Stanislavs Berzins: the First Accident, by Ann Tündern-Smith

We've reported already on two work-related deaths and a fatal motor cycle accident.  Sadly, there were some more, which we'll get to one-by-one.  The first unfortunate encounter with motorised transport or construction equipment happened on 1 December 1947, according to a report in the West Australian newspaper 2 days later.  The first day in December was only the third day in Australia.

Source:  West Australian, 3 December 1947

There was no Stanislaus Benzines on the Heintzelman passenger list.  The most likely casualty was Stanislavs Berzins, who was aged 29, not 19.  Already the Australian press was struggling to cope with the new names, although we know that others from the Baltic States had been living in Australia for decades.

Traffic driving on the other side of the road was the obvious issue as it still is for Australians in Europe and new European arrivals in Australia.  Had this issue been included in the English language classes on board the Heintzelman?  We know nothing of their content, only that they were conducted by Edna Davis.

"Benzines" was an interesting choice for an alternative name, given that some languages use variations on benzene as their name for petrol (or gas/gasoline for American readers).

Vincentas Jakimavičius (1927-1949): Motorcycle passenger death, by Daina Pocius

Vincentas Jakimavičius was the pillion passenger of a motorcycle which hit a cow opposite the old store at Tarpeena in South Australia, at 1.15 am on the morning of Sunday, 24 July 1949. The 22-year-old was killed after being flung a distance of 82 feet, that is, 25 metres, onto the bitumen road.

Vincentas Jakimavičius' ID photo on his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, JAKIMAVICIUS, VINCAS

The other man, Juozas Gylys, of Nangwarry, was taken in a private car to the Mount Gambler Hospital. His condition was not serious, but he was still in the Hospital some days later according to newspaper reports.

The two were riding on the Penola Road, 23 Kilometres north of Mount Gambler, on their way home after a Mount Gambier dance.

A modern map of the Penola Road from Mt Gambier to Nangwarry (red dot) through Tarpeena

Source:  Google Maps

There was a cow on each side of the road near the store. In attempting the avoid the cow on his left, Juozas hit the cow on his right, which was killed instantly. The police were looking for the owner of the cow, so that legal action could be taken under the Impounding Act. Stock wandering uncontrolled along the roads near Tarpeena and Nangwarry had been a problem for some time.

The local coroner decided that an inquest into the death was not necessary. While the cause of Vincentas’ death was obvious to him, at a later time a coroner might have deemed an inquest necessary to inquire into why neither of the motorcyclists were wearing helmets.

Both had come to Australia on the First Transport, together with Vincentas’ half- or step-brother, Sigitas Brokevičius, arriving on 28 November 1947. They both were part of a group which had been assigned to timber work at Nangwarry, leaving their first home in Australia, the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre for Mt Gambier, on 9 January 1948.

They had been moved to Nangwarry from Mt Gambier on 21 January 1948. Nangwarry was one of the forestry industry townships, situated 32.5 kilometres north of Mt Gambier.

In 1939, a power station was erected to supply a timber mill, which was built in 1940. The Nangwarry town grew out of a demand for housing for the labourers who travelled to the area for work, many in the forest. Migrants made up the biggest percentage of the population in what was to become a multicultural community.

Juozas clearly had settled in so much already that he was known by the English equivalent of his Lithuanian name, Joseph. As for Vincentas or Vincas, he was known as a “well mannered, decent, fine, young man”. He had been born 2 May 1927 in Galkiemis, Vilkaviškis, Lithuania.

One of Vincas’ selection documents says that he had had 2 years of secondary education on top of the basic 4 years of primary school. Another says that he had had 4 years of farming experience – but not with his father, whose occupation was given as clerk. His mother was a housewife. However, given that his younger brother had a different family name, the clerk on his selection papers likely to be his stepfather – so perhaps he had been farming with his biological father.

A large number of his friends attended the funeral at the Mount Gambier cemetery. There were 37 New Australians from Nangwarry, besides other employees from the mill and forest.

Vincentas’ brother, Sigitas, aged 19, flew from Melbourne with two friends to attend the funeral. Sigitas had been assigned separately to the Ebor Sawmills, Styx River Hill, in Victoria.

A Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Paul's Church, Mt Gambier.  The funeral departed from there on 26 July, two days after Vincentas' death. Rev Fr McCabe conducted the service. The six pallbearers representing the district’s migrant community came from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Czechoslovakia. At the conclusion of the graveside service, four friends sang "Ave Maria" in Lithuanian.

In accordance with Lithuanian custom, the deceased was buried in his best clothes. Several beautiful wreaths were sent by friends and, instead of the customary sympathy cards, engraved ribbons were attached.

The cemetery in which Vincentas was buried now is called the Lake Terrace Cemetery.  On his grave was placed the inscription: Jei grįši, lietuvi, pasakyk Tėvynei, kad aš ją mylėjau.  That means, If you return to Lithuania, tell the Motherland that I loved her.

Sources

Australijos Lietuvis [The Australian Lithuanian] (1953) ‘Gerai įsikūrusi lietuvių kolonija [A well-established Lithuanian colony’], Adelaide, 19 September, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280314249 viewed 2 March 2025.

Border Watch (1949) 'Motorcycle Hits Cow: Pillion Rider Killed', Mount Gambier, South Australia, 26 July, p 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78632729 accessed 1 March 2025.

Border Watch (1949) 'No Inquest into Balt Migrant’s Death, Mount Gambier, South Australia, 28 July, p 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78632838 accessed 2 March 2025.

City of Mount Gambier, Cemetery Data Search, 'Jakimavicius, Vincents' https://www.mountgambier.sa.gov.au/cemeteries/jakimavicius-vincents accessed 3 March 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-56; JAKIMAVICIUS VINCAS, JAKIMAVICIUS, Vincas : Year of Birth - 1927 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GENERAL HEINTZELMAN : Number - 495, 1947-48 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203620771 accessed 3 March 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 1947-47; 96, JAKIMAVICIUS Vincas DOB 2 May 1927, 1947-47; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005528 accessed 2 March 2025.

News (1949) 'Killed in Collision with Cow', Adelaide, 25 July, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130268590 accessed 1 March 2025.

Southern Cross (1949) 'Mount Gambier News', Adelaide, 5 August, p 15, 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167725980 accessed 2 March 2025.

VR (1953) 'Lietuviai Prie Ugniakalnio Ežeru [Lithuanians at the Volcanic Lake]’ Musu Pastoge [Our Haven] Sydney, NSW, 29 July, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article259358649 accessed 2 March 2025.

Wattle Range Council, ‘Nangwarry’, https://www.wattlerange.sa.gov.au/tourism/tourism/Towns/nangwarry accessed 2 March 2025.

Ksaveras Antanaitis (1911-1948), An Earlier Work-related Death, by Rasa Ščevinskienė

Even before Miervaldis Indriksons was killed by a workplace accident in South Australia (see previous entry) another First Transport man had died there when being driven home from his work.

Ksaveras Antanaitis was born in 4 February 1911, in the village of Dabitai, in the Sakiai district of Lithuania. Like many Lithuanians, he left his homeland during the Second World War.  Ksaveras is the equivalent of Xavier in English or Spanish.

From an Arolsen Archives document, we know that Ksaveras lived in Rotenburg in the British zone of Occupied Germany. He was married in Lithuania but his wife stayed there.

He left Bremerhaven for Australia with 842 other Baltic refugees on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman on 30 October 1947 and 28 November he arrived to Australia.

Ksaveras Antanaitis' ID photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup

Ksaveras Antanaitis’ first job in Australia was with Engineering & Water Supply, Adelaide, SA. He was one of a group of 65 who left the Bonegilla camp on 7 January 1948 for Adelaide. The average age of the men was 24 and the wage they were offered was £5.12.6 per week. This was the first group of men sent by the Commonwealth Employment Service to work outside the camp.

A 2006 brochure, "SA water – celebrating 150 years", recorded their arrival as the major event of 1948. ‘An influx of migrant labour (particularly from Baltic states) brings a partial solution to chronic labour shortages’, it said.

‘“At last — freedom!” That was the first reaction of 65 Balts when they reached their new home in Bedford Park, Adelaide, yesterday’, the Mail newspaper wrote on 10 January 1948. Their first job was to be a new water main from the Happy Valley Reservoir into Adelaide, about 20 Km north.

The Mail of 14 February wrote, ‘Sixty-five eager young Baltic migrants camped in a paddock at Bedford Park are waiting for responsible authorities to teach them’.

The Mail of 21 February reported that, ‘While nothing was done officially this week to help the Balts, private citizens called on the strangers in their Bedford Park camp, invited them to their homes, offered to help teach them English’.

Ksaveras Antanaitis had started a new life in Australia, but an accident happened. In the Advertiser newspaper of 30 June 1948, we can read the sad notice: “A Balt labourer, K. S. Antanaitis, employed at the Engineering and Water Supply Department's Camp at Bedford Park, was fatally injured when he fell from a truck on Marion Road, Marion, yesterday afternoon. He was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a civil ambulance and was dead on arrival.”

The report to the City Coroner by a police sergeant adds the detail that the rear wheel of the truck had passed over Ksaveras after he fell. The accident happened at about 4.40 pm so, quite likely, he was travelling back to the Bedford Park camp after a day’s tiring work.  It's like that there were other passengers so, all involved, down to the police and ambulance men, would have had another trauma added to their Second World War experiences.

There was an obituary in the Lithuanian-language newspaper Mintis, published in the US Zone of Occupied Germany on 2 August 1948. Translated, it reads, “In Adelaide (Australia) on June 29, Ksaveras Antanaitis, who came from the Rotenberg camp on the First Transport and was from Sakiai district, was killed in an accident in the workplace. He was buried on 1 July in Adelaide Cemetery with all the Balts in Adelaide and a large number of Australians. 

"The belongings left by the deceased were taken by the police for protection. Relatives are asked to contact the Australian Lithuanian Society, 5 Hampden Street, Hurlstone Park, Sidney (sic), NSW, Australia, for inheritance and compensation matters, which is informed about the event and will be able to help with the inheritance issue.”

Ksaveras Antanaitis was buried in West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide. His exact burial place in cemetery is Road 3, Path 21, Aspect W, Site Number 22.

Sources:

Adelaide Cemeteries, Record Search https://aca.sa.gov.au/aca-records/accessed 24 April 2024.

Advertiser (1948) ‘Balt Killed In Fall From Truck’ Adelaide, SA, 30 June https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/43772724 accessed 22 April 2024.

Ancestry, ‘Ksaveras Antanaitis in the South Australia, Australia, Supreme Court Criminal Records, 1837-1918; Reports to the Police Coroner, 1842-1961’ https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62316/images/62316_b1111323-00096?treeid=&personid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=oIs490&_phstart=successSource&pId=16360 accessed 23 April 2024. [May require free Ancestry guest account to access.]

Arolsen Archives, Doc ID: 2735688 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/66434156?s=ksaveras%20antanaitis&t=2735688&p=0 accessed 22 April 2024.

Australian Cemeteries Index  https://austcemindex.com/?family_name=Antanaitis accessed 24 April 2024.

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup, 'Ksaveras Antanaitis', https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203674046 accessed 24 April 2024.

Government of South Australia, SA Water (2006) 'SA water – celebrating 150 years' https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/34412631/150-years-commemorative-book-sa-water accessed 22 April 2024.

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, 'USAT General Stuart Heintzelman', https://immigrantships.net/v10/1900v10/generalstuartheintzelman19471128_01.html accessed 29 April 2024.

Mail (1948) ‘Balts feel free after prison camp horrors’ Adelaide, SA, 10 January https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55903813 accessed 22 April 2024.

Mail (1948) ‘English Classes For Balts Arranged’ Adelaide, SA, 21 February, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55905295 accessed 22 April 2024.

Mail (1948) ‘No English Lessons For Eager Young Balts’ Adelaide, SA, 14 February https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55909057 accessed 22 April 2024.

Mintis [The Thought] (1948) ‘Tragiskai zuvo K. Antanaitis' ['K. Antanaitis died tragically', in Lithuanian]’, Memmingen, US Zone Germany, 2 August, p 4 https://www.spauda2.org/dp/dpspaudinys_mintis_memmingen_vasaitis/archive/1948-08-02-MINTIS-MEMMINGEN-VASAITIS.pdf accessed 22 April 2024.

National Archives of Australia, Department of Labour and National Service, Central Office; MT29/1, Employment Service Schedules (1947-1950); Schedule of displaced persons who left the Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla Victoria for employment in the State of South Australia - [Schedule no SA1 to SA31] [page 106] (1948-1950) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=23150376 accessed 24 April 2024.

Miervaldis Indriksons (1918-1948): Fatal Workplace Accident by Ann Tündern-Smith

We have learned already that Miervaldis Indriksons was killed by a workplace accident at Naracoorte, South Australia, while working as directed for the South Australian Railways (SAR).

Miervaldis Indriksons, ID photo from his Bonegilla card

Source: NAA: A2571, INDRIKSONS, MIERVALDIS

He was using a front end loader to fill in a dam at the railway station. The machine toppled over the edge of the dam and rolled several times. As the Border Chronicle put it, “capsized and somersaulted”. Miervaldis tried to jump clear, but caught his foot in the steering wheel. He was dragged into the dam and his back was broken.

Another newspaper report (in the Adelaide Advertiser) of the accident says that he was thrown clear, but then the machine rolled onto him.

He was taken to the local hospital but died less two hours after the accident, half an hour after reaching the hospital, from his internal injuries, on 15 September 1948. The report of the Australian interviewing panel in Germany has added to it, ‘Deceased, 11.30 am, 15/9/48’ – although the person who added the exact time did so more than 8 years later.

The coroner had decided that an inquest was unnecessary, perhaps because the cause of death was so obvious, no matter what the discrepancies in the details. These days, one is much more likely to be held in order to work out ways of such a horrible accident happening again. How about installing roll cages on all SAR earthmoving equipment or, better still, enclosed drivers’ cabins?

Miervaldis might have been driving a machine like this 1956 Ford tractor
with front-end loader attachment and no protection for the driver

Source:  Tays Auctions

Lutheran Pastor K Hartmann of Bordertown conducted the funeral the next day. The SAR arranged transport to allow his fellow countrymen to attend. The funeral also was attended by the Engineer in Charge of the broadening, EL Walpole, the man who was to speak to the Mount Gambier Rotary Club eight days later on what the broadening project involved (see previous entry).

His fellow countrymen must have been the ones who told the Border Chronicle reporter that Miervaldis had been the only surviving member of a family of eight, his parents, brothers, sisters and wife all having been killed during the War. There was believed to be a small son still alive in Europe.

Miervaldis had been born in Helsinki, Finland, on 16 January 1918. Finland had been part of Tsarist Russia, along with his family’s Latvian homeland, until declaring independence on 6 December 1917. Russia’s new Bolshevik Government recognised that independence on 31 December, only 16 days before Miervaldis was born into a time of great change.

His parents were the former Lavize Balodis and Mikelis Indreksons.

By the time he found himself in the American Zone of Germany after World War II, he was admitting to being married, with two dependents. At the time of being interviewed for possible resettlement in Australia, he was in a camp for Latvians in Lübeck, northern Germany.

His usual occupation was šoferis or chauffeur/driver and mehāniķis or mechanic. His level of education, according to the report of the Australian interviewing panel, was 6 years of elementary school. That interviewing panel recorded that he had 3 years of experience as a mechanic in Latvia.

His Bonegilla card has ‘None’ typed into the Next of Kin space: presumably the marriage had broken down since declared on 3 April 1946.

Sources