ARRESTED IN RUSSIA

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 110, 5 November 1915, Page 4

ARRESTED IN RUSSIA

AUSTRALIAN BOY'S ORDEAL ■OSSO

FRANK LUKS'S IDENTITY.

DETERMINED TO BE AN AVIATOR,

All the mystery surrounding the identity of Frank Luks, who was described in the London Daily Chronicle as " the Australian aviator," and who was arrested in Russia and thrown into the famous Russian fortress of Peter and Paul, ■on the Neva., in the . mistaken belief that he was an Austrian spy, haa been cleared up. He is a Richmond (Vie.) boy, a.nd was formh' on the training ship John Murray. Early in life hi* great ambition was to become an aviator, and when he left the John Murray he worked his passage to England and obtained work at an aviation factory. When war broke out he tried to join an aviation corps, first in England and then in France, but there were obstacles in his way. He was told that Russia might engage him, and so he went there. His mother, Mrs. ,Luks, who lives in North Richmond, has received a letter from him, written on 11th August, at the British Embassy, Petrograd :— "At last I am able to write to you and let you know how I have been faring," he says. " I have had a. very bad time. I have been in one of the most famous of Russian prisons—one notable for its cruel treatment of those who are unlucky enough to reach there. I was locked up ac an Austrian spy, and subjected to the same treatment as you read about in books."

Luks's full name is Luktschwitz, but his parents discarded the second syllable. It was this name that brought suspicion upon him. His letter continued :" If I had been able to speak a word of German I would most certainly have been sent to Siberia or shot as a spy. I was praying for the gaol officials to shoot me, but they could not understand what I said. I was then half-starved, and completely broken down. " I was refused a commission in the Royal Flying Corps in London, as my name had a German sound. I went to Sir George Reid, but he could do nothing for me. It was clear that I would liave to return to Australia, to join the. Australian Flying Corps, and pay my own fare. Then I thought to offer my services to the Russian Government as an aviator, and I was accepted, on account of my father being Russian. The Russian Government paid all my expenses, and everything went right till I arrived on the border of Finland and Russia. MISTAKEN FOR AUSTRIAN "The police officer did not understand English, and, in examining my papers, mistook the word Australia, for Austria. I did not know this until two days befora I was let out of prison. I was immediately arrested and taken to Petrograd 'under escort, and placed in prison. My protests and fighting and' praying were not listened to. They were sure that I was an Austrian, and that my name was German. All explanations that ,1 tried to make wew» jeered at. "I was locked up for days in c. little cell, into which only a peep of daylight came, and I lost all count o£ the time. At last I was taken before the Court. They tried to make me speak French, German, and Austrian, but, of course, I could speak none of these, and then the interpreter began to question me iri English. I nearly burst into tears when I heard that tongue. I told the Court that I could speak English only, and that I was an Australian. "Then they saw where the mistake had been made, and next day I was a free man; but, I might add, a cripple. I was unable to walk for some time. At the British Embassy they said that I looked like a man of forty years of age instead of a little over "twenty. You can imagine how I must have felt alone, in a cold, dismal cell. My only covering was a small blanket, and my 'food black break and water. The warders all jeered at me as a spy. Tho trouble was that no one knew that I was in Russia, and, as I had read about the horrors of Russian prison life, I felt very miserable, without a friend in the world to plead for me." AMBASSADOR GIVES HELP. From other sources it is learned that when Sir George Buchanan, the British Ambassador, and Lady Buchanan, heard of Luks's case they conveyed him to the Embassy, where he remained until his health was restored. In the closing portion of the letter Luks says:— "I am leaving for London, and I will soon b« myself again. I have a letter of introduction to a great, man in London. I will never return' to Australia till I am a famous aviator. My name must reach Australia before I do."