TIMOSHENKO

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4563, 22 April 1942, Page 7

TIMOSHENKO

EXTRAORDINARY STORY “ Marshal Timoshenko’s continued success has revived inquiries about the extraordinary story that his father was a Welsh miner who went to Russia in 1880, his name Timothy Jenkins, who married a Russian woman, and Timoshenko, this legend says, was their offspring. “ The father of Timothy was Caractacus Jenkins, a Welsh Nonconformist preacher and a Welsh bard. In support of this contention it was pointed out that Peter the Great had as generals Patrick Gordon, Ogilvy, and Bestucheff. The last named was a Scot called Best; Peter changed his name because “ Best ” is Russian for “ beast.” “ Shenkin,” it was added by : way of further proof, was the original | Welsh form of Jenkin. Alas ! One could find no support among the authorities. The name “ Timoshenko,” it apears, is common

in many parts of Russia, and “ shenko ” is a popular termination for names in the Ukaine.' Captain Stukanov, the Soviet naval attache in London, was mightily amused by the suggestion. He said that Timoshenko

was the son and grandson of a farmer, and it was a well-known name in Russia; so not one but many Timothy Jenkinses must have gone to help populate Russia. He saw no hope in the theory.”—Manchester Guardian.