Sir John Pitka 1872-1944 – A Large Life
Apr 29, 2022
Estonian Life No. 17 2022
Most of us know Sir John Pitka as the commanding officer of the Estonian Navy during Estonia’s War of Independence 1918-1920 from the Soviet Union, and for his knighthood from King George V in 1920. We may not know that shortly after Pitka was promoted to Rear Admiral, his mental health from the stress of war was so compromised that on Dec. 14, 1919 he was given a six month vacation leave. Pitka went to England. He had lived in Liverpool in the years 1903-1912 operating a shipping brokerage firm, Pitka & Jummutz. Shortly after his departure from Estonia, a peace treaty was signed on February 2, 1920.
Pitka’s life drastically changed on May 16th, 1923 when his eldest son, John Imant, age 27, was killed in a car accident in Reval. Five months later Johan Pitka, alone, arrived in Canada calling on the Department of Immigration and Colonization to discuss the migration of 100 independent farmers with their families. On the 16th of October he left Ottawa to explore western Canada for six weeks.
The next year Sir John Pitka and family left Liverpool on March 21, 1924 travelling in third class on the s.s. Montcalm, they arrived in St. John, New Brunswick, Pitka had $2,700.00 in his wallet. On his entry immigration form he listed his occupation (rather humbly) “Farmer and Man of Business.” Vanderhoof is only 80 kilometres from Fort St. James but it took them 3 days to arrive as their railcar was disengaged from the train, and 3 wagons, each pulled by 2 horses through snow 15 km. over rough steep roads, getting stuck and eventually switching to sleighs. Homesteading began, Pitka tried dairy and sheep farming, a sawmill and raised various crops, but after a 5 year stint, the Pitkas returned to Estonia.
Back in the homeland, the 1930s proved prosperous years for Pitka, he immersed himself in various organizations. It is thought that because he escaped to Finland in 1940, the Soviets retaliated by arresting and executing his 3 sons in 1942. Pitka returned to Estonia from Finland, and some think he died in battle in 1944. We do know his wife and two daughters fled to Sweden in 1944, and in 1948 they re-immigrated to Vancouver, Canada.
My grandfather, Captain Johannes Suksdorf (1881-1925) a former harbourmaster of Kronstadt, Kotlin during the Tsarist years 1914-1917, was appointed as a direct advisor to Admiral Pitka on September 18. 1919 regarding Uppunud Varanduse Päästmise (Sunken Equipment Rescue). During Pitka’s time at Käsmu Marine School c.1891, he worked on the tall ship ‘Liina’ owned and operated by my great-grandfather Capt. Magnus Mikenberg (1865-1928).
I highly recommend My Formative Years, the book so beautifully translated into English by Hillar Kalmar, details Pitka’s memoirs of his adventures as a sea captain 1896-1900 of the barque ‘Lilly.’ Exciting chapters: A Sailor Declares War on Mexicans; We Borrow Some Food; The Cook Gets Angry; Liquor Flows to the Mate’s Bunk. Other books translated by Kalmar include ‘Captain on the Yangtze,’ (Capt. Peeter Mender’s 30 years in the Far East and China) and Evald Past’s By Land and By Sea. The books are available from Amazon and Earnshaw Books.
EVA VABASALU
