Rainer Granit

Alias Einar Matias Lautala (original name)

Born 12.01.1893  Place Kotka, Finland     Ethnic origin Finn     Religion Lutheran

Father Lautala, Matti Tuomaanpoika (1859-1921)      Mother Lautala (nee Hanski), Vilhelmina  (1861-1907)

Arrived at Australia

            from Finland    on 2.04.1911    per Dangy     disembarked at Port Pirie, SA

Residence before enlistment Cummins, SA

Occupation 1913 farm labourer, 1915 seaman, 1921 coach painter

Service

service number 380   enlisted 15.02.1915   POE Townsville, Qld

unit 25th Battalion   rank Private

place Gallipoli, 1915, Western Front, 1917      casualties WIA 1917

final fate RTA 8.04.1918       discharged 24.09.1918

Naturalisation 1913

Residence after the war Cummins, SA

Family married in England in 1920, son Norman Rainer Granit b. 1922, daughter Beryl May Granit b. 1923

Died 21.11.1969, Cummins, SA

Materials naturalisation (NAA)

digitised service records (NAA)

Passage to Australia for wife (NAA)

Information from Einar Lautala's Finnish relatives:

    Matti Lautala and his first wife Vilhelmina had 12 children, many of them died in childhood. Einar was the 7th child. (Pentti Jokinen, Einar’s nephew)

    Einari/Rainer is a part of our family history of rule of law and occasional dissidence. The family name Lautala refers to an occupation, a member of the jury. High ethical standards were not always liked by the establishment, kings and tyrants.

    Einari Lautala was a very strong-headed person. He was a witness in a murder case. Other witnesses were pressured to change their stories, as the assailant had money and a high position. Only he and an older man stuck by the truth. The police renamed him and gave him a new passport, and they looked the other way when he left Finland. Supposedly their words were: ‘As you are so strong-headed and do not give up, will give you an appropriate name. You are now Mr Granit’. Rainer means “pure”, as innocent, in German. So, whoever gave the name Rainer Granit, was very intelligent, well-educated and knew that Einar was an innocent witness telling the truth.

    Mr Granit/Lautala could have returned to Finland 10 years after the incident, but he probably did not know the law that well. However, he came back at least once as a tourist and brought a car with him, which impressed his sister Kaarin.

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