Vladas Dailydė (1914-1970): Hard working, hard living, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Vlad Dailydė worked hard for nearly 23 years in Australia until an unknown health issue brought an early end to his life. Although his family name means ‘carpenter’ in Lithuanian, he was to be found in places where hard manual labour with metals or their ores was required: on the South Australian railway tracks, Woomera, Radium Hill and steelworks in Perth.

Vladas Dailyde's 1947 photograph from his selection papers
Source:  National Archives of Australia

He was an early supporter of the Lithuanian-Australian newspaper, Mūsų Pastogė, donating £1/4/- in April 1950, together with Juozas Sabeckis (an arrival on the Tenth Transport, the Svalbard). With inflation, that donation is the equivalent of more than $75 now. Given that we know from the story of Romualdas Zeronas that civilians in Woomera, where he would have been working then, were earning at least £9.10.0 per week, it was a high proportion of their income.

Four years later in 1954, Vladas was working in the uranium mine at Radium Hill. The Australian Lithuanian newspaper reported that there were at least six other Lithuanians there at that time. They gathered together to commemorate 16 February, Lithuania’s Independence Day.

They were commemorating not with patriotic speeches but an opportunity to donate money to the Vasario 16 (February 16) school in Germany. This was the name was of a Lithuanian-language senior high school, a gymnasium, in Hüttenfeld. At that time the school was the only full-time high school outside Lithuania offering courses in Lithuanian history, language, and culture. It is renowned for having played a critical role as a symbol of freedom for Lithuania during the Soviet occupation and was greatly supported by Lithuanian displaced persons around the world.

A later issue of the Australian Lithuanian recorded that he was one of those who had donated £5, not only likely to be about half his weekly income then, but the modern equivalent with inflation of more than $213.

Vladas applied to become an Australian citizen while working at Radium Hill. Closer to Broken Hill than Adelaide, in the same sort of desert country, it was Australia’s first uranium mine, having operated from 1906 to 1961.

That application shows that he was able to move on from the Bangham railway camp to a better paying job at Woomera in February 1949, before his contract with the Australian Government was ended by the Minister for Immigration on 30 September 1949. He stayed at Woomera for nearly one and a half years, until July 1950.

He was in Adelaide for around one year, from July 1950 until June 1951. During that time, he worked for General Motors Holden. Then he lived and worked at Mount Gambier for 6-7 months, from June 1951 to January 1952, working with JM Clements Ltd. He returned to Adelaide, to the suburb of Nailsworth until 4 April 1952, at which point he moved to Menindee, NSW, for one month. From there he left for Radium Hill, back in South Australia, where he was still on 1 June 1956, the date on which he swore an oath of allegiance to become an Australian citizen.

There had been one blemish on his record. He had been charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm after he threw a bottle over his shoulder at another Woomera worker. It was night, so his friend probably could not see the bottle coming. The result was a gash on the forehead which needed 22 stitches to close.

Vladas pleaded not guilty but admitted guilt to the lesser charge of common assault. Mr Justice Abbott ordered that Vladas be imprisoned with hard labour for one month. He took into account that Vladas had been held in custody for 25 days already. This means that Vladas had to serve an additional 6 days only – 6 days because ‘one month’ meant a ‘calendar month’. And the ‘hard labour’ could be anything from quarry work or road-building, to workshop and farm labour under strict supervision.

Vladas faces court

Source:  Whyalla News

Fortunately for his citizenship application, a wise public servant wrote on it, “In view of the time which has elapsed since the above conviction in July ’50 and the fact that he has not come under further adverse notice, recommended that application be listed for approval”.

Vladas was one of the older men on the First Transport, having his 33rd birthday 2 days after it sailed from Bremerhaven. He was born in the small village of Širvydiškis, in the region of Utena. At the time of his birth on 1 November 1914, the village had a population count of only around 30.

He had two or three years of high school – sources differ -- which was more than average for a country resident. He spent five years in the Lithuanian Army, from 1935 until the Soviet invasion in 1940. In the Army, he had been a driver for three years.

The return of Soviet forces in 1944 saw him leave his homeland, making his way to Germany, where he arrived in October. There he found his way to a Displaced Persons camp in Hannover-Buchholz. He had been working as a driver for two and a half years until it was time to leave for Australia. The Australian medical team after carrying out their pre-migration tests, declared him fit and healthy.

After Radium Hill, Vladas moved to Perth where he became as steelworker. He participated in the Perth Lithuanian community. He never married.

On 16 November 1970, he returned from work in high spirits, had dinner, sat down and smoked a cigarette. He had a medical episode and fell from the chair. Suddenly falling off his chair is likely to have been caused by some sort of circulatory issue, like a heart attack or a stroke.

He was taken to hospital and operated on, but his health did not improve, and he passed away on 6 December.

Members of the Perth Lithuanian community were present at his funeral service led by Father Laurynas Kemėšis. Words on behalf of the community and the ex-servicemen’s group, Ramovė, were said by Andrius Klimaitis. Vladas is buried in Perth’s Karrakatta Cemetery.

Vladas Dailyde's photograph from his obituary

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė 

A notice under the Trustees Act in the West Australian Government Gazette of 12 March 1971 confirms Vladas’ date of death as 6 December 1970, advises that he was a steelworker and his last address was in Marchamley Street, Carlisle, and states that 26 April is the last date on which claims against his estate might be lodged. The remainder of his modest savings were left to his sister in Lithuania.

SOURCES

Advertiser (1950) 'Port August Circuit, Before Mr Justice Abbott, Remanded on Assault Charge, Adelaide, 19 July, p 7 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44915098, accessed 13 November 2025.

Australijos Lietuvis (Australian Lithuanian) (1954) ‘Aukos Lietuvybes islaikimo reikalams’ (‘Donations for the preservation of Lithuania’, in Lithuanian) Adelaide, 17 May, p 8 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280316071, accessed 11 November 2025.

Australijos Lietuvis (Australian Lithuanian) (1954) ‘Lietuviai Australijoj’ (‘Lithuanians in Australia’, in Lithuanian) Adelaide, 8 March, p 8 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280313491, accessed 11 November 2025.

Find a Grave, ‘Vladas Dailyde’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/213720453/vladas-dailyde, accessed 13 November 2025.

Government Gazette of Western Australia (1971) ‘Trustees Act, 1962, Notice to Creditors and Claimants’ Perth, 12 March, p 764 https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/gazettes1971.html, accessed 13 November 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė ( Our Haven) (1950) 'Mūsų Pastogēs prenumeratoriai' ('Mūsų Pastogē subscribers’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, 5 April, p 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article259361880, accessed 11 November 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1970) ‘A A Vladas Dailyde’ (‘In memoriam, Vladas Dailyde) Sydney, 21 December, p 2, https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1970/1970-12-21-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 11 November 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A446, Correspondence files, annual single number series with block allocations, 1926-2001; 1956/10716, DAILYDE Vladas, 1955-1956 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=12147622, accessed 13 November 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla] 1947-1956; DAILIDE (Sic) VLADAS,  DAILIDE, Vladas : Year of Birth - 1914 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN.HEINTZELMAN : Number - 462A2571, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203657752, accessed 13 November 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; 62, DAILYDE Vladas DOB 1 November 1914, 1947–1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005498, accessed 13 November 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A12508, Personal Statement and Declaration by alien passengers entering Australia (Forms A42) 1937-1948; 37/116, DAILYDE Vladas born 1 November 1914; nationality Lithuanian; travelled per GENERAL STUART HEINTZELMAN arriving in Fremantle on 29 November 1947, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7249185, accessed 13 November 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4878, Alien registration documents, alphabetical series, 1937-1965; DAILYDE V, DAILYDE Vladas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1956 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4074152, accessed 13 November 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-1976; DAILYDE VLADAS, DAILYDE Vladas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, accessed 13 November 2025.

Reserve Bank of Australia, Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualPreDecimal.html, accessed 11 November 2025.

Vasario 16-osios gimnazija (February 16 Senior High School, in Lithuanian) https://www.gimnazija.de/, accessed 12 November 2025.

Whyalla News (1950), ‘New Australian Charged with Assault’, Whyalla, SA, 21 July, p 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197619822, accessed 13 November 2025.

Wikipedia, ‘Radium Hill’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Hill, accessed 12 November 2025.

Wikipedia, ‘Sirvydiskis’ https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirvydi%C5%A1kis, accessed 11 November 2025.

Povilas Laurinavičius, Another Who Left Australia, by Daina Pocius, Ann Tündern-Smith and Rasa Ščevinskiene

Povilas Laurinavicius worked on his Lithuanian parent’s farm until August 1944. He then was conscripted into the Luftwaffe, the German air force, and taken to Westfalia in Germany.  He was expected to help build fortifications for the Luftwaffe.

He was born in Riga, now the capital of Latvia, on 18 May 1908.  This was during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II when, as in the Soviet era, workers moved wherever they were needed regardless of internal boundaries.

Personal records for members of the extended family are among those of the Palėvenė church, suggesting that the Laurinavičius farm was near this small town in northeast Lithuania.

Povilas’ migration selection record for Australia shows that he had 4 years of primary education and 4 years of secondary.  Again, he was more educated than many of the Lithuanian men selected for the First Transport.  He had no knowledge of English but he did know Lithuanian, Latvian, and something of Russian, Polish and German. 

Povilas Laurinavicius' photo in his immigration selection papers

Source:  NAA:  A11772, 174  

He had 15 years’ experience as a farmer and would be suitable for heavy labouring work.  He had wanted to migrate to Canada.

At the time of interview by the Australian team in October 1947, Povilas’ occupation was described as Lumber Worker.  He had been doing this work for the previous 2 years, that is, from around October 1945.

Heading towards 40 years of age, Povilas was one of the older DPs selected for resettlement in Australia after travelling there on the First Transport.  After arrival,  he was one of the 185 men sent to pick fruit in the Goulburn Valley on 28 January 1948.  He returned to the Bonegilla camp after only 2 weeks, so clearly the experience had not gone well for him. 

Povilas Laurinavicius' 1947 photo on his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, LAURINAVICIUS POVILAS 

Then he was assigned to be part of the first group sent to work at Broken Hill Proprietary Limited’s Iron Knob mine in South Australia.  They left the Bonegilla camp on 19 February.

Povilas applied to have his sister, Bronė Minkevičienė, brother-in-law, Vytautas Minkevičius, niece, Regina-Marija, and another female relative come to Australia.  Research by Rasa Ščevinskiene has shown that the other female relative, Alina Bonasevičius, was his brother-in-law’s older sister.

There’s nothing on the sponsorship file apart from the application, which Povilas signed off on 3 November 1948.  The absence of any other paper or comment on the file is strange, but the date of application was only 11 months after he came to Australia.  He had not been in Australia for long enough to lodge a successful sponsorship. 

He needed only to try again after 28 November, marking 12 months’ residence.  Nothing on the file suggests that he was told that or attempted it.

A search for Povilas’ brother-in-law in the Arolsen Archives reveals that the sister, brother-in-law and niece left Germany on 8 August 1951 to resettle in the United States.  They left on the General Muir, a sister ship to the General Stuart Heintzelman.

Povilas’ sponsorship application tells us that he had moved on from Iron Knob to what probably was safer employment and better paying also.  He was still in rural South Australia but at Woomera, working for the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Works and Housing.  He was earning nearly £11 per week (£10/19/10). This was at a time when the minimum wage was only £5/19/-.

We know from the story of Romualdas Zeronas that the pay at Iron Knob was £6/8/- each week. 

An index card recording Povilas’ changes of address and workplace, which had to be reported to the Department of Immigration by any resident alien under the Aliens Registration Act, advises that Povilas’ move to Woomera was on 27 May 1948.  He was released from his contractual obligation to work in Australia for 2 years on the same date as the vast majority of the other Heintzelman passengers, 30 September 1949. 

His next move was to Glenelg in suburban Adelaide, where he lived and worked at the Pier Hotel from 23 January 1950.  The mysterious initials M.W. suggest another change of employer when he changed his residence to Gilles Street, Adelaide, on 4 April 1950.

The Pier Hotel, Glenelg, was clearly on the coast, as was his next move, to Semaphore Road, Semphore, only 4 weeks after moving to Gilles Street, on 1 May 1950.  His records were transferred to the Melbourne office of the Department of Immigration from the Adelaide office on 10 October 1951, marking a move from the State of South Australia to the State of Victoria.  We do not have access to the Victorian records yet.

There is one Victorian record in Mūsų Pastogė, though. In its 23 June 1958 edition, this newspaper included him in a list of people who had donated £1 each to support the elderly, sick and injured Lithuanians who were still in Germany.

Cards indicating a move to Tasmania and then New South Wales are available from the National Archives of Australia, however.  They show that on 4 April 1960, he was living on Weld Street, South Hobart and working as a wharf labourer—hard physical work for anyone but especially a man now aged nearly 52. 

By 9 March 1962, he had moved to Elizabeth Street in the middle of Hobart.  Presumably he was working still as a wharf labourer.  The records were transferred to NSW on 26 June 1962, probably after a move to that State.

Povilas left Australia around 1964 and moved to Chicago, Illinois. He was aged only 61 at the time of his death, on 16 November 1969, he was living at 6159 South Artesian Avenue, Chicago.

Povilas had been in America for only five years before his death.  He was mourned by his sister Bronė (Bronislava), her daughter, Regina, and Alina Bonasevičius, of Chicago—the very people he had tried to sponsor to Australia back in 1948.  Another sister, Joanna, and her family were still in Lithuania.

Povilas' death notice

Source:  Draugas, 17 November 1969

Bronė’s husband, Regina’s father, the Vytautas Minkevičius who Povilas had started to sponsor for migration to Australia, had died in New York State on 30 May 1953.  This was less than two years after arriving in the States and he was aged only 53.

His sister, Alina Bonasevičius, had been living at the same address as Povilas according to her death notice in Draugas, around 16 months after it carried the notice for Povilas.  It looks as if Povilas decided that, if rest of the family were settled peacefully in America, he would join them there instead, at 6159 South Artesian Avenue.

Povilas may have died early and overseas, but his name is stamped in Australian philatelic history. Tasmanian Stamp Auctions, in 2023, offered an envelope addressed by Povilas from the Bonegilla camp to ‘Mr’ David Jones (the department store, of course) at the corner of Castlereagh and Market Streets in central Sydney.  The envelope had been damaged when someone had torn off the stamp roughly, but someone else had recognised the value of its clear Bonegilla and nearby Wodonga postmarks.

The envelope had been in private hands, rather than the rubbish bin, for 75 years!  We cannot tell for how much it was sold, but can see that the starting price was $11.00.

Povilas' envelope, a registered letter sent from Bonegilla camp on 16 February 1948

Source:  Tasmanian Stamp Auctions

Namefellows

The only Arolsen Archives records currently available are for another Povilas Laurinavičius, born after ours, on 7 July 1909.  This Povilas Laurinavičius looked different, wore glasses, was a qualified and experienced lawyer, and resettled in the United States after his trip there on the USAT General M L Hersey, leaving Germany on 1 September 1949.

We found also that papers for a later DP immigrant to Australia, Povilas Laurinaitis, date of birth 8 April 1922, had been placed first on the selection papers file for our Povilas Laurinavičius (NAA: A11772, 174).  We have notified the custodian of those papers, the National Archives of Australia.

Sources

Draugas (1969), ‘A.†A. Povilas Laurinavičius’ [‘RIP Povilas Laurinavičius’, advertisement, in Lithuanian] Chicago, Illinois, 17 November, p 5 https://draugas.org/archive/1969_reg/1969-11-17-DRAUGASm-i7-8.pdf accessed 17 May 2025.

Draugas (1971), ‘A.†A. Alina Bonasevičius’ [‘RIP Alina Bonasevičius’, advertisement, in Lithuanian] Chicago, Illinois, 5 March, p 7 https://draugas.org/archive/1971_reg/1971-03-05-DRAUGAS.pdf accessed 24 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė (1958) ‘Pinigai gauti’ [‘Money received’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, 23 June, p 5 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge /archive/1958/1958-06-23-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A261, Application forms (culled from other file series) for admission of Relatives or Friends to Australia (Form 40) (1953-61); 1948/592, Applicant - LAURINAVICIUS Povilas; Nominee - MINKEVICIUS Vytautas;Bronislarma; Regina- Marijan; BONASEVICIENCE Alima; nationality Lithuanian (1948-48) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7861148 accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive 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 (1947-47); 174, LAURINAVICIUS Povilas DOB 18 May 1908 (1947-47) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1834754 accessed 16 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series (1946-76); LAURINAVICIUS POVILAS, LAURINAVICIUS Povilas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947 (1947-51) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9180525 accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, Tasmanian Branch; P1183, Registration cards for non-British migrants/visitors, lexicographical series (1944-76); 16/317 LAURINAVICIUS, LAURINAVICIUS, Povilas born 18 May 1908 - nationality Lithuanian (1947-62) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=60155147 accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla] (1947-56); LAURINAVICIUS POVILAS, LAURINAVICIUS, Povilas : Year of Birth - 1908 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GENERAL HEINTZELMAN : Number – 571 (1947-48) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203619595 accessed 17 May 2025.

Tasmanian Stamp Auctions (2023) '(CN1961) VICTORIA · 1948: cover with damaged front bearing a clear strike of RELIEF No.3 used at Bonegilla Immigration and Training Camp and a nice strike of the rubber boxed WODONGA datestamp (3 images)' https://www.tsauctions.com/listing/cn1961-victoria-1948-cover-with-damaged-front-bearing-a-clear-strike-of-relief-no3-used-at-bonegilla-immigration-and-training-camp-and-a-nice-strike-of-the-rubber-boxed-wodonga-datestamp-3-images/15125?fbclid=IwAR0BAnFLvsaiQtpdk8UmkXRRjTDaiv6BdO9qk-pSzIWdyzIq-C0y0XJaP_8  accessed 24 May 2025.