Peter Rados
Peter Rados immigrated to Australia in 1910, and worked as a waiter and cook in Western Australia and Sydney.
Just two weeks after the First World War began, 23-year-old Peter applied to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), and his naturalisation was expedited to allow this. He listed his birthplace as Athens, Greece, and gave a Greek address for his parents. His brother, Nick, later wrote that Peter was born in Artaky, which is located in modern day Turkey. Nick believed that Peter was a Turkish subject as his people were living under Turkish rule, but perhaps chose not to declare this as he thought it might have prevented him from enlisting.
Peter was assigned to A Company of the newly formed 3rd Battalion. He left Australia on board HMAT Euripides in October 1914, and arrived in Alexandria, Egypt on 3 December.
Soldiers practicing bayonet fighting on the deck of HMAT Euripides, c. 1914–1919. Denver Wood Wansey.
The 3rd Battalion took part in the Anzac landings on 25 April 1915. Peter fought for the next few weeks without incident. On 19 May 1915, the Turks launched a major offensive against the allied forces along the Gallipoli peninsula. In the fierce fighting, 42 Australians were killed, including Peter. He was buried in Shrapnel Gully by Chaplain William McKenzie, who had travelled with Peter on the Euripides. A condolence letter was sent to the family home in Athens as listed on Peter’s enlistment form. The letter was returned by the postal authorities marked “not known”.
On 28 September 1918, more than three years after Peter was killed in action, the Red Cross received a letter from Nick Rados, Peter’s brother, who was living in the United States. Nick said that Peter had not been heard of since he enlisted in 1914, and the family was anxious to know of his whereabouts. When Nick was notified of his brother’s fate he sent another letter asking about the contents of Peter’s will.
Nick discovered that Peter left all his property and effects to Jack Zervos, the proprietor of the Panellinion Club, a Greek social club in Sydney. Nick appealed to Jack, requesting that Peter’s belongings be sent to his four sisters, who had lost everything during the war. Mareka, aged 15; Antho, aged 13; Smaro, aged 11; and Georgia, who was 10, were said to be living in poor conditions in Atarky. Their parents had died in 1916, which Nick believed to have been as a result of wartime hardship. It is unknown whether Jack responded to this request.
Nick was eventually sent three medals for Peter’s service in the war, including the 1914/1915 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. The officer who sent these to Nick wrote in an accompanying letter that he hoped these medals would serve as mementos of his brother’s gallant service.
Peter’s remains were reinterred postwar in Ari Burnu Cemetery on the Gallipoli peninsula, less than 200 kilometres from where his sisters had lived in Atarky. He is commemorated on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial.
