Shadow Minister for Children and Young Adults, Jenny Mikakos, gave a speech in Parliament on the events organised to commemorate Battles of Greece and Crete.
Ms Mikakos, MP for Northern Metropolitan region, referred to many events commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the battles of Greece and Crete during World War II, highlighting the participation of the Australian armed forces in the Battle of Crete of May 1941.
“During the battle of Crete, out of a total of 40 000 soldiers who made up the Allied and Greek forces in Crete, 3990 were killed, 2750 wounded and 17 090 captured. Post evacuation, hundreds of members of the Australian armed forces remained behind enemy lines, either escaping or joining the Greek resistance, supported by the brave local Greek population,” Ms Mikakos said in her speech.
Ms Mikakos also referred to a medals ceremony she attended, hosted by the Consul General of Greece, Mrs Eleni Lianidou, to pay tribute to Australians who fought bravely in these battles. On the day, commemoratives medals of honour from the Greek armed forces were presented to 92-year-old veteran Mr Alex Maxwell White, and family members accepted medals on behalf of Mr Lenard William Thomas Beal, Mr Davy Howard Bertram, Mr Ernest Allen Bridges, Mr Swan Bramwell, Mr Alan Dyer Campbell, Mr Arthur Charles Ford and Mr Ronald Valentine Margetts.
“As a Greek-Australian, I am forever indebted to them for their bravery in fighting for freedom,” she said.
As part of the delegation of members of Parliament who undertook an Anzac study tour, Ms Mikakos talked about the commemorative dawn service she attended at Anzac Cove, the Australian memorial service at Lone Pine in Gallipoli and many other services.
“We had the opportunity to visit some of the major battle sites such as Vevi, the Servia Pass, Pinios Pass, Brallos Pass, Thermopylae and Corinth in Greece where the Anzacs fought in World War II. It was an honour to attend events hosted by the local authorities commemorating and paying tribute to the sacrifices of the Anzacs. Australians are buried in six commonwealth war cemeteries in Greece, an important part of Greece and Australia’s shared history,” Ms Mikakos said.