In 1917, all Europe was at war. In February of that year, the people of Russia rose up against the Czar. As the year went on, the British families at Hughesovka realised that the situation was serious, and they needed to leave. But because of the war, they were unable to travel by either of the usual routes, overland through Europe, or by sea from the Black Sea through the Mediterranean.
Mavis Calderwood (seen here with her brother) lived in Hughesovka at the time. She was seven years old, and the daughter of the chief engineer. In an oral history interview in the early 1990s, she recounted the dramatic experiences of the family's journey home through revolutionary Russia and war-torn Europe.
Mavis told how, at the end of July 1917, her family - herself, her parents, older brother, four-year-old sister and baby brother - left Hughesovka. They travelled for 9 days by train from the southern Ukraine northwards across Russia to St Petersburg, by then renamed Petrograd. They spent the whole journey in the corridor of the train - only soldiers were allowed in the compartments.
The family stayed in Petrograd for three weeks, waiting for the papers that would allow them to leave the country. They were robbed of their money, their supply of food was almost finished, and the baby was very ill with bronchitis. Revolutionaries were firing constantly in the streets outside.
Timetable
for journey from Petrograd to England, with notices for travellers
See larger version of timetable
Eventually, at three o'clock one morning the police came with their papers, and told them to be on the train at Finland Station within the hour. They travelled by train through Finland, Sweden and Norway, arriving at Voss in Norway at the beginning of September.
Map of journey from Petrograd to England, on reverse of timetable
They spent two weeks in Voss, and then boarded one of two converted cattle ships in Bergen. The Royal Navy was there to escort them across the North Sea, but a German U-boat sank one of the ships. Mavis and her family were on the other ship, and arrived safely at Aberdeen on 17 September 1917. Her mother had to be carried off the ship on a stretcher, and the family were down to their last few pence.