Saveliy Tkachenko

Russian spelling Савелий Авксентьевич Ткаченко

Born 3.10.1894     Place Gusiatin, Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine     Ethnic origin Ukrainian     Religion Russian Orthodox

Father Tkachenko, Aksenti     Mother Tkachenko, Pelahia

Residence before arrival at Australia lived in Siberia for 6 months

Arrived at Australia

            from Dairen     on 27.10.1913     per St Albans     disembarked at Townsville

Residence before enlistment Townsville, Brisbane

Occupation labourer

Service

service number 1004A     enlisted 8.03.1915     POE Townsville, Qld

unit 25th Battalion, 26th Battalion       rank Private

place Gallipoli, 1915; Western Front, 1916-1918       casualties wounded 1915 (self-inflicted)

final fate RTA 28.03.1919       discharged 27.07.1919

Naturalisation 1937

Residence after the war Brisbane

Materials naturalisation  (NAA)

digitised service records (NAA) (Tkachenro)

court martial file 1     2     3     4  (NAA)

From Russian Anzacs in Australian History:

A former railway labourer, a Ukrainian, Saveliy Tkachenko (25th Battalion) shot off the index finger on his right hand early on the morning of 4 November [1915]. He had already been a few months on Gallipoli at this stage and had only just returned from hospital, where he was suffering from nerves. Along with other soldiers who had self-inflicted wounds, Tkachenko was tried by court-martial. His commanding officer characterised Tkachenko as an ‘indifferent soldier’, and stressed that he ‘has been hard to understand, not being conversant with the English language. He is of Russian nationality.’ His self-inflicted wound did not in any case help him to get out of the army: by that stage every man was needed. Later, in France, Tkachenko would try more than once to desert; he was even sentenced once to ‘Penal servitude for life’, although the sentence was suspended not long after and he was sent back to the trenches.

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