Wladyslaw Nogal

Alias Wlodyslaw; Victor

Born 27.06.1890     Place Warsaw, Poland     Ethnic origin Pole     Religion Roman Catholic

Father -     Mother Nogal, Teksa

Residence before arrival at Australia served 1 year in the Russian army

Arrived at Australia

            from Marseilles     on 16.07.1914     per Japanese ship     disembarked at Fremantle

Residence before enlistment Perth, Horseshoe Gold Mine, Kalgoorlie, WA

Occupation 1915 bricklayer, 1941 miner

Service 1

service number 6477     enlisted 28.12.1915     POE Blackboy Hill, WA

unit 4th Field Company Engineers, 12th Field Coy A.E.       rank Sapper

place Western Front, 1916-1917       casualties WIA 1917

final fate RTA 30.10.1917       discharged 18.01.1918 MU

Service 2

service number 6477     enlisted 11.06.1918     POE Blackboy Hill, WA

unit CD Depot Camp Police       rank Private

place home service     discharged 2.08.1918 on own request

Naturalisation 1918

Residence after the war Kalgoorlie, Perth, Laverton, WA

Wife Rosetta Nogal, married in London (?)

WWII served 1941-1943, 124 A Gen.Transp.; Driver

Materials naturalisation (NAA)

digitised WWI service records (NAA)

Intelligence Branch file 1     2   (NAA)

WWII service records (NAA)

From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

But the winter of 1916–17 was not all grim. The trenches became the soldiers’ home and their comrades became their family. Soldiers took their leaves in Paris and London, attended training schools, and had unusual encounters — I mention just two. [...] Another meeting was described in the West Australian under the heading ‘Former workmates meet. An incident of Bullecourt’. It said, ‘A soldier recently returned from France states that at Bullecourt he was watching a batch of prisoners being brought in, when one of them addressed him by name and asked for a drink. On looking more closely he saw that the prisoner was a man with whom he had worked on a mine at Boulder in December, 1915. The question arises as to how the German got away from Australia to Germany.’ This incident attracted the attention of the Australian Intelligence authorities and the Western Australian police carried out a special investigation. The Australian soldier in question was Wladyslaw Nogal, a Russian Pole; while working at Horseshoe Gold Mine in Kalgoorlie in July or August 1914, Nogal met the German, who disappeared shortly thereafter. The next time Nogal saw him he was in a group of German prisoners-of-war at Goodincourt, the Somme, in January 1917. ‘The German noticed him’, said the police report, and called out “What oh! Victor! What about giving me a drink of tea?” Nogal states he made no reply.’

    … At the two-up or in showing hatred to a German former workmate — they were becoming part of their army.

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