Showing posts with label Narbutas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Narbutas. 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.

07 September 2025

The Three Smilgevicius Passengers on the Heintzelman, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 14-16, 24 and 26 September, and 1 October 2025.

Looking through the list of names of those who arrived on the First Transport, the General Stuart Heintzelman, we often wonder about relationships and friendships between those on board. When we see the same surname, our first thought is, are they related? Maybe they are brothers, or cousins? When Daina saw the name Smilgevicius three times, she wanted to know if there was a connection.

Izidorius Smilgevičius

Izidorius, or Izzy as he was known in Australia, was born on the 11 February 1924 in the village of Truikiai, close to the town of Plungė. Named after his father, he was a farm worker while residing in Lithuania. The population at the time Izidorius lived in Truikiai was about the same as it is today, around 150.

He was only 22 years old when he arrived in Australia. He was described on his arrival statement as having worked previously as a general labourer. He therefore was suited to continuing to work as a labourer.

Izzy's ID photo from his Bonegilla card

He was among 185 Baltic men sent from the Bonegilla camp to pick fruit in northern Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, in his case, for Messrs Dundas Simson in Ardmona.

When that fruit season finished, Izzy returned to Bonegilla on 31 March 1948. With still most of his two-year contract to work, his next placement was to Tasmania, where he was sent after 4 days back in Bonegilla.

Izzy’s Bonegilla card does not say what he was to do in Tasmania. Ramunas Tarvydas, in his From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, fills in the missing information. Ramunas or Ray says that Izzy first picked apples in the Huon Valley in the southeast of Tasmania. When that work finished, the Commonwealth Employment service sent him to the northwest, to work for the Electrolytic Zinc Company at Rosebery. His working and living conditions, and his Baltic companions, are described in Jonas Mockunas’ recent entry in this blog.

An Alien Registration file for one of Izzy's fellow workers, Juozas Jablonskis, records that these two had absconded from Rosebery, along with Juozas Paskevicius and Jonas Rauba.  They had been thoughtful enough to write to the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) in Queenstown to say that they were leaving.  A few days later, in February 1949, the senior CES official in Tasmania sent a second letter to the Commonwealth Migration Officer in that State, saying that all 4 were thought to be at a specific address in East Melbourne.

The next letter from the CES to the Commonwealth Migration Officer, Hobart, states that all 4 had been found to be working for Hume Steel in Footscray while still living at the East Melbourne address.  By this time, March 1949, the CES had been dealing with enough absconders to decide that, if they found new work of a kind that happened to be in the national interest, they should be left to pursue it.  

The building products manufactured by Hume Steel would have fitted into that category.  The CES Director, Hobart, advised his Immigration counterpart that the Melbourne CES was taking no further action pending further advice.  There are no more relevant papers on the Jablonskis file so we can assume that there was no further action.

A professional portrait of Izidorius
Source:  Collection of Izidorius Smilgevičius

In Melbourne, Izidorius married Victorian-born Clara Edith Matthews, ten years his senior, and became a house painter.  He is recorded as being an early donor to the Melbourne Lithuanian Club and a member of the Melbourne Lithuanian Catholic parish.

Ann discovered a message online from Clara’s niece, Joy Spain, after she had posted the First Transport’s passenger list to the Immigrant Ships Transcribers’ Guild Website. Izzy was in a high-care nursing home and wanted to see a picture of the ship which brought him to Australia, so Joy took Ann to visit him there in 2012.  Although Joy’s message said that Izzy was in reasonable health, he clearly was bedridden but pleased to see his ship again.

Izidorius died two years later, on 6 December 2014 aged 90 years.  Clara had passed away almost 23 years previously in 1981.  They are buried together in the Warringal Cemetery, in Heidelberg, Melbourne.

Izzy and Clara Smilgevicius' headstone in the Warringal Cemetery
Source:  John William Constantine through Find A Grave

Jurgis Smilgevičius

Jurgis was born on the 22 June 1919, in the Laumakiai manor, located near the beautiful Venta River, in the Šiauliai district. Here he was taught to read and write at home. His parents died, leaving him an orphan the age of ten. His maternal uncle, Liudvikas Ragauskas, took him into his family.

His obituary in Mūsų Pastogė, the main Lithuanian newspaper in Australia, said that he finished 4 classes at the Kelmė school and another 4 at the Šiauliai Boys' school in 1937. His selection papers for migration to Australia confirm that he had finished a full 8 years of secondary education.

In 1937, Jurgis entered the Military School. In 1938, he graduated with the rank of artillery reserve lieutenant. During 1938-40, he studied electrical engineering at the Vytautas the Great University in Kaunas. When the University was closed during WWII, Jurgis moved to Germany and finished his studies in 1947 at the Technical University of Braunschweig, majoring in electrical engineering.

Here was another Lithuanian with a full 12 years of school plus a higher education. His military career and his degree in electrical engineering from Braunsweig follow the same pattern as that recently described for Jonas Motiejūnas. Perhaps they even were in the same classes.

Like Jonas, he was accepted for resettlement in Australia in October 1947, and sailed on the First Transport.

Jurgis Smilgevicius from his selection papers for Australia

His uncle Liudvikas also came to Australia, on the Anna Salen arriving on 22 June 1949. Sadly, Liudvikas was only in Australia for five years before he died of a heart attack. The Communists had taken his wife and three children to Siberia, and he had been imprisoned in a Communist prison for a long time. When Liudvikas declared his intention to be naturalised in the year before he died, his place of residence was given as Sunbury Mental Hospital (where he probably was working).

Jurgis’ first job in Australia had nothing to do with electrical or any other kind of engineering. Instead, he joined the fruit-pickers in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley from 29 January 1948, working for Mr E Fairley of Shepparton. After the season ended and he returned to the Bonegilla camp on 1 April, his next employer was the Templestowe Brickworks, in Heidelberg, Melbourne, starting two weeks later.

On his 50th birthday in June 1969, Jurgis celebrated with friends in Geelong and spoke about himself and the difficulties he had encountered. The brickyard foreman would point the workers out to customers as if they special attractions — here a professor, here a doctor, a lawyer or engineer. Fortunately, it did not take long for a happy coincidence to allow Jurgis’ qualifications to be recognised, so he began working in his specialty.

He married Regina Narbutaitė, who had arrived on the Second Transport, the General Stewart, on 12 February 1948. They married on 20 December 1948 in Melbourne. It was a civil registry wedding rather than a church one, because Jurgis had to describe himself as divorced.

Jurgis Smilgevicius in 1947

Jurgis was married before the War and had two daughters, Violeta and Liliana. They were separated by the flight to Germany. The two girls with their mother, Valentina, and grandmother, Marija, were resettled in Michigan, USA. Jurgis was able to meet Violeta when she visited Australia 30 years later. Jurgis travelled to Michigan to visit them as well.

One month after the marriage, Jurgis lodged a sponsorship to bring Regina’s 61-year-old father to Australia from Germany. He reported that he was earning £8/5/- per week at the brickworks while Regina was able to earn £5/5/- each week.

Jurgis’ income translates into only $16.50 in decimal currency, but its buying power now would be about $570, adjusting for inflation. As of November 1948, the basic wage for men was £5/19/-, so Jurgis’ income compares well as it was nearly 40 per cent higher. Regina, of course, was earning only three-quarters of the £7/-/- a man would be paid for doing her work.

The speed with which Regina and then her father followed Jurgis to Australia makes us think that this was a special friendship which had developed in a Displaced Persons camp in the British Zone, where these two had found refuge. Valentina, in the American Zone, signed an English-language letter on 4 October, her signature certified by the camp’s Executive Officer, stating that she had not lived with her husband since 1944. She further declared that she had no objections to her husband migrating to Australia and that she would “not raise any summons” against the Australian Government for supporting her family or “other matters concerning (her) husband”.

This must have cleared the way for the early migration of this still married man, after the Australian Government had made it clear that all on the First Transport were to be single people. This was to give officials greater freedom to send the new arrivals where they were most required without having to worry about their dependents.

Jurgis was one of the founding members of the Melbourne Lithuanian community and was elected to its first committee in August 1948.

There was a major housing shortage in Australia’s cities after WWII, given that those who would have been building new accommodation were fighting instead. As a consequence, rents were high. Jurgis and Regina saved hard for a deposit, which he put down on a housing block. 

He started to build a small house, a tiny house even, with an area of 14 square metres. He worked on it at weekends. Living there was hard for his wife, as running water and electricity were not connected at first. Regina gave birth to both their daughters from this unfinished house.

Jurgis and Regina's first home
Source:  Mockūnienė, Lietuviai Australijoje

On 25 August 1955, Jurgis and Regina Smilgevicius became naturalised Australians. This was reported separately for each by Commonwealth Gazette but the address in both reports was the same. The new house was at 38 Clyde Steet in the west Melbourne suburb of Newport.

Jurgis worked as an engineer for Melbourne’s trams and for the State Electricity Commission. In the Commonwealth Department of Civil Aviation, he was appointed in October 1958 to the position of Airway Engineer on a salary range of £903-£1,353 per annum, which the Reserve Bank calculates now would buy $35,000-$52,000. Since salaries have risen faster than inflation for the past 67 years, we can say that he definitely had a good income. Another way of looking at that income is to look at the basic wage for men in 1958, which was less than half of Jurgis’ starting salary, at £425.

In February 1972, Regina too joined the Federal Public Service, as an Assistant Postal Officer Grade 1 with the Postmaster General’s Department. Her salary was not published in the Commonwealth Gazette notifying her appointment

After retiring in 1980, they moved to Surfers Paradise. In 1981 they initiated a meeting of local Lithuanians and the formation of an eldership (Lietuvių Seniūnijus). Initially it was only a group of 10, but when it grew to over 30, 8 years later, he passed on his role as secretary.

Jurgis Smilgevicius (left) with Antanas Vailionis, Liudas Krašauskas, and Juozas Songaila
Source:  Gold Coast Lithuanian newsletter, 9 March 2003

He was reported to have been the sort of person who got on well with everyone.

Jurgis passed away on the Gold Coast on14 October 2006. His ashes are interred in the Allambe Memorial Park, Nerang, Gold Coast City, Queensland.

Jurgis Smilgevicius' plaque in a rose garden at the Allambe Memorial Park

Kazys Smilgevičius

Kazys was born in Jankaičiai village, in the district of Rietavas, Lithuania, on 18 December 1922.  The population of this village has shrunk from 123 at the time of Kazys' birth to 10 in 2011, the latest available figures.

He was a tailor and single when he arrived in Australia on board the General Stuart Heinzelman on 28 November 1947. After a short time in Bonegilla, he was one of the 64 sent to Adelaide to labour for the South Australian Government’s Department of Engineering and Water Supply (E&WS) at Bedford Park.

Later he worked for the E&WS at Port Lincoln and Murdinga on the Eyre Peninsula, then moved to General Motors-Holden (GMH) to work as a spot welder. As the Adelaide News in May 1949 reported that he had been living in North Adelaide for about 6 months, he probably had been able to find his GMH job in late 1948 (with Commonwealth Employment Service and Department of Immigration permission, of course).

Kazys’ time in Australia was only beginning when tragedy stuck.

Kazys Smilgevicius' death as reported in the Adelaide Advertiser of 21 May 1949
Source:  Trove

He had been in Australia for less than 18 months.

He lies buried in West Terrace cemetery with a headstone erected by the Lithuanian community. The inscription “Teesie tavo valia” usually is rendered in English as “Thy will be done”.

Kazys Smilgevicius' headstone in the West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide

Conclusion

After researching the three Smilgevičius men, we could see that they are not related. The common features that Daina has noted are that all three are Žemaičiai (the plural of Žemaičias, meaning someone from Žemaitija) and all three are buried in a foreign land far from their home of birth.

Žemaitija or Samogitia is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Located in the northwest "lowland" of the country, its capital is Telšiai and the largest city is Šiauliai. Through the centuries, Samogitia has developed a separate culture featuring with its own architecture, folk costumes, dances, songs, traditions, and a distinct language. A Žemaitis trait is stubbornness: they never give up when in trouble and stubbornly pursue a goal. That’s a perfect characteristic for thriving in a new country.

Sources

Advertiser (1949) ‘Balt found dead after accident’ Adelaide, 21 May, page 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36367983, accessed 11 May 2025.

Age (1954) ‘Public Notices (Ragauskas Liuduikas)’ Melbourne, 14 July, p 11 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/19714654, accessed 6 September 2025.

Australijos Lietuvis [Australian Lithuanian] (1949) ‘Ie Vėl Tragiška Lietuvio Mirtis [‘Here Comes Another Tragic Death of a Lithuanian’, in Lithuanian] Adelaide, 23 May, p 10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/280321223, accessed 11 May 2025.

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Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1956), ‘Certificates of Naturalization’, 5 January, p 14 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232876169/25098341, accessed 11 May 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1958), ‘Department of Civil Aviation’ 30 October, p 3712, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240882809, accessed 11 May 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1972), ‘Postmaster-General’s Department’, 17 February, p 47, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241063103, accessed 11 May 2025.

Draugė (2006) ‘A✟A Jurgis Smilgevičius, 1922.06.19–2006.10.14’ [‘RIP Jurgis Smilgevicius, 1922.06.19–2006.10.14’ in Lithuanian], Sydney, 8 November, p 7 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/2006/2006-11-08-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 11 May 2025.

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Find a Grave 'Izidorius Smilgevicius', https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194474754/izidorius-smilgevicius, accessed 7 September 2025.

Find a Grave 'Jurgis Smilgevicius' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/220726332/jurgis-smilgevicius, accessed 7 September 2025.

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Hume Steel Engineering, 'Steel and Metal Fabricator' https://www.humesteel.com.au/, accessed 14 September 2025.

Krausas, A (1953) ‘Lietuviai apsigyvena Melbourne’ [‘Lithuanians settle in Melbourne’, in Lithuanian] Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] Sydney, 1 July, p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/259358418, accessed 11 May 2025.

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15 April 2025

"General Stuart Heintzelman" men to Maydena, Tasmania, by Ann Tündern-Smith

The first mill in the world to produce newsprint from eucalyptus hardwood was opened in the Tasmanian town of Boyer by Australian Newsprint Mills Ltd (APM) in 1941.  During World War II, it was able to keep ten Australian daily newspapers supplied with their paper, so serious wartime rationing of the major means of news distribution was not needed. 

There was some rationing however, which led the press to be opposed to the Federal Government minister responsible for it, the Minister for Information.  He was Arthur Calwell, later to become Australia’s first Minister for Immigration at his own request.  The Australian media owners’ dislike of Calwell is a story for another time, perhaps.

 

Maydena was formerly called Junee and was a small settlement which provided access to Adamsfield osmiridium mining in the 1920s.

Maydena's location in Tasmania
Source:  Wikipedia

Starting in 1947, APM redeveloped the town as a base for logging eucalypts in the nearby Florentine Valley.  It was 50 Kilometres west of Boyer, where the APM workers turned the eucalyptus timber into newsprint.

 

Twelve of the First Transport refugees helped APM operate from Maydena, from January 1947.  They were 9 Lithuanians and 3 Latvians, listed below.

 

Latvians

 

Adams Mikas

Andrejs Preisis

Roberts Miezitis

 

Lithuanians

 

Albertas Medisauskas

Henrikas Juodvalkis

Jonas Gudelis

Jonas Tamosaitis

Julius Molis

Jurgis Mikalonis

Vladas Mikelaitis

Vytautas Narbutas

Vytautas Salkunas

 

Some have their life stories on this blog already.  Hyperlinks have been added to take you to them and more will be added as more life stories go up.


Mountain biking has become a popular sport in the logged forests around Maydena
Source:  Pulse Tasmania


Sources 


Calwell, Mary Elizabeth, personal communications, 2000-25.

 

Companion to Tasmanian History,  ‘Australian Newsprint Mills‘, https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/A/Australian%20Newsprint%20Mills.htm accessed 30 January 2023.

 

Engineers Australia, ‘Boyer Newsprint Mill, New Norfolk, 1941-‘, https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/boyer-newsprint-mill-new-norfolk-1941 accessed 30 January 2023.

 

Mathis, Esme (2024) 'The Adamsfield mining rush’, Australian Geographic, 16 October https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2024/10/the-adamsfield-mining-rush/ accessed 15 April 2025.


Wikipedia, 'Maydena' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maydena accessed 15 April 2025.