Two years indentured

Stasys Šiuskus arrived in Perth and stayed in the Grayland migrant camp for a brief time. After two weeks, he was told that he would be going to pick grapes in South Australia. He was sent by train to Adelaide and then by bus to Renmark. A farmer named H. Rasheed selected a small group of Lithuanians and took them to his property on 28 March 1948. He would receive £4 per week for a 40 hour week. Two shillings were deducted for tax. Other farmers allowed their workers to earn by amount and so could potentially earn more.

On one occasion, the group picked large grapes and then were taken to a crop consisting of small grapes. Here the farmer changed how they were to paid, now they earned their wage by the amount you pick. The group knew they were being taken advantage of, and as a group decided they would not pick and instigated a strike. The farmer got the Union representative, who sided with the workers. He had to pay them an hourly wage which included the half a day they were striking.
At the end of the harvest they received a letter from the Renmark Harvest Labour committee, it read;

As the harvesting of the dried fruits has now concluded it is gratifying to hear of good work done and also your conduct during the period of engagement with our Growers. You will now be moving on to other parts of Australia and we wish you every success in your new home of adoption and feel sure you will be loyal to the British Empire.

After the harvest, Stays was sent to work on the railways at Bancham, between Naracoorte and Mt Gambier. He lived here in tents, two to a tent. His next door neighbours were J and Vytas Neverauskas. Meals were eaten in a communal area, the food was good and inexpensive. They were earning 1 shilling a week which was paid fortnightly, after tax they received £13.

Stasys was injured and spend two weeks in the Naracoorte hospital; he contracted rheumatism in his foot. He asked for a transfer to Adelaide. After a week he received notification that he was transfer to Islington, to work on the tractors at the Railway yards. He was fortunate to find a room with furniture at 254 Main North Rd, Prospect.

The day after Stasys two year contract ended he purchased a six ton truck and drove north to the Leigh Creek coalfields, where he could now earn over six shillings an hour.

Porteress Recruits Among D.P's

Seventeen married couples whoa re to work for the SA Railways' were among the 80 displaced persons from Europe who reached Adelaide on Saturday by train from Melbourne. They are quartered at the Migration Hostel.

The wives are to be trained as porteresses and the husbands will work in various sections of the railways.

Women comprised about half of the group of 80 persons who arrived on Saturday.
Some of them, going to domestic work in the metropolitan area, wept at pasting temporarily from husbands, who will reside at Gawler or Smithfield camps and undertake factory and other employment.

The Rev. Father P. Jatulis, a Lithuanian, who arrived on Saturday will be attached to the Catholic Presbytery, West Tce, city.

The Advertiser, Monday 11 April 1949, p.10

Table Tennis champion

I recently found this write up of Aldona Snarskis in the Railway Institute Magazine August -Sept 1957.

We must congratulate Aldona Snarksis of the Railways Institute on wining the women's open singles championship of South Australia this month. Aldona's win against previously undefeated player this season "Arline Jennings" was a wonderful effort in so mush as Aldona had been out of the game for three seasons. Miss Snarskis had to drop out of table tennis owing to the ill-health ans subsequent death of her mother, and it was most pleasing after such a severe set back to see this very popular player on the top of the ladder of fame. Aldona will take no end of beating in the Australian Women's singles championship to be held at the Australian Table Tennis Championship's in September at the Freemasons Hall North Terrace.
Harold Merritt

Aldona arrived in Australia on 15 January 1949 with her brother and parents aboard the Svalbard.

Early arrivals

Records reveal that there are over 1500 Lithuanians who arrived and settled in SA just after WWII. The first Lithuanians were single males as that was what the Australian government wanted at the time. The men were employed in the Engineering and Water supply department, coal miners at Leigh creek, salt processing plant at Price, in the Onkaparinga Woollen Mill at Lobethal, in the forest industry at Nangwarry, SA Railways, Woomera Rocket Range, General Motors, Chrysler, Phillips factories. So far i have managed to find 800 Lithuanians, just over half way there.

The Onkaparinga Woollen Mills at Lobethal employed many Balts after the war. The workers were housed at the Woodside Army camp. The Mill asked for 15 single women to be housed in the hostel. The government alloted 17 all of whom were married. There husbands were employed by the Railway department and would return on weekends to visit their wives. The husbands were later offered employment in the Mill. Amongst the Lithuanians employed there were Barauskas, Bernaitis, Brazauskas, Cepliauskas, Damasevicius, Diciviene, Jankunas, Jokubaitis, Matikulas,Merliunas, Palukaitis, Vitkus, Vanagas, Vikas.

For more information on the Mill I recomend reading "Onkaparinga: The story of a Mill" by Carol Brockhoff (1992)