When we hear the word Anzacs we immediately think of Australian and New Zealand soldiers fighting side by side in the Great War. That defining episode in our military history has shaped our national spirit – and is a quintessentially Australian story.

Or so we may have thought. A new book by Russian-Australian author Elena Govor now reveals that about 1,000 of the Anzacs who fought in the first Australian Imperial Force in World War I were, in fact, of Russian origin.

Historian, Dr Michael McKernan, will launch the book at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra, on Tuesday, 19 April 2005 at 5.30pm. The media is most welcome to attend.

Published by UNSW Press in association with the National Archives, Russian Anzacs in Australian History reveals that men born in the former Russian Empire constituted the largest group in the First Australian Imperial Force, after those of Anglo or Celtic background. Besides ethnic Russians they included Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Poles, Jews, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Germans and Ossetians.

Uncovering their many tales has been a challenging and painstaking quest for the author. Drawing on material from the National Archives of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, personal interviews and family archives, Elena Govor has followed the threads and unravelled the stories of the Russian Anzacs from pre-revolutionary Russia to modern-day Australia.

Through her moving book, she establishes ties between the children and grandchildren of these servicemen and their heritage, offering a vivid portrait of Russian multi-ethnic communities in Australia.

Russian Anzacs in Australian History not only shows what a valuable contribution Russian servicemen made to the Australian war effort, but reinforces their important place in Australia’s national history.

This is the third book published in Australia by the author, who has also published two other books in Russia. The book will be available at the special launch price of $36.00 from the National Archives.