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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Lithuanians sent from Scotland to Russia


paullucas01

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Hi Kim,

TeevanTree/Frances hasn't been on the board since august 2015 I'm afraid.

But I've sent her a PM to advise that there has been a reply to the message.

I sincerely hope that PM reaches its destination, and that you two can connect and swap family-stories!

 

This whole thread has been an eye-opener for me. Never knew of any link between Lithuania and Scotland, but I know now!

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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 year later...
On 29/08/2011 at 20:38, paullucas01 said:

My great-grandparents were Lithuanian and they emigrated to Scotland in 1901 - Vincas and Magdalena Lukosevicius.

Their elder son, Jonas Lukosevicius and his sister travelled with them and started work in the Lanarkshire coal mines. In 1908, my great-grandmother, Magdalena returned to Lithuania to fetch their younger son Antanas and his sister. he started work in the coal mines as well.

In 1917, the Anglo-Russian Military Convention came into force. All Lithuanians in Scotland had to choose between fighting for the British or the Russians (as the Tsar still ruled Lithuania). My great-uncle Jonas chose to fight for Russia. However, we are led to believe that he wanted to fight for Lithuanian Independence. We have pictures of him as a Lieutenant in the Lithuanian Army from 1920.

My grandfather, Antanas, joined the British Army and was awarded a Miltary Medal serving with the Royal Field Artillery in WWI, In WWII, he was treated as an alien and had to report to the police station every day. He would have been interned however he was a coal miner and was needed for the war effort. Eventually, he was allowed to become a British citizen in 1956.

My great-uncle Jonas was executed by the KGB in 1941 as he was a border policeman, after he was in the army.

What I would like help is to find the list of the 1,100 Lithuanians sent to fight for the Russians in 1917. This act devastated the Lithuanian community in Scotland. The community was about 20,00 strong until this time. Another member of my extended family lost two of her great uncles in Archangel or Murmansk in the "railway wars" - Juozas and Petrus Sabailauskas.

To find the list of the 1,100 Lithuanians who "volunteered" to fight for the Russians would be fantastic as I know so many people like myself who are trying to find out what happened to their grand-fathers or great-grandfathers.

Thanks to John Duncan who I have had some correspondence and help from. I hope someone somewhere can help me.

Paul Lucas

(Paulius Lukosevicius)

Hi Paul.

Just saw your post and registered.

My great grandfather went also in 1917 and was not allowed back into the UK after it. I have the letter here.

My papa went to meet him in France when he was 16 in 1925 , no one knows what happened to him after that as there was no further contact.

The surname was Kregzde or Kregdis, 

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Hello Angele,

Welcome to the forum!

Paul has not visited since almost a year (7th March 2021 in fact), I'm afraid, but I'll tag him ( @paullucas01)  (I tried to send him a Personal Message, but it came back with "cannot receive messages")

Hopefully he replies!

 

 

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19 minutes ago, JWK said:

Hello Angele,

Welcome to the forum!

Paul has not visited since almost a year (7th March 2021 in fact), I'm afraid, but I'll tag him ( @paullucas01)  (I tried to send him a Personal Message, but it came back with "cannot receive messages")

Hopefully he replies!

 

 

Thank you for that. Very interesting posts, always wondered what happened.

Fingers crossed!

 

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Hi, I saw the message. The name is quite popular from the Lithuanian surname dictionary from the 1930s, there were 48 families with the following name - KREGŽDĖ
KRẼGŽDĖ Ar 4, Brž 19, Btg, Grk 3, Pbr, Pn, RdN 8, Užv, Vb; KREGŽDĖ̃ Kp 5, Mrj 2, Srd, Šmn (at.) (48). Matyt, iš liet. kregždė̃, krẽgždė „mažas kregždinių šeimos paukštis ilgais sparnais; blezdinga (Hirundo)“ (LKŽ VI 490). The abbreviations are codes for the towns e.g. Vrb = Virbalis 

The name is more likely to be KREGŽDỸS Alvt, Bbl, Grl, Kn 5, Šil, Vlkv 2, Vv, Žal 2 (14). Plg. Krẽgždis (žr.). Galbūt sietina su Krẽgždė (žr.), plg. kregždỹs „kregždė“ (LKŽ VI 491). As all the towns mentioned here are where the Scottish Lithuanians came from e.g. Alvt = Alvitas

 

The name means Swallow as in the bird

 

 

Edited by paullucas01
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12 hours ago, paullucas01 said:

Hi, I saw the message. The name is quite popular from the Lithuanian surname dictionary from the 1930s, there were 48 families with the following name - KREGŽDĖ
KRẼGŽDĖ Ar 4, Brž 19, Btg, Grk 3, Pbr, Pn, RdN 8, Užv, Vb; KREGŽDĖ̃ Kp 5, Mrj 2, Srd, Šmn (at.) (48). Matyt, iš liet. kregždė̃, krẽgždė „mažas kregždinių šeimos paukštis ilgais sparnais; blezdinga (Hirundo)“ (LKŽ VI 490). The abbreviations are codes for the towns e.g. Vrb = Virbalis 

The name is more likely to be KREGŽDỸS Alvt, Bbl, Grl, Kn 5, Šil, Vlkv 2, Vv, Žal 2 (14). Plg. Krẽgždis (žr.). Galbūt sietina su Krẽgždė (žr.), plg. kregždỹs „kregždė“ (LKŽ VI 491). As all the towns mentioned here are where the Scottish Lithuanians came from e.g. Alvt = Alvitas

 

The name means Swallow as in the bird

 

 

Thanks for that. Interesting.

Yes, when the name was written, it was written as Kregsdis but obviously wrong as I could not find that anywhere

They were from Vilnius.

My great grandfather was over here with my grandmother and possibly his brother who ended up in Pennsylvania.

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  • 10 months later...
On 29/08/2011 at 20:38, paullucas01 said:

 

 

My grandfather, Antanas, joined the British Army and was awarded a Miltary Medal serving with the Royal Field Artillery in WWI, In WWII, he was treated as an alien and had to report to the police station every day. He would have been interned however he was a coal miner and was needed for the war effort. Eventually, he was allowed to become a British citizen in 1956.

 

Hi Paul, I dont know if it got turned up yet bit I found the index cards, possibly be your Grandfather under British interpretations of the era. Looking under Antanas, theres a couple here who I expect would also be Lithuanian

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_col=200&_cr1=WO+372&_hb=tna&_q=Antanas

Edited by toofatfortakeoff
Forgot to insert link
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