Rubitschung, Otto Wilhelm Anton (Doctor, b.1894 - d.1967)

Collection relating to the First World War service of Doctor Otto Wilhelm Anton Rubitschung, Cavalry Platoon 702, German Imperial Army, Palestine, 1918.

The collection consists of a typewritten memoir and translation by Rubitschung telling of his experiences of fighting and capture during the Battle of Abu Tellul, written in 1929. He recounts the travel of his regiments into the Jordan Valley, the water shortages and heatstroke suffered by the German and Turkish troops, and his doubts as to whether the Turkish troops would be able to adequately support his units' flanks after moving heavy machine gun equipment.

During his recount of the battle, Rubitschung talks of the lack of communication between platoon commanders and battle commanders, and mentions that the 32 Turkish Regiment is absent from their intended position, pushing up the Eastern slope of the advance. In reality, the regiment had been overwhelmed by British and Indian forces before it had a chance to launch its attack. During the attack Rubitschung was wounded in the thigh. He recounts his wounds being bound and the other men leaving him with the intention of returning later that evening to recover him. He describes hearing wounded soldiers around him, dying from their injuries and exposure. He tells of his capture and the confiscation of his effects, how he begins to earn the trust of Major Archie Dick, 3rd Light Horse Regiment. He recounts that Dick asked him to explain the loading mechanism of two captured German Army pistols, and how he manages to sabotage the pistols so that they will not work. The next morning he is taken to Jerusalem in an ambulance. The final part of his memoir describes his journey to the battlefield ten years later.

The collection also contains a note relating to Rubitschung's post-war life in Palestine, and his Second World War civilian internment in Australia. The note mentions his practice of medicine in Palestine, including an invitation to the meetings of a medical society in Tel Aviv, before briefly discussing his contact with Archie Dick, who sent him mail via his pre-war address, which was printed on one of the straps of his field glass and pistol. On the day that Rubitschung and his family arrived at Tatura camp, Victoria, Dick welcomed the family at the gate, having travelled from South Australia to do so.

The collection also contains a certificate for Rubitschung's Iron Cross, First Class, and ten black and white photographs and photographic postcards relating to Rubitschung's First World War service.