Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Oleg Vitte, known to his friends as Alec, was born in 1923 in Harbin, in Manchuria in northern China, where his father Richard Vitte (born 1868, a ‘Baltic German’ of Latvia, then part of the Russian empire) was an administrator with the Russian Railways. Richard began his career with the newly opened Trans-Caspian line based at Tashkent, and then transferred to the Trans-Siberian line which was still under construction. Harbin was founded in 1898 by the Russian Tzarist government to build a shortcut rail line between Chita in Siberia across to Vladivostok on the far east coast of Russia, known as the Chinese Eastern Railway. In 1923, the Russian Revolution and subsequent Civil War reached the far east coast and Vladivostok, where the defending White Army was finally defeated by the Soviet Red Army.

In 1924 an agreement was signed that only Soviet and Chinese citizens could be employed by the CER, meaning railroad employees had three choices- accept Soviet citizenship, apply for Chinese citizenship or emigrate. Richard chose the latter- his eldest son by his first marriage had been executed by the Red Army, and Richard, himself, had been kidnapped and ransomed by Chinese bandits, with continuing threats against his youngest son, so life in Harbin was becoming fraught with danger. In late 1925, Richard and his 2nd wife Nadezhda (a Ukrainian born c.1887), sons Vladimir (16) and Oleg (2), and Richard’s cousin Alexander Vitte and his family, caught a fishing boat to Japan, and then a Japanese cargo vessel, the Mishi Na Maru down to Australia, taking only the luggage they could carry. They were interviewed (in French) and processed at Thursday Island and sent on to Brisbane.

None of the family could speak English which meant employment opportunities were few. Initially supported by the Russian community in Brisbane, the beginning of the Great Depression just four years after arrival was disastrous for the family. Son, Vladimir took a train up to Tully in northern QLD to find work in the cane fields as a cutter. He informed Richard that the cane cutters needed a cook in their barracks, so Richard, now 62 years of age, left the family in Brisbane and went up to Tully, taking his wife’s recipes with him. Just two years later, Richard’s wife died unexpectedly, leaving 8 year-old Oleg alone, bewildered and grief-stricken. Richard came down by train, buried his wife, collected Oleg and took him up to live with them in the cane-cutters’ barracks, a tin shed divided into 5 small bedrooms, (2m x 3m) with corrugated iron dividing walls, holding just two bunks, no furniture, and an added mattress on the floor for Alec. There were no bathroom facilities or running water, only the creek and an outside ‘dirt dunny’; there was no electricity, and their single window shutter was propped open with a stick; and the cane cutting gang shared a communal kitchen/dining room at the end of the hut- not an ideal home for a young child, living with a bunch of often-drunken and rowdy Russian cane-cutters. On one occasion, Vladimir accidentally shot himself, very close to his heart, supposedly when shooting rats in the kitchen (Vladimir was an excellent shot, winning awards at the Tully Rifle Club)- this only a month after a similar accident with another barrack’s occupant. Each day, Oleg had to walk several miles into Tully to attend the primary school there.

They spent the next 3 years living in the barracks, until Richard was granted citizenship and a pension, and moved into a small house in Tully. Oleg, a bright student, was granted a scholarship to Thornburgh College in Charters Towers to complete his education. He graduated with honours, and had just joined the public service when he enlisted for naval service in WWII in November 1941, aged 18, for which he needed his father’s approval. His elder brother Vladimir enlisted in the Royal Airforce and served as a Warrant Officer, flying transport planes such as DC3’s in Africa and over Europe.

Tragically, Oleg’s beloved ‘uncle’ and godfather Alexander Vitte and his wife Nina chose to return to China in 1936, living in Shanghai when the Japanese invaded. They were placed in an internment camp north of Shanghai, Alexander dying of starvation within 2 months. Nina was transferred to another camp in a warehouse opposite The Bund in Shanghai, and survived the war despite constant allied bombing of their camp, and harsh living conditions, only to accidentally drown in the Whangpoo River on being released when the American Fleet sailed into Shanghai Harbour. The family received the official Cablegrams from the Department of External Affairs, marked SECRET, explaining her unfortunate death.

After enlistment, Oleg firstly trained on the auxiliary minesweeper ‘HMAS Kianga’ in Brisbane, then transferred to the newly commissioned corvette ‘HMAS Gympie’ which was deployed as an anti-submarine patrol ship and convoy escort. He was promoted from Ordinary Seaman to Able Seaman in October 1942. His service record indicates he was of ‘good character’ and ‘superior efficiency’. There were a few memorable moments during his service:- involved in the search for a Japanese submarine detected off the southern Queensland coast; searching, detecting and destroying mines reported in the sea channels; escorting and protecting large international convoys through the Coral Sea and Solomon Sea- on one occasion, several larger ships ran aground on a reef, and the escort corvettes had to patrol around them to protect them from any lurking subs until they were re-floated on a high tide; on another occasion, several corvettes were practising depth charging in the Solomon Sea, when a shoal of stunned red emperor fish floated to the surface- several boats were lowered to collect them, which provided them with delicious fresh fish meals; and the ultimate embarrassment of blowing off part of the stern of the ship during depth charge practice when the depth charge became stuck in the launcher, which required their return to Brisbane for repairs. Oleg recalled one incident when he got lost in a sea of war ships as far as the eye could see in the harbour at Manus Island New Guinea, when Oleg was ordered to take a sick crewman by motor launch to a hospital ship. By the time the seaman was treated and well enough to return, it was dark and they couldn’t find their way back. Luckily, one of their fellow crewmembers recognized the problem and signalled the ship’s position with the signal light.

Several months before the end of the war, Oleg was transferred to HMAS Penguin, a RAN base located at Balmoral on the lower north shore of Sydney, to train for radar operations which was interrupted when peace was declared.

He was discharged in March 1945 and enrolled in the University of QLD, studying civil engineering.
After graduation, Oleg was employed as Shire Engineer based in Longreach for several years. In 1955, he took employment with the Brunei Government as a civil engineer for five years, constructing the new airport and roads and bridges, and enjoying life as an expat, invited to numerous celebrations and cocktail parties by the Sultan of Brunei at the Palace, including a dinner for the visiting Duke of Edinburgh. He returned to Australia when his young daughter was ready to begin her schooling, and was appointed by the QLD Government as an engineer in SW QLD based in Charleville for several years, in charge of underground water, and drilling bores, for cattle and sheep stations, and town water supply including the bore at Birdsville. He then transferred to Brisbane in 1966 where he was promoted to Chief Engineer and head of the department of Underground Water in the Irrigation and Water Supply Commission, retiring in 1983.

Oleg suffered a further tragedy when he lost his beloved wife, Pat, in a car accident in 1991. He continued to live a very long life, enjoying his gardening and watching football, remaining close to his daughter, and died in 2022 aged 99 years.

For a man who had a very turbulent and tragedy filled life, he made an important and productive contribution to his new country and led an honest and honourable life.