Vale Boris Mileshkin, a dedicated doctor who made Bathurst home

And while arriving on Australian soil meant the family could live freely, there were still hurdles to overcome, with a 10-year-old Mr Mileshkin and his siblings being the only non-English-speaking children at their school.

But it didn't take long for the Mileshkin family to settle into life in Bathurst, before travelling to other areas in NSW.

Born in Ukraine on March 7, 1938, Mr Mileshkin joined the world with his partner in crime, his identical twin, Nick.

The boys grew up in a tight-knit, loving family, with an older brother Wally.

The three kids were raised by their mother Maria - who was a pharmacist - and father Victor - an electrical engineer.

When they were only toddlers, the war between the USSR and Germany began.

And in October 1941, their hometown Makeevka was occupied by the Germans and the family had to endure armed officers living with them.

Two years later, the Mileshkin family was one of 12 who worked together to hijack a train with the hopes of escaping the war.

However due to the challenges of travelling during war times, the group ended up in a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany - following a slow three-week journey in cattle trucks.

While the war ended in 1945, many Russians and Ukranians didn't return to the USSR as it remained under communist control.

So as part of the United Nations Relief Organisation, the family was able to leave Germany and ended up in another Displaced Persons Camp in Italy.

While the goal was to emigrate to South America, a soldier running the camp suggested the family move to Australia, and after a long wait followed by six weeks of travelling, the Mileshkins began their new life in 1948.

Initially settling in Bathurst, Mr Mileshkin and his twin attended primary school, where they were the only non-English speaking kids.

But surrounded by kind students and teachers who taught them to speak English, it wasn't long before they began to fit into the Australian way of life.

The twins delivered newspapers in Bathurst as a way of earning some pocket money, which they used to buy broken biscuits from the local store.

The family ended up buying a block of land in Western Sydney and moved away for Mr Mileshkin's high school years.

He also attended university in Sydney where he studied medicine, after receiving a scholarship.

It was in Sydney, on a blind date with his twin brother, that Mr Mileshkin met the love of his life - Helen (nee) Graham.

The couple married on December 27, 1965, and had three children - Anna, Hugh and Charles.

In addition to raising a family with his wife, and watching it grow as his four grandchildren came along, he also enjoyed a long career as a rural doctor.

His medical career led he and his family back to Bathurst, where he became very well-known for being a dedicated general practitioner, delivering numerous babies, and nurturing junior nurses and doctors at the start of their professions.

While he had a passion to help others, Mr Mileshkin also had a love for music and cars.

With a vast knowledge of classical music - which began during his time as kid in Italy - Mr Mileshkin loved everything from Beethoven to Andre Rieu.

He was even the conductor of the Bathurst Community Choir - something he was very proud of.

And it wasn't just the choir that bought him joy, with Carols by Candlelight events and signing for patients in nursing homes and hospitals on Christmas Eve of great importance to him.

He also enjoyed selling and buying cars, having owned over 40 cars in his life.

Mr Mileshkin ended up moving away from Bathurst again, and while he only spent a small part of his life in the city, he left a legacy to all who knew him.

He worked until he was in his 70s, and even then he kept up to date with new medical developments.

In his later years, after losing his beloved Helen, Mr Mileshkin moved to Melbourne where his niece lived.

He spent his final verse in the Grace Villa Aged Care facility, where he died in his sleep on April 24, 2023, two months after being diagnosed with advanced oesophageal cancer.

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