February 1948.

The Kazys Alseika who came to Australia on the Heintzelman

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Newspaper reports are unlikely to distinguish one Kazys Alseika from another, although Kazimieras might stick to that form of his name.  This means that we need to rely on those official documents with birthdates, although they may give us other clues, like where they lived and worked.

Those documents tell us that the second Kazys Alseika was sent to Yallourn, Victoria, for his first job.  His naturalization record and a newspaper obituary say that he stayed in Victoria.  Kazimieras was sent initially to Western Australia but received Australian citizenship when resident in South Australia.  We’ll soon find that our Kazys was sent to Tasmania after his initial fruit-picking, so place of residence is another way to separate these three.

Our Kazys Goes to Work

Starting with the Bonegilla card for our Kazys, we see that he was one of the 187 or more fruit pickers sent to Victoria’s Goulburn Valley in late January 1948.  He was allocated to AW and JF Fairley of Shepparton.  He stuck it out for more than 9 weeks, returning to the Bonegilla camp on 7 April.

His next allocation was to the Commonwealth Carbide Company at Electrona, Tasmania, which actually was a different company with a similar name, the Australian Commonwealth Carbide Company.  Thanks to Ramunas Tarvydas, in From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, we have an assessment from Jonas Motiejūnas of the hard physical nature of the work.

If a former DP has moved around a lot, we often can follow those movements from their application for naturalization.  When our Kazys applied in October 1953, he did not mention Electrona or a carbide company.  Instead, he recorded that he was then working as a spray painter for a company called Cannon & Hornby of Glenorchy, Tasmania.  He had been there since 8 November 1949, the second anniversary of the day he arrived at the Bonegilla camp.

An article in Launceston’s Saturday Evening Express newspaper of 31 May 1952, headed New Firm’s Success, tell us about Kazys’ employer.  Cannon & Hornby made electric coppers (presumably to heat water for laundry), domestic hot water services and a hot water service specially for the dairy farmer.  They also made refrigerator cabinets for Australian-made refrigerator units and electric cooking ranges.  At this time, 18 months before Kazys submitted that he had been working for them since late 1949, they employed 28 staff.

Ramunas Tarvydas, in From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, notes that Kazys were first at Electrona but then with a company called Derby Products.  This seems to have been a company specialising in heating and air-conditioning products.  I write “seems”, as references to the company are still on the Web, but links lead to dead pages.  If Kazys had become a specialist spray painter, his work on heating and air-conditioning products would have been similar to his work at Cannon & Hornby.

A group of Hobart Lithuanians about 1950:  Kazys Alseika is on the right

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė 31 July 2000 p 4

Tarvydas has called Alseika “Kazimieras” on page 158, but this also was the version of his name used on the one document in the Arolsen Archives which relates to him.  We know that the Arolsen Archive document is about our Kazys because of the birthdate.

Kazys Marries

Kazys married Marcia Ina Paul at New Town, Hobart, on 5 January 1950.  They were living on Butler Avenue, Moonah. She had brought 2 children into the marriage.  It looks like Marcia won any discussion about religion, given that they were married in a Congregational Church although Kazys had previously stated that he was a Roman Catholic.

The wedding made the social pages of the Hobart Mercury newspaper, on 28 February 1950, under the heading of Some Recent Tasmanian Weddings.

Kazys became an Australian citizen on 15 December 1955.  It’s interesting to note that the two women who swore in relation to his application that they had known him for some years and that he was a person of good repute had married into his wife’s family. Her maiden name was Cook, and these two women, both of whom gave their occupation as housewife, used the family name Cook also.

Rocky Kazys Alseika

It seems that at least one child was born in the marriage.  A football club register of all players prepared by a diligent supporter and placed on the Web gives the birthdate of Rocky Kazys Alseika as 19 December 1959.  The football club was the Cygnets, Australian Rules players from the township of Port Cygnet in Southern Tasmania, but the register records zero games for Rocky.

That is an unusual name to give a child, but Rocky Marciano, undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion from 1952 to his 1956 retirement, certainly was a well-known name in the 1950s.  Rocky Marciano might have been on Kazys’ mind when his very own son was born.

Our Kazys Dies Early, After Building a House

Sad to report, Kazys had died already when Ramunas was doing his research in the 1990s.  His date of death was 21 November 1984, so he was only 67 at the time. Ramunas was able to interview Marcia though, using her report on the building on their own Derwent Park house in his book.

Source:  Ramunas Tarvydas, From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, p 64

Marcia lived as a widow for another 15 years, dying in 1995 and being buried besides Kazys.  Their burial place is the Kingston Cemetery, in a town so close to Hobart that it might well be a suburb now.

The plaque where Kazys and Marcia, or their ahses, are buried

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Rocky did not survive long after his parents, dying on 29 August 2005 when only 45 years old.

Rocky Alseika's plaque in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery needed restoration
when this photograph was taken, but his image is clear still

Source:  MargaretM on Find A Grave

Our Kazys in Lithuania and Germany

Kazys had been born on 8 June 1917 in Kretinga, in Klaipėda County, making him another Samogitian.  His parents were another Kazys and Adolfina.  The Hobart Mercury report on the Alseika wedding calls Kazys “the youngest son of Mr and Mrs K Alseika”.

On a statutory declaration in relation to his application for naturalization, Kazys declared that he had left Lithuania on 10 October 1944, which was rather late to be leaving that invaded nation.  He arrived in Germany on 12 October 1944, he declared.

In an Arolsen Archives list of Lithuanians living in Oldenburg in the British Zone of occupied Germany, Kazys is shown at the same address as one “Viktora” Alseika.  The occupation for both is Bauer, German for farmer.  Since first I thought that this had something to do with building, I looked more closely at “Viktora”, to see that “she” was männl., short for männlich, German for male or masculine.  Someone has left the “s” off the end of Viktoras’ name.  He was born 9 years before Kazys, in 1908.

This would have made him only 39 in 1947, within the age range Australia was considering and raising the question of why he did not come to Australia with Kazys.  The possibilities are that he applied but was rejected, or that he decided to hold out for another country.  Either way, 3 documents digitised by the Arolsen Archives have him setting out for Canada on 13 April 1949.

Perhaps Viktoras preferred a colder climate.  Kazys certainly got a climate as cold as Australia gets in Tasmania.

CITE THIS AS: Tündern-Smith, Ann (2026) 'Kazys Alseika (1917-1984), the Tasmanian One'

SOURCES

Australijos Lietuvis (The Australian Lithuanian) (1950) 'Mišri šeima’ (‘Blended Family, in Lithuanian) Adelaide, SA, 20 March, p 31 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280319034, accessed 28 February 2026.

Britannica ‘Rocky Marciano, American boxer’ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rocky-Marciano, accessed 28 February 2026.

‘Correspondence and nominal roles, done at Bremen-Grohn: transport by ship (USS GENERAL HOWZE, USS GENERAL MCRAE); transit countries and final destinations: Canada, USA’, 3.1.3 Emigrations, DocID: 81660307 ITS/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/81660307, accessed 2 March 2026.

Cygnet Football Club, ‘Register of Games Played’ http://cygnetfc.com.au/index.php/download_file/-/view/61, accessed through Internet Archive Wayback Machine https://web.archive.org/web/20260000000000*/http://cygnetfc.com.au/index.php/download_file/-/view/61, accessed 2 March 2026. [The Cygnet FC is moving its website to a new location. As of 2 March 2026, the new site did not include this version of the Register.]

‘Folder DP0049, names from ALPINA, STANISLAW to ALTAZIN, Louis’, 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 66415045 (VIKTORAS ALSEIKA) ITS/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/66415045, accessed 28 February 2026.

‘Folder DP0049, names from ALPINA, STANISLAW to ALTAZIN, Louis’, 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 66415046 (VIKTORAS ALSEIKA) ITS/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/66415046, accessed 2 March 2026.

Mercury (1950) 'Some Recent Tasmanian Weddings’ Hobart, Tas, 28 February, p 12, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26686218, accessed 28 February 2026.

‘Original collection’ 2.1.2.1 NI 054 2 Information on foreigners being locally registered (after the war) in the district Oldenburg/oldenburg (SK), DocID: 70713224, ITS/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/70713224, accessed 2 March 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A446, Correspondence files, annual single number series with block allocations, 1926-2001; 1955/6002, Application for Naturalisation - ALSEIKA Kazys born 8 June 1917, 1955-1955 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8858840, accessed 2 March 2026.

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; 8, ALSEIKA Kazys DOB 8 June 1917, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005451, accessed 2 March 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Tasmanian Branch; P3, Personal case files, annual single number series with 'T' (Tasmania) prefix, 1951-; T1969/1987, Alseika, Kazys, 1947-1955 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9588585, accessed 2 March 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; ALSEIKA KAZYS, ALSEIKA, Kazys : Year of Birth - 1917 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 408, 1947-1948; recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203676793, accessed 2 March 2026.

Saturday Evening Express (1952) ‘New Firm’s Success’ Launceston, Tas, 31 May, p 11 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/265092824, accessed 2 March 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 64, 145, 158.

Tarvydas, Ramunas (2000) ‘Lietuviai Tasmanijoje 1950 – 2000’ (‘Lithuanians in Tasmania 1950 – 2000’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, NSW, 31 July, p 4 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/2000/2000-07-31-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 2 March 2026.

Welcome to Cygnet Football Club https://cygnetfc.tidyhq.com/, accessed 28 February 2026.

Antanas Galatiltis (1923-1983): From Farm Boy to Electrical Engineer, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 7 March 2026.

Lithuanian life for Antanas Galatiltis

An electrical engineer, Antanas was born in the city of Švenčionys, 84 kilometres north of Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, on 23 April 1923.  He attended the Vytautas Didysis High school in Vilnius, graduating in 1941. 

He left Lithuania by himself in 1944, fleeing as far as the Baltic Children’s Home near Lübeck in northern Germany.  Here he taught primary school until the possibility of leaving for Australia arose in September-October 1947.  During this time, he was living in Camp Riga in Lübeck.  

He had given his occupation as teacher on the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) Displaced Person (DP) Registration Form which is held and digitised by the Arolsen Archives.  Presumably he had trained as a teacher during 1941-44, after high school, and taught then as well.

He told the Australian selection team that he had 3 years' experience as a farm worker.  Possibly that was a summary of work done on a family farm.  Of course he was one of those selected then for resettlement, travelling on the First Transport, or we would not be discussing him.

Antanas Galatiltis' photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Off to Forestry, Mt Gambier, South Australia

On 9 January 1948, Antanas was one of a group sent from the Bonegilla camp to work for the Woods and Forest Department at Mount Gambier in southeast South Australia.  Jedda Barber's father, Valentinas Dagys, was another of that group.  Kostas Bušma, Stasys Čibiras, and Algis Jakštas are 3 more from this group whom we have met already in this blog.

The working and living conditions offered by the Woods and Forests Department in 1948 would have been no better than those described by Pranas Nagys in a series of articles in Mūsų Pastogė 50 years later.  Pranas was part of a group which reached Mt Gambier on 30 March 1949.  Here is what he wrote about the living conditions, translated from the issue of 2 June 1997.

Living Conditions in the Forestry Camp

“Living conditions here were worse than in the sugar cane fields.  We had a water tap by the barracks, but there was no place to shower.  There was no river and the weather was cold.  The wood-burning stove in the kitchen was only suitable for boiling a pot of rice.

“Once a week, we would organise to wash.  We would empty one large pot of water into a large tub, and it would be enough for two men.  While the two of them were bathing, we would boil water for the next two …

“We had to make sure that the last two would have time to bathe by 8 am on Saturday, when the bus left for Mt Gambier.  So, according to a pre-arranged list, we would wake each other up from sleep for a wash.

“Going to town was very important, as it was necessary to bring food for the whole week.  There were no shops in the forest.  A dairy farmer lived nearby.  We bought milk and eggs from him every day.  Bread was delivered to the barracks every morning.  We brought all the other products from Mt. Gambier.

“There was no way for each of us to cook separately, as there was only one stove, which could hold only one pot.  We decided that we needed a cook.  One of us would cook for everyone, and we would pay him 5 shillings a week for that work.  Modestas Čiplys agreed to be the cook …

“Our cook had to boil water for tea every day.  In the evening, he would cook what he could.  The rest of us had to bring him firewood from the forest and chop it up.  We carried broken dry branches and trees.

“On cold nights, we would put everything we had in our suitcases on our beds.  We would put our jackets and all our shirts between the blankets to make it warmer.  In the evening, we would stoke the heater, one to each room.  After they went out, it was very cold in the morning.  Sometimes the frost would turn white on the grass until the sun rose and melted it.”

Pranas and his peers tried hard to get back to sugar cane cutting, which had been their first job in Australia.   Those not used to cane cutting reported it as hot, dirty work, since the cane fields had been burnt to remove dried cane leaves and vermin first.  That says a lot about the work they were expected to do in the forests around Mount Gambier.

Antanas in Adelaide

Antanas was released from his contract to work where directed along with nearly everyone else from the First Transport, on 30 September 1949.  An Alien Registration record card kept by the Adelaide branch of the National Archives reveals that he had got himself to Adelaide even before that date, since he advised Immigration officials of a South Terrace addressed in the central city on 27 August.

His next employer was the General Motors Holden plant in the suburb of Woodville.  He lived at 4 different addresses during this time, up to January 1952.

Antanas Takes Up Study

That year, he enrolled in the Electrical Engineering with the South Australian Institute of Technology.  By day he worked at Holden factory, and in the evenings he studied.  He graduated from this course in 1959.  The South Australian Institute of Technology became part of the University of South Australia, which merged with the University of Adelaide on 5 January 2026.

Antanas' Work

Antanas worked as a draftsman with the Electricity and Water Supply Department (E&WS) from 1954, and for the Post Master General from 1956 until 1959. Once he graduated in 1959, he began working with electrical devices in the Engineering Department at the Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) at Salisbury.

Australian Citizen and Active Lithuanian

On 13 February 1956, Antanas was granted Australian citizenship in the Adelaide suburb of St Peters.

Antanas was a great supporter of Adelaide Lithuanian House and was Vice-President of the Australian Lithuanian National Council for two terms. He was a member of the Adelaide Lithuanian Architects and Engineers Society.

Antanas' Early Death

He died, aged only 60, on 8 July 1983.

His black granite headstone in the Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, is adorned with a carved Lithuanian cross, his name, birthdate and date of death.

Antanas Galatiltis headstone in the Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, Adelaide

CITE THIS AS:  Pocius, Daina and Tündern-Smith, Ann (2026) 'Antanas Galatiltis (1923-1983): From Farm Boy to Electrical Engineer', https://firsttransport.blogspot.com/2026/03/antanas-galatiltis-1923-1983-from-farm-boy-to-electrical-engineer.html

SOURCES

'Folder DP1129, names from GALANTER, HUNA to GALAUSKA, Reinis (2)', 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 67117458 (?tanas GALATILTÍS), ITS Digital Archive/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/67117458?s=GALATILTIS%20&t=2737450&p=0, accessed 4 March 2026.

Adelaidės Lietuvių Žinios (Adelaide Lithuanian News) (1983) [No title] Adelaide,17 July, p 9. [Copy in the Australian Lithuanian Archive, Adelaide.]

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1960) 1960 ‘Mūsų baigusieji Adelaidėje’ (‘Our Graduates in Adelaide) Sydney, NSW, 6 May, p 3 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1960/1960-05-06-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 4 March 2026.

Nagys, Pranas (1997) ‘Pirmieji metai Australijoje, Kuriamės Pietų Kryžiaus žarnyne’ (‘The first year in Australia, We are building in the bowels of the Southern Cross', in Lithuanian) Mųsų Pastogė, Sydney, NSW, 26 May, p 6 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-05-26-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 4 March 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D 4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-1976; GALATITIS ANTANAS, GALATILTIS Antanas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1956 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7207511, accessed 26 September 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; GALATILTIS ANTANAS, GALATILTIS, Antanas : Year of Birth - 1923 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number - 759, 1947-1948 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203670934, accessed 4 March 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; NAGYS PRANAS, NAGYS, Pranas : Year of Birth - 1923 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. BLACK : Number - [UNKNOWN], 1948-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203717138, accessed 4 March 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; GALATILTIS ANTANAS, GALATILTIS, Antanas : Year of Birth - 1923 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 759, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203670934, accessed 26 September 2025.

Wikipedia ‘Švenčionys’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0ven%C4%8Dionys, accessed 4 March 2026.

Antanas Martisius (1923-?) Another Who Left, by Ann Tündern-Smith and Rasa Ščevinksienė

Few public records

Antanas Martisius is one of the 31 Heintzelman passengers whose selection papers have gone missing. In addition, there were 3 Displaced Persons with the same name in Germany after World War II.

At least we know from his Bonegilla card that our Antanas had a birthdate of 1 December 1923, so we can focus on a man with that name and birthdate. The Bonegilla card also says that he was one of the 7 sent to the Pyramid Hill Quarries in northwest Victoria.

Antanas' photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Antanas' Lithuanian past

The DP Registration Record form completed in Germany in November 1946 says he was born in Šakai in Marijampolė County, now close to the eastern border of the Kaliningrad exclave. His parents were Juozas Martisius and the former Prančiska Butkiūte.

His usual trade or occupation was stated to be smith, which presumably was a blacksmith as opposed to workers in metals other than iron.

A 1942 census in Lithuania, conducted despite the War, gives more information about Antanas and his family.

They actually lived in the Daugėliškiai village in the Šakiai district.  The parents married in 1921.  The census shows that they had had 9 children 21 years later, of whom 8 had survived (4 daughters and 4 sons). 

Antanas was born in Daugėliškiai village and had finished elementary school.  He was working as a metal turner at the Malcanas agricultural machinery factory in Šakiai.  Being what Australians call a "fitter and turner" would explain the "smith" description on his DP registration form.

Alien Registration Details

His Alien Registration Application form says that he was 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, so he towered almost as much as the 6 feet 3 inch (1.9 m) tall Lembit Koplus, his fellow Pyramid Hill worker.

The file which contains his Alien Registration Application form also has his original Certificate of Registration under the Aliens Act, a passport-like document. It was issued in September 1952 to replace an earlier Certificate which was mutilated. This means that there is no record of his movements after leaving the Bonegilla Camp for Pyramid Hill until a Rae Street, Fitzroy, address at the start of the new Certificate.

Later changes of address were to a hostel in Eildon, Victoria, in September 1953 and to semi-rural Clarinda, then on the outskirts of Melbourne but now definitely a southeastern suburb, in July 1956.

Antanas Leaves

Then the final record states that Antanas left the Commonwealth (of Australia) on 11 July 1958 on a passenger ship, the Oronsay. It sailed a trans-Pacific route, stopping at both Vancouver, Canada, and San Francisco in the United States.

The Oransay was favoured by several others who left Australia for the Americas. The first was Viktoras Kuciauskas in 1956, bound for the love of his life in the United States. The peripatetic Vladas Navickas left Australia on this ship in early in 1959. Veronika Tutins, now Brokans, travelled on the Oronsay with her family in 1960, probably with the aim of joining her successful brother-in-law.

After Antanas left Sydney on the Oronsay, the trail has gone cold. There appear to be no further public records of the life of our Antanas Martisius.

SOURCES

‘Folder DP2579, names from MARTINSONS, MARIA to MARTON, IBOLYA (2)’ 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 68195911 (Antanas MARTISIUS), ITS/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68195911, accessed 2 March 2026.

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, Victorian Branch; B78, Alien registration documents, 1948-1965; 1958/MARTISIUS A, MARTISIUS Antanas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1958 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6036235, accessed 3 March 2026.

National Archive of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; MARTISIUS ANTANAS, MARTISIUS, Antanas : Year of Birth - 1923 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 964 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203615119, accessed 3 March 2026.

VšĮ Genealoginiai surašymai (Public Institution Genealogical Censuses) 'Šeimos surašymas 1942 metais' ('Family Census in 1942', in Lithuanian) https://eu3.ragic.com/genealogija/census/3/19406.xhtml, accessed 4 March 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Clarinda, Victoria’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarinda,_Victoria, accessed 3 March 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Marijampolė County’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijampolė_County, accessed 2 March 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Šakai’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0akiai, accessed 2 March 2026.

Wikipedia ‘SS Oronsay (1950)’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Oronsay_(1950), accessed 2 March 2026.

Vladas (Vlad or Wally) Akumbakas (1928-2002), sportsman, dancer, singer, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Many of the men who were brought to Australia on the First Transport, the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman, were sent to where they could contribute to the production of materials for houses. It often was timber-cutting but, in the case of Vladas Akumbas, it was rooftile-making followed by a career in carpet manufacture.

Vladas Akumbakas ID photo from his selection papers for migration to Australia

Source:  National Archives of Australia

We have looked at the lives of Juozas and Jurgis Zilinskas, 2 of the 5 men from the First Transport sent to work for the Department of Works and Housing in Canberra on 3 August 1948. Vladas was another of this group but an Alien Registration record shows that he was not directed to the Canberra Brickworks like the Zilinskas brothers. Instead, he was sent to the recently opened Monier factory in The Causeway in Canberra, where machinery to make roof tiles had been installed at the start of the year.

ACT Representative Basketballer, 1949

By November 1948, there were known to be about 70 Lithuanians in Canberra, plus Latvians and Estonians, so the Lithuanian men had started a basketball team, Balts. Vladas was a member. The team was so good that it had won its 5 first matches against locals by more than double the other teams’ score, but a major test came in when it met the visiting senior Sydney YMCA team.

The Sydney team contained 3 former State representatives and was on the hunt for that season’s State title. Despite Balts’ “play (being) the cleverest seen in Canberra” according to the Canberra Times, the Sydney team succeeded when the locals could not.  It won with a score nearly double the Balts.

Vladas continued to play while in Canberra, although sometimes with Balts II team.  He still was good enough to be chosen for an ACT representative team sent to the 1949 NSW country championships.  Fellow researcher and Blogger, Jonas Mockūnas, says that the team did so well it finished second.

Balts basketball team, perhaps in Newcastle:
we think that Vladas is number 10, second from the left

Source:  Canberra Lithuanian Community

While making roofing tiles in Canberra, Vladas lived in the Capital Hill Hostel. The location will be familiar to most Australians as the place where Australia’s permanent Parliament House now sits. Operating roof tile machines was Vladas’ second job in Australia. His first was as kitchenhand in the Bonegilla camp from 15 December 1947 for 7 months. He was one of the men who did not go fruit-picking.

While there, he was a member of the table tennis team called, again, Balts, along with Gunars Berzarrins (whose story we have visited already), Janis Belousovs and someone called Nimrods Miltins who had arrived on the Third Transport. (The Third Transport was the General WM Black, which reached Melbourne on 27 April 1948 with 860 Displaced Persons, that is, refugees.)

Table tennis reports in the Border Morning Mail indicate that various other Bonegilla residents were on the team at various times, perhaps depending on whether playing conflicted with their work schedule. On both occasions when Vladas was reported as playing, he was a partner in a winning doubles combination.

Vladas’ German Heritage

Vladas had German parentage on both sides. His paternal grandfather was an Achenbach. That family name was Lithuanised gradually according to Vladas’ obituarist, JNP, to Achumbachas before Vladas’ father changed it to Akumbakas.

His father, a shoemaker, had started life as Pranas Achumbachas, born on 22 April 1899.  His mother was Emilija Meyer, born on 21 January 1899.  Vladas had been born on 1 September 1928 in Veliuona, on the Nemunas River.  At school, Vladas learnt German as well as Lithuanian.

Vladas had fled the Soviet return to Lithuania with his whole family: both parents and at least 3 of his 4 siblings. In 1947, the family was living in the Watenstedt Displaced Persons camp. Watenstedt is part of the conglomeration of towns and villages which form the city of Salzgitter in Lower Saxony.

That's what he told the Australian interviewers in October 1947.  One source has a contrary account, that his family were among those of German descent assisted out of the Baltic States by the German Government in 1939.

Returning to the Fatherland in 1939

Hitler's Germany ran a Heim ins Reich ("home to the Reich" in English) program from October 1936 for Germans whose families had migrated eastwards in recent or long-ago decades.  Propaganda was used to create a belief in those of German ancestry that they should return to contribute to the fatherland.

The foreign ministers of Germany and the Soviet Union, Ribbentrop and Molotov, signed a secret non-agression pact on 23 August 1939.  Significantly for residents of the Baltic States, Germany ceded to the Soviet Union the right to occupy these countries.  Presumably it was about this time that Germany intensified its efforts to bring Baltic residents of German descent back, as 1939 is the widely used reference year for their departure.

They were not taken to Germany though, but to the recently occupied Poland, where they were likely to find themselves placed on farms which had been seized from their Polish owners.  How they then got from there to Germany when the Soviet Union decided to invade Poland is another story.

After the War, international organisations were set up to organise orderly resettlement of those stranded in Germany because they were unwilling or unable to return to their homelands.  The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was the first, eventually folded into the International Refugee Organisation.

Most of those of German descent who had gotten as far as Poland during 1939–41 were deemed by the international organisations not to be eligible for Displaced Person status.  They were seen as having accepted Nazi citizenship and resettlement privileges voluntarily.

There were case-by-case exceptions though, which might have included the Akumbakas family.  Some who could prove persecution by the Soviets after 1945 or loss of German or Baltic citizenship were recognised as displaced. A few who had never been full Reich citizens or who had been minors during the war were accepted on humanitarian grounds.

When he interviewed at the Buchholz camp for possible settlement in Australia, Vladas’ parents were recorded as his dependents.  That meant that he would not have been one of those moved as a minor during the war.

The only work that he had done in the previous five years was as a lumber worker for the previous six months.

Migration to Australia

A fit young Displaced Person who was willing to undertake heavy labour was an ideal for which the Australian selection team was looking.  On 28 October 1947, Vladas found himself on the First Transport to Australia.  His parents, Pranas and Emilija, with his sister, Marija, 4 years younger than Vladas, also migrated to Australia.  They arrived together on 13 April 1950 on board the General WM Black, the 105th Transport.

Another sister, Ona, with her Latvian husband, Arnolds Dreijalds, had arrived in Adelaide on board the 28th Transport, the Goya, on 2 May 1949.  This was the first time that one of the ships bringing Displaced Persons to Australia under the IRO Mass Scheme had gone directly to Adelaide.  It meant that Pranas, Emilija, and Marija also went to Adelaide one year later to join Ona, rather than staying in their city of arrival, Melbourne.

The youngest member of the family, son Vytautas, made the trip when he too was 19 going on 20, in March 1956 on board the Himalaya. Perhaps the family had left him behind in Germany to continue his education there. Or, see below, perhaps he had arrived first much earlier but returned to Germany.

After Bonegilla

The Alien Registration record still held by the National Archives in Adelaide shows that Vladas was in Melbourne by December 1949.  The card shows 4 different addresses in Melbourne up until August 1951.  The employment details have been left blank.  It is hard to believe that Vladas spent this time unemployed, the alternative being that his Canberra employer, Monier Tile Co, applied to his Melbourne employment too.

Old Folks Home, Magill, an Adelaide suburb, is the next place of employment, with Vladas living in the adjacent suburb of Rostrevor.  He must have decided to try rejoining his family.

The Alien Registration card records that his documents were transferred back to Melbourne in June 1953.  We know from an obituary that he had married a Lithuanian, Genė Karčiauskaitę, in 1952.  At a guess, this was in Melbourne and was one of the reasons why Vladas did not stay in Adelaide.

The marriage produced one daughter in 1953, recorded variously as Diana or Dana. Perhaps, like the lead author of this article, her name actually is Daina.

40 and more years in Melbourne

This seems to be the time when Vladas joined Red Book Carpets, working with this manufacturer for the next 40 years. He rose to the position of supervisor. He even started a company basketball team which won a few evening competitions.

Another reason for returning to Melbourne could have been his involvement in its Lithuanian community.  Vladas became such an active member of the Lithuanian Club that he was made an Honorary Member.  He organised and participated in sports, danced with folk dancers and sang with the choir.  He also had a passion for billiards, donating a table to the Club.

Daina asked followers of the Australian Lithuanian Archive (which she directs) Facebook page what they remembered of Vladas.  They definitely remembered the billiard table donation.  “A lovely gentleman … a good friend of my parents”, one person wrote.   “I remember him as someone with a kind, gentle demeanor.”

Citizens

Vladas’ parents with daughter Ona were the first members of the family to become Australian citizens, on 26 February 1958. Despite his apparently short time in Australia, the youngest, Vytautas, was next, on 28 September 1959. (The publicly available 1956 arrival must have been his second time to Australia, as he must have met the 5 years’ residence requirement before applying.)

Vladas and Genė followed on 13 December 1960.

Back to Adelaide

After his retirement, with his daughter and her family moved to Queensland, he began to feel lonely.  As well, he was living with high blood pressure and experiencing heart problems.  Ona and Marija worried about him, so they asked him to Adelaide again.  This time, in 1999, he moved in with Marija and her husband, Fritz Schmelzle.  Once again, he missed his Melbourne friends and the Club but, this time, there was no going back.

He died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 15 August 2002.  His funeral was held one week later, in Adelaide’s St. Casimir's Lithuanian Church, with the priest celebrating Mass in English and preaching in both Lithuanian and English.  His ashes were buried with his parents in the Enfield Cemetery.

Obituaries

Vladas was so special that he merited not just one obituary, but two, both in Tėviškes Aidai.  The first, from the Lithuanian community’s Melbourne District Council, begins with some poetry from J. Mikštas.  This is of note because J. Mikštas was the pen name adopted by another First Transport passenger, Juozas Silainis. It could be translated as

My grave is far from Lithuania,

and none of my friends in the motherland will visit me.

The leaves from my garden's trees will not fall on it –

and larks will not feed in the native fields ...

CITE THIS AS: Pocius, Daina and Tündern-Smith, Ann (2026) 'Vladas (Vlad or Wally) Akumbakas (1928-2002)'.

Vladas' name had not been added to this gravestone when it was photographed in 2017

Source:  Find A Grave

SOURCES

Adelaide Cemetery Authority https://aca.sa.gov.au/aca-records/, accessed 8 January 2026.

Anon (2002) 'Obituary of Vladas (Wally) Akumbakas, 17 August 2002', unpublished obituary held by the Australian Lithuanian Archive, Adelaide.

Australijos Lietuvis (The Australian Lithuanian) (1948) 'Lietuviai Australijoje’, Adelaide, 20 December, p 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280322550, accessed 30 Aug 2025.

Border Morning Mail (1948) 'Table Tennis', Albury, 10 June, p 12, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263466128, accessed 31 August 2025.

Border Morning Mail (1948) 'Revised Draw', Albury, 1 July, p 11, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263775553 accessed 31 Aug 2025.

Canberra Times (1948) 'Tile Output to Reach 5,000 a Day Next Month', Canberra, 8 January, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2734498, accessed 30 Aug 2025.

Canberra Times (1948) 'Balts To Meet Visiting Sydney Basketball Team', (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 26 November, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2778013, accessed 30 Aug 2025,

Canberra Times (1949) 'Basketball Games', Canberra, 1 April, p 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2797427, accessed 30 August 2025.

Canberra Times (1949) 'Men's Basketball', Canberra, 9 June, p 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2808185, accessed 30 August 2025.

Canberra Times (1949) 'Men's Basketball', Canberra, 24 June, p 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2810491, accessed 30 August 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1958) 'Certificates Of Naturalization’, Canberra,18 September, p 3097, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240882136, accessed 30 August 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1960) 'Certificates Of Naturalization’, Canberra, 11 February, p 548, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article241002076, accessed 30 August 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1961) 'Certificates Of Naturalization’, Canberra, 6 April, p 1358, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article241005016, accessed 30 August 2025.

Find a Grave, 'Vladas Akumbakas' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158706787/vladas-akumbakas, accessed 5 September 2025.

'JNP' (2002) ‘A † A Vladas Akumbakas’ (‘In Memoriam, Vladas Akumbakas’, in Lithuanian) Tėviškes Aidai (Echoes of the Homeland), Melbourne, 2 October, pp 7-8 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/2002/2002-10-02-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 1 September 2025.

Melbourno Apylinkės Valdyba (Melbourne District Council) (2002) ‘A † A Vladas Akumbakas’ (‘In Memoriam, Vladas Akumbakas’, in Lithuanian) Tėviškes Aidai (Echoes of the Homeland), Melbourne, 18 September, p 7 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/2002/2002-09-18-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 1 September 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series (1946-1976); AKUMBAKAS VLADAS, AKUMBAKAS Vladas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947 (1947-1953) recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8108201, accessed 1 September 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); 6, AKUMBAKAS Vladas DOB 1 September 1928 (1947-1947) recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005449, accessed 1 September 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla] (1947-1956); AKUMBAKAS VLADAS, AKUMBAKAS, Vladas : Year of Birth - 1928 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 406 (1947-1948) recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203672805, accessed 1 September 2025.

Petraitis, Father Juozas (2002) 'A † A Vladas Akumbakas' (‘In Memoriam, Vladas Akumbakas’, in Lithuanian) Tėviškes Aidai (Echoes of the Homeland), Melbourne, 18 August, p 8

Refugee/Displaced Person Statistical Card, ‘Dreijalds, born Akumbakas, Ona’, 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/66925788, accessed 31 August 2025.

Šventadienio Balsas – Lietuvių žinios [Sunday Voice  – Lithuanian News] (2002) [No title] Adelaide, 25 August, p 4, held by the Australian Lithuanian Archive, Adelaide.

Wikipedia ‘Salzgitter’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzgitter, accessed 1 September 2025.

Stasys Domkus (1920-1998): A Tasmanian First Swallow, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 21 March 2026.

First Swallows

The Lithuanians from the First Transport, the General Stuart Heintzelman, who settled in Tasmania from early 1948 onwards, called themselves “the First Swallows”.  Not just in Lithuania, swallows are widely regarded as the heralds of spring and the return of warmer weather, so they symbolise renewal, hope, and new beginnings.  In Lithuania, their nesting in house eaves is believed to protect the home against fire and evil spirits.

Stasys Domkus qualified as a First Swallow, having been sent to Tasmania on 5 April 1948.  This was after he had spent more than 2 months picking fruit in the Victorian orchard of W Young, whose Ardmona business was called Kelvin Orchards.

Stasys Domkus, 1947, in a photograph from his selection papers

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Stasys works in Tasmania

Stasys’ Bonegilla card does not tell us what he was to do in Tasmania but Ramunas Tarvydas, in From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, says that his first job there was more fruit picking, at a place called Premaydena.  Tasmania being the Apple Isle, the fruit in this instance surely was apples.

Stasys may have stayed at Premaydena for several years, since Tarvydas lists his next employment as EZ Risdon from 1952 to 1955.  What he was doing in Premaydena when all the apples were picked we do not know.  Perhaps he was helping generally around the orchard which employed him or several orchards, because there always is more work to be done.

EZ Risdon is shorthand for the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australia at suburban Risdon in Tasmania’s capital city, Hobart.  The EZ Risdon factory had opened in 1918, at a time when there was a shortage of zinc throughout the British Empire.  The metal was necessary then for the production of weapons.  While the ore came from Broken Hill in northwest New South Wales, the plant was in Tasmania because of the availability of cheap hydroelectricity.

Stasys moved on to the Cadbury’s chocolate factory, staying there for the rest of his working life.

Stasys' family and citizenship

Around that time, on 17 November 1956, Stays married Kristina Petraitytė in the Hobart Cathedral.  The reception was in the spacious home of her parents.  The house was full of guests, young and old danced and sang Lithuanian songs.  The wedding lasted two days.

The Domkus family, parents and 2 sons, Antanas and Juozas, participated in Lithuanian community meetings, picnics, and church.  Stasys was secretary of the Hobart Lithuanian community for many years.

Stasys took his oath of allegiance to become an Australian citizen before the Lord Mayor of Hobart on 19 March 1958.

Tragedy struck when Juozas died in a car accident in 1992, followed by Kristina dying of cancer in 1996.  Kristina was much younger than Stasys, and only 58 when she died.

Juozas Domkas' plaque, which must have been prepared after his mother died in 1996

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Kristina Domkas' plaque in Cornelian Bay Cemetery

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Stasys' death and funeral

Stays spent his last couple of years in The Gardens retirement village.  He died on 13 July 1998, aged 77.  Ramunas Tarvydas wrote in an obituary that at least a hundred friends and acquaintances, Lithuanian and Australian, gathered to farewell him.  To honour a former soldier, his casket was draped in the three-coloured Lithuanian flag.

After the singing of the Lithuanian national anthem, the casket was escorted from the church by other First Swallows, Irena Jurevičienė (née Naujokatiene), Česlovas Juškevičius, Henrikas Juodvalkis, Povilas Auksorius, Jurgis Valius and Vladas Mikelaitis.

His body was cremated in Cornelian Bay Crematorium.  In addition to his son, Antanas, Antanas' wife and their two children, Kristin and Kendall, he left behind his mother-in-law and 2 sisters-in-law.

Stasys Domkas' plaque in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Ramunas wrote, “Stasys buvo švelnaus būdo, su humoru, sąžiningas, malonus visiems”. That’s Lithuanian for "Stasys was gentle, humorous, honest, and kind to everyone."

Life in Lithuania and Germany

Ramunas also wrote that he was born in 1920 in Kuršėnai, approximately halfway between the larger towns of Šiauliai and Telšiai in Lithuania.  The actual date of birth was 20 October 1920.  In addition to their one son, his parents had 3 daughters.  The record of his interview by the selection panel for resettlement in Australia says that he received 5 years of schooling, which was one year more than the Lithuanian minimum.

After he finished his schooling, he volunteered to join the Lithuanian army.  When the Soviets occupied Lithuania, his unit became part of the Red Army.  Later it became part of the German Army, which undoubtedly is how he found himself retreating to Germany in 1944.

At least, this military story is the one recorded by Ramunas Tarvydas in the obituary for Stasys, 50 years after his arrival in Australia.  A different story appears on an Australian form titled Particulars of Displaced Persons wishing to Emigrate to Australia completed on 24 September 1947.  There, a typist has recorded that Stasys was born in Tauragė, more than 100 kilometres away from Kuršėnai.  Tauragė is also the birthplace stated on 2 forms for the Department of Immigration completed in Australis.

Stasys had been working as a labourer for the previous 5 months in Germany.  Prior to that, he had worked for 7 years in a meat export factory in Lithuania.  Might this have been the Maistas factory in Šiauliai where another man about to board the First Transport, Algirdas Undzenas, had been one of the directors?

Working in a meat export factory might explain also why the Australian selection panel’s report of its interview with Stasys said that he had been “forcibly evacuated by the Germans for labour”.  It also said that he had arrived in Germany in September 1944, which was even as the Soviet forces returned to his homeland.

The Arolsen Archives has one document on Stasys which tell us only his Displaced Persons number in addition to his name, birthdate and Roman Catholic religion.  There is also a list of Lithuanians in the German town of Amberg, but it gives no birthdates, meaning that we do not know if it is naming our Stasys Domkus or a namefellow born 3 years later.  At the time of his interview for resettlement in Australia, Stasys was living in a camp in Buchholz, one of the places where the Australians interviewed.

In conclusion

Regardless of which version of his later years in Lithuania and his move to Germany is closer to the truth, Stasys was an ideal settler who contributed to Australia through his work here and his roles in the local Lithuanian community.

Footnote

Stasys' younger son, Antanas, is now known from the Find A Grave Website to have lived an unfortunately short life, like his brother Juozas.  The plaque below shows that he died shortly after his 53rd birthday.  His wife, Michelle, died only 5 weeks later.

At least the mention of grandchildren on Antanas' plaque shows that there is another generation of descendants growing up in Tasmania.

Antanas Domkus' plaque in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Sources

Find A Grave 'Anthony John Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212900430/anthony-john-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Joseph Phillip Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212982261/joseph-phillip-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Kristina Birgita Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212987160/kristina-brigita-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Michelle Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212900446/michelle-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Stasys Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/224769074/stasys-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

‘Folder DP0842, names from DOMITAR, Radolf to DON, Moszka (1)’, 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 66913253 (Stasys DOMKUS), ITS Digital Archive/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/66913253, accessed 20 February 2026.

‘Folder 10: DP Listen Amberg’ 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 81961491, ITS Digital Archive/Arolsen Archives DocID: 81961491, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/81961491, accessed 20 February 2026.

‘k.p’ (1956) ‘Hobart Lietuviškos vestuvės’ (‘Hobart Lithuanian Wedding’, in Lithuanian) Teviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) Melbourne, Vic, 29 November, p 4 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1956/1956-nr42-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 20 February 2026.

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; 66, DOMKUS Stasys DOB 20 October 1920, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005502, accessed 20 February 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Tasmanian Branch; P3, Personal case files, annual single number series with 'T' (Tasmania) prefix, 1951-; T1971/2200, Domkus, Stasys, 1957-58 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9590631, accessed 20 February 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; DOMKUS STASYS, DOMKUS, Stasys : Year of Birth - 1920 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 466, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203655944, accessed 20 February 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, p 162.

Tarvydas, Ramunas (1998) ‘Tasmanija’ (‘Tasmania’, in Lithuanian) Teviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) Melbourne, Vic, 4 August, p 8 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1998/1998-08-04-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 20 February 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Amberg’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberg, accessed 20 February 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Risdon Zinc Works’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risdon_Zinc_Works, accessed 20 February 2026.