On April 25, 2022, on ANZAC Day, a solemn memorial service was held at the cemetery of the Queensland city of Roma on the restored grave of the soldier-participant of the First World War Georgy Petrovich Sekacheff. All this was made possible thanks to a caring Australian and a history lover – Peter Cummings.
I never cease to be surprised at how much is interconnected in this life: as one event leads to another, a third is strung on it, and as a result, phenomena occur that I call little miracles. And I never cease to admire the people (many of whom I have never even seen) who become participants and heroes of these events.
I don't remember now – why exactly I needed a photo of the burial place of the former soldier Sekachoff, and I asked my friend, Len Neal (see "The Australian and the Russian "Miss"), if he, by chance, had an acquaintance in Roma so that he could take a photo of the monument? It turned out to be Peter, who, after visiting the local cemetery, reported that there was no monument or memorial plate on the grave.
Necropolistes often encounter similar cases – for so many years, no relatives have been left alive, or they live far away, or because of their age they simply cannot maintain the burial, and over time it decays, collapses and is lost. In principle, Peter could have stopped there, but he was interested in the history of the Sekachoff family, and he took up this case with all his might.
Peter Cummings was born in the small rural town of Cooroy (Shire of Noosa), and grew up in Kenilworth – excellent handmade cheeses are still produced there. He drove trucks and coaches and wasn't particularly interested with history. The hobby began when, after the death of his parents and aunt, he realized that he knew very little about his family.
Since then, he traveled to Brisbane one Saturday a month, where he spent time in the archives and the state library in search of information. He found out that his great-grandfather at the middle of the 19th century was a stockman in the town of Mitchell-Downs in South-West of Queensland. The old cemetery where his first wife was buried was built up, and Peter spent a lot of time to establish the exact location.
Interest in family history has grown into a desire to search for records of lost graves and the need to return forgotten names from oblivion. Our request about a photo caught Peter in Roma, where, at the invitation of the City Council, he made a report on historical topics. It was discovered out that our ANZAC was not even listed in the lists of the local veterans' organization.
Georgy Sekachoff was born on December 3, 1884 in the ancient city of Saransk of Penza province (now the capital of the Republic of Mordovia). Saransky Ostrozhek (Ostrozhek is a little fortress) was founded in 1641 and was part of the system of fortifications of the Simbirsk Zasechnaya (Security) line, which protected the southeastern border of the Russian Kingdom (Tsardom) from nomadic raids. The settlement received its current name and status of a county town in 1870.
Before the outbreak of the First World War, in 1913, Georgy Petrovich left for Australia. Disembarking from SS “Empire” in Cairns, he spent nearly10 months there, and then moved to Townsville. In 1915, he enlisted in the army and went to Gallipoli as a private with of the 9th Battalion, and later served on the Western Front in the 11th Field Artillery Battalion as a gunner and saddler. According to archives, among his awards were the Military Star 1914/15, the British Military Medal and the Victory Medal.
Demobilized in 1918, the soldier returned to Australia, settled in Brisbane and two years later married Lucy Uscinski – the sister of the Russian ANZAC Vincent Uscinski. In 1921, they had a daughter, Anna. In 1923, another girl was born, who was named after her mother – Lucy. A year later, his wife gave George an heir, Alexander, and in 1927, second son, John.
The couple lived in #41 on Cavendish Street in Cooparoo, George worked as a carpenter, the daughters grew up and studied at a local school. Then the family moved to the small rural village of Gunnewin located in the vicinity of Roma, where its head took a plot of land. There was no school there, so the Sekachoffs became members of the committee for the construction of an educational institution, which opened in 1934. However, there were a little more than 20 students there, and after 10 years it was closed.
After retiring, Georgy Petrovich moved with his family to Dalby around 1943. A year later, a tragedy happened – their beautiful Anna died suddenly. The body was taken to Brisbane, and, after the funeral service at the Catholic Church of St. Jacob in Coorparoo was buried in the Balmoral Cemetery in the same grave with her cousin, Stefan Uschinski, who died in 1941.
Of course, the father was grieving over the death of his eldest daughter. In November 1945, he was admitted to the Roma hospital, and on December 28, the former soldier's heart stopped. Daughter Lucy at this time served in the medical units of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force of Australia (WAAAF). It is not known whether she was able to come to her father's funeral. Two years after demobilization, Lucy married Polish emigrant Jan Zelasko.
Fate measured out too little for her – the youngest daughter of Georgy Sekachoff died in 1963 at the age of 40. She is buried in Mount Gravatt Cemetery. Her mother outlived her by 3 years. Lucy-sr. is buried in Balmoral with her brother Vincent, who died in an accident in 1921. Alexander and John changed their last names to Spencer and Stacey. The elder died in 1996, the younger in 2016.
We were able to find out most of the information about the family thanks to Peter's efforts. He also managed to launch the process, as a result of which the grave of Georgy Sekachoff was restored, entered into the register of war graves and marked with an ANZAC badge. Thanks to everyone who somehow took part in the return of the memory of the soldier! Thank you, Peter! Please don't stop in your search. This is a very important and necessary job. After all, probably, right now someone else is looking for their relatives. And perhaps, with your help, they will find it.
By Victoria Smolin
Photo captions:
01ab – Memorial service at the restored grave of Georgy Sekachoff
02abc – Georgy Petrovich Sekachoff (1884-1945) is buried in the city of Roma
03ab – Coorparoo State School that Anna and Lucy went to
04ab – Catholic Church of St. Jacob in Coorparoo
05abc – Anna Georgievna (1921-1944) is buried at Balmoral Cemetery
06abc – Lucy Georgievna Zelasko (1923-1963) rests in Mount Gravatt
07ab – Lucy-sr. (1886-1966) is buried with her brother Vincent
Photo: 1ab, 2ac, 6c – Peter Cummings; 3b, 4a, 5ac, 7b – the author; 2b, 6b – NAA; 5b – The Truth, 31th of March 1940; 3a – QSA; 6a – AWM; 4b, 7a – from open sources on the Internet.
Special thanks to the writer, historian, Professor Elena Govor (Canberra) for information about Georgy Sekachoff and other Russian ANZACS.
