Nicholas Silantiff
Alias Silantiev Russian spelling Николай Петрович Силантьев
Born 19.10.1887 Place Krasnoe, Simbirsk (Ulianovsk), Volga River area, Russia Ethnic origin Russian Religion Roman Catholic (likely wrong, should be Russian Orthodox
Father Silantiff, Petr Mother -
Residence before arrival at Australia served in the Russian Army for 1 month
Arrived at Australia
from Yokohama on 27.03.1914 per Kumano Maru disembarked at Brisbane
Residence before enlistment Guluguba, Qld
Occupation labourer
Service
service number 4204 enlisted 21.09.1915 POE Toowoomba, Qld
unit 26th Battalion rank Private
place Western Front, 1916-1917 casualties WIA 1917
final fate RTA 27.09.1917 discharged 19.12.1917
WWI contacts: arrived, enlisted and served together with Gregory Matrenin and Michael Wolkoff
Naturalisation served as Russian subject
Residence after the war 1917 Brisbane; 1918, Brisbane, Mt Morgan, Rockhampton, Brisbane, 1919 Brisbane, Helensvale (near Southport), Brisbane, 1920 Brisbane, Samsonvale, Dayboro, Brisbane, 1921 Caboolture, Burpengary, Brisbane; 1923 left for Russia
Family wife Alexandra Silantiff (by 1923 – deceased) and child left in Russia; in 1945 wife Dana A. and son Ivan N. Silantev
Materials digitised service records (NAA)
alien registration (NAA)
From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:
There were also the three friends, Gregory Matrenin, Nicholas Silantiff and Michael Wolkoff, from the remote village of Krasnoe along the River Volga, about 200 km from the nearest city in Simbirsk province. These men left wives and children at home and came on the Kumano Maru to Australia — probably to earn some money — just a few months before the outbreak of the First World War. The three joined up together and served in the 26th (Queensland) Battalion of the AIF. Theirs was a story touched by tragedy [...]
[...] One of those whose wanderings are revealed through the alien registration records was Nicholas Silantiff: of the three friends from Krasnoe village whose stories we have followed through the war, only Silantiff returned to Australia. In February 1917 he had suffered severe wounds to the right arm and both legs, and been left with a bad limp. In late 1917 he was receiving a pension and was lodging at boarding-houses in Brisbane. In August–September 1918 he signed Leo Berk’s protest against the bolsheviks. By that time it was obvious his war savings were gone as he went to Mount Morgan and Rockhampton to earn some money on the cane-fields. After two months he returned to Brisbane, where he spent the festive season, before trying his luck in Helensvale, near Southport, in February 1919. He was back in Brisbane for summer 1919–20, and then moved to Samsonvale, near Dayboro, north of the city. By the end of 1920 he had returned to Brisbane yet again for the festive season and, with his money all gone once more, joined a railway gang at Caboolture, north of Brisbane, then returned to Brisbane again before going south to Canungra. By now he must have become fed up with this way of life and applied for permission to return to Russia; it was finally granted in 1923 and he went soon afterwards.
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