RETURNED SOLDIERS WW1 Trove Tuesday 7th Feb 2023

 

File:Australian soldiers returning to Australia waiting to entrain at the Gamaches (France) railway station in April 1919.jpg           Wikimedia Commons

The following items are but a small selection of the many articles posted in the local papers welcoming Australian soldiers who fought in World War 1. While these are all from Australia, I daresay that many welcomes would have been very similar in all countries involved.

Mixed with the excitement and relief that loved ones were returning, would be the sadness of those who were left behind in foreign lands, along with so many who came back very much changed..not only with physical damage, but also mentally damaged. 

It wouldn't have been easy for anyone involved, including those who had become used to taking on the roles of those who had been away for so long. These articles mainly tell of the welcomes that whole communities showed to their returning loved ones. 

You can click on the image to enlarge or go to the original article via the highlighted link.

We are ever grateful to those who served, both overseas and in our own country, including those who signed up here though not Australian born.

Ararat Chronicle and Willaura and Lake Bolac Districts Recorder (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), Friday 20 August 1915,   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15432272

Don Dorrigo Gazette and Guy Fawkes Advocate (NSW : 1910 - 1954), Saturday 16 December 1916, page 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172001645

Nepean Times (Penrith, NSW : 1882 - 1962), Saturday 5 May 1917, page 6  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article86146642

Lilydale Express (Vic. : 1886 - 1897; 1914 - 1955), Friday 27 April 1917, page 3    http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74598577

Don Dorrigo Gazette and Guy Fawkes Advocate (NSW : 1910 - 1954), Saturday 27 October 1917, page 2  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171997923

WW1 AIF Returned from Active Service Badge - Army Shop

Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 21 December 1917, page 14 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188094521

Studio portrait of two Aboriginal servicemen from Taree. © 

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

Australian Staff Nurses in the grounds of No 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, England.
Image courtesy Australian War Memorial.

http://www.centenaryww1orange.com.au/stories/australian-nurses-in-world-war-i/

There are many articles regarding returning soldiers, e.g.

https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/provenance-journal/provenance-2015/families-world-war-i-veterans

You can find more details via Record Search and clicking the relevant item in Category of records e.g. 

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx

or directly to World War 1 rather than search all records. Individual records may carry quite a lot of information, including all service and discharge records, though some may still not be released as yet for whatever reason. Most WW1 records are open, and a large number of WW2.  If they have this symbol, the records are accessible.

Some may be under consideration or marked not available, usually with no reason given.

In memory of all our loved ones.

TROVE TUESDAY 6th November, 2018 CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION PT. a

The Government Gazettes contain a wealth of information, whether they be Commonwealth or State, or even Police Gazettes. These too, are available via TROVE. Note that these are from various states and include the addresses of those listed, as well as the date that the Naturalisation Certificates were granted.

The National Archives of Australia has a great collection of 

Naturalisation records held in Canberra

Records relating to Italian migration held in Sydney

Citizenship in Australia

Records relating to Italian migration held in Perth

You can read more here  and see a sample of  postwar migration records


Record Search will help you to find all there is about your person of choice. This link will take you directly to the name search... to give you an idea, if you are new to this... I have chosen a name at random...from the second paragraph in the first page.."Comino, George Peter".. as far as I know, he is not a relative...

I have filled out his name, chosen 'Immigration and naturalisation' from the dropdown choice of records and as we can see that he was granted naturalisation in 1922, I have just added 1922-1922.

 This is what came up... here     You will notice on the top right hand side 'View digital copy' That means it has been released, most likely as someone has paid for it to be, as I have done for quite a few records. Once that is done, it is open for all to see and copy.

By clicking on that symbol, this is what you see next...

You could click on each page and download page by page, which wouldn't be too bad, as this file only has 9 pages, but there is an easier way... Copy the barcode and go to SODA

The barcode is 42625..
Tempting as it is to get sidetracked and explore all you see before you, for now, we only want to take notice of the top bar.. and go to Barcode retrieval. Click on that and type in the barcode

that will bring up a digital copy of the whole record... similar to what we had before, but there is one great difference.. Note the symbols..

You are spoilt for choice... but for now, all I'm interested in is the printer symbol. Clicking on that gives you the option of printing as a .pdf or saving as a .pdf. It might seem a bit confusing at first, but once you've used SODA, you'll never forget how easy it is.

 You can scroll down the pages, print individually or simply drag and drop images to desktop.

Far easier than the usual way if you have heaps of pages.   

Now though Comino is a familiar name and this man came from the same village/town as my grandfather, I have yet to find a connection.  A pity that the older generation have mostly passed on, so I have no one to ask, so it seems a bit more sleuthing is in order.

Will you find a connection here? If so, please leave a comment so we can all enjoy your find.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973), Thursday 11 January 1923 (No.3) National Library of Australia          http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232521188

As always, click to enlarge..

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973), Thursday 3 May 1923 (No.29), page 610             National Library of Australia            http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232521978

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973), Thursday 2 April 1925 (No.29), page 448 (3)   National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232529848

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973), Thursday 25 June 1925 (No.49), page 989  National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232530381

For previous lists of those granted CERTIFICATES of NATURALISATION, see the following...

DECLARATIONS RE BRITISH NATIONALITY - NATURALISATION LISTS -- 1947 TROVE TUESDAY 19TH DECEMBER, 2017 SERIES 1

CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION - LISTS -- 1947 TROVE TUESDAY 26TH DECEMBER, 2017 SERIES 2

CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION , VARIOUS STATES. TROVE TUESDAY 9TH JAN, 2018 - SERIES 3

CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION .. TROVE TUESDAY 16TH JAN, 2018 - SERIES 4

CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION - TROVE TUESDAY 23rd JAN 2018 -SERIES 5

CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION SERIES 6 TROVE TUESDAY, TUESDAY 27TH MARCH, 2018

CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION SERIES 6a TROVE TUESDAY, TUESDAY 27TH MARCH, 2018

CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION SERIES 6a

Australian Citizenship Certificate (Wiki Commons)

Thanks to those who requested some more years of these lists, They are particulaly helpful as they include addresses... I did say I'd give them a break and then continue for a couple of years' lists at least. ... 

Note that these contain a few lists of different months. Each month's list is in alpha order. I was delighted to find my great grandmother's maiden name listed... though I don't really know if there is a connection. It is slightly unusual, so I'm not dismissing the idea.. rather I will save it and try to follow up.

It is in the second page of this batch, March 9th, 1925..

Megaloconomos, Anthony, 346 High Street, West Maitland, NSW

My great grandmother was Stavroula Megaloconomos, who married Konstandine Coroneo. They had 10 ten children, the youngest was Chrisanthe, my paternal grandmother, born in Potamos, Kythera, in 1882. I have no knowledge of any of her mother's family also coming to Australia, though some of her siblings did... not sure how many. Family information wasn't really forthcoming about my paternal side, that was my 'grandmother's family' as far as my Dad was concerned, nothing to do with me... It hasn't made research easy, but still I try.  

When I find something like this, I make sure to save it in NOTES in my Family Tree program, as well as in my Indexed Searches book, under the SURNAME, so therefore under M, listing all details of where found and with whom there is a possible connection, as well as a note under G.. Greek ancestors, always cross linking. That way, I am sure to see at least one of the entries over coming months. It is far too easy to forget the moment you turn away...so many ancestors to find and only one lifetime!

For those with Greek heritage, there are quite a number of Greek names listed...as well as those of many other countries.

Good luck with your searches..

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973), Thursday 2 April 1925 (No.29), page 448

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232529848 

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973), Thursday 25 June 1925 (No.49), page 989 

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232530381 

This includes a lot more European names...many Greeks, Italians, and others.

I decided to look further for my 'possible' ancestor, Anthony Megaloconomos, as mentioned above. 

Experienced researchers are allowed to yawn and move on, but we all have to start somewhere, so the following guide is for those who are new to NAA in particular.

First stop.... National Archives of Australia.. NAA.. record search..naturalisation records. There he is... with the whole 11 pages of his naturalisation application in 1924, OPEN, so available to all and free of charge.

 I could go through page by page and download each as I go, or use the easier way, go to SODA.. at soda.naa.gov.au .. click on barcode retrieval and add Anthony's Barcode Number, which can be found on the first page of the Digital Copy. Once retrieved, on the first page, you will notice a list of symbols at the end of the column to the right hand side of the page.  Look for the printer symbol, click on that and you can print, or if your system allows, save as a .pdf instead. 

As this file includes correspondence, you will now see 13 pages.You can, of course, save just the images you wish to, but in my experience, you don't know what pages you may just want at a later date if you don't save all.

I won't post all pages here, (you can breathe easily) just a couple for example.. as always, you can click to enlarge... hard as it would have been, Anthony had to renounce his Greek nationality. 

Am I closer to finding a relative .. 

Anthony, whose father's name was Nicholas Megaloconomos, was born in Kythera/Kithera, as was my great grandmother, Stavroula. He was born on 15th January,1893... possibly an older cousin of my grandmother, who was born in 1882? 
He arrived in Sydney, Australia in 1911, on S.S. Ville de la Ciota. Find My Past has the shipping records... he has come from Marseilles to Melbourne, from there to Sydney. 



However, it was in July, not December according to the records.
I still have no proof that Anthony belongs to my family...
but maybe I'm getting closer to the answer... all from looking at naturalisations lists to start with.

A lot more digging to do as yet, but at least this unexpected find may lead to filling in some gaps.

The point of this exercise? 

Never dismiss a possible connection, save it, note it in several places and revisit. 

'New' records become available all the time. Watch for them, note down details when you see some new listings that you want to look at...and allocate some 'loose search' time on a regular basis. Just because you may have looked some time ago, doesn't mean a data collection hasn't been added to. 

Where possible, subscribe to updates.. happy hunting!