Last week saw Melbourne’s Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee travel to Canberra to promote and build support for its new initiatives in Greece and Australia.
Vice President Christina Despoteris and myself, as Secretary, got to hold meetings with Greece’s Ambassador to Australia, Her Excellency Ms Ekaterini Xagorari, the Director of the Australian War Memorial, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson AO, as well as the President of both Canberra’s Greek community and Lemnian Association, Mr Steve Kalenderidis. I also took the opportunity to continue my research into both Lemnos and its role in Gallipoli as well as following the trail of Hellenic WW2 Anzac Private James Zampelis in the records of the Australian War Memorial.
The Committee representatives were keen to spread the word on a number of its recent initiatives and achievements. Earlier this year, the Committee was successful in having the location of Melbourne’s Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial named Lemnos Square and restoring the name of Lemnos’ Australian Pier north of Mudros on Lemnos. The Committee is now working with the local authorities on Lemnos to have a number of new memorials erected on Lemnos to start to create the new Lemnos Gallipoli Heritage Trail. Next week will also see the Lemnos Gallipoli Photographic Exhibition showcased in the Queens Hall of the Victorian Parliament. Later this year will see the release of two new initiatives of the Committee – the publication of its major new publication, entitled ‘Lemnos Gallipoli Revealed’ and the inaugural commemoration of the centenary of the Armistice of Mudros on Lemnos and at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. The latter will be held at 12 noon, 31st October 2018, one hundred years to the day since the coming into effect of the armistice across northern Greece and the Middle East.
The Australian War Memorial is the pre-eminent commemorative institution and was established following the end of the First World War to commemorate and honour the service of Australia’s service personnel. Its archive contains the best collections of military records, personal memoirs and diaries and memorabilia in Australia. In this way, the Memorial preserves the history of Australia’s Anzac tradition, including its connection to Greece across both World Wars.
While at the Memorial, I was able to access some of these primary sources. These included the diary of Lieutenant Colonel Dick of the 3rd Australian General Hospital detailing its service on Lemnos. Amongst other things, this diary details the arrival of Australia’s nurses on Lemnos, as well as a unique hand-drawn map of Lemnos. Other records include the diary of the hospital’s Matron Grace Wilson and letters of other Australian nurses, such as Evelyn Davies, all of which describe the experience of these young Australians on Lemnos in 1915. I accessed these archives to inform the new publication I am preparing on behalf of the Committee. ‘Lemnos and Gallipoli Revealed’ will showcase nearly two hundred of the best photographs taken of Lemnos by the Anzacs in 1915, published alongside the words of the Anzacs themselves. The book is scheduled for release later this year. Proceeds from the publication will support more of the Committee’s commemorative work.
I also took the opportunity to conduct further research into the Australian War Memorial’s records and archives concerning the death of Australia’s Hellenic Anzac Private James Zampelis. As reported previously in Neos Kosmos, James is the only Australian of Hellenic background – his father having been born on Lefkada – to have served and have died during the Greek Campaign of 1941. He was killed near Mournes in Crete in May 1941, his body never being found. Along with fellow researcher Mr Paul Sougleris, I have been researching James’ story for many years and hope to support the erection of a memorial to his honour on Crete. I have been able to review the records of Australia’s Grave Units which searched for the bodies of missing Australian soldiers in Greece after the war. Watch this space.
In meeting with Dr Nelson, Ms Despoteris and I provided an update on the work of the Committee and their forthcoming initiatives, as well as presenting him with a special publication detailing the successes of the Committee since its formation in 2011. An invitation was extended to Dr Nelson to visit the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial in Albert Park, to attend our coming annual commemoration on 11 August and our Armistice of Mudros Commemoration at Melbourne’s Shrine Sanctuary on 31st October. We also encouraged Dr Nelson to visit Lemnos and consider assisting local authorities on the Island with their commemorations and proposal to establish a new Gallipoli campaign museum on Lemnos.
Having explained to Dr Nelson how the Committee commissioned sculptor Mr Peter Corlett OAM for the creation of Melbourne’s Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial, the Committee representatives were also able to view some of Peter’s other important commemorative sculptures that are located in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial, including his statues of Simpson and his Donkey and Weary Dunlop.
Every evening, a public Last Post service is held at the Australian War Memorial, dedicated to the life and service of an individual service person. Ms Despoteris and I were invited by Dr Nelson to take part in this service by joining with others in laying a wreath on behalf of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee, as part of this moving service. Each service is filmed and placed on the War Memorial’s website. Members of the public are encouraged to attend these nightly services during a visit to Canberra.
During the meeting with Her Excellency Ms Xagorari, Ms Despoteris and I presented the Ambasador with the Committee’s new commemorative poster featuring the unveiling of the Australian Pier Memorial on Lemnos in April this year. The Committee hopes that this new framed poster will be a welcome addition to the Embassy’s displays and an indication to all who visit in the future of the Hellenic connection to Australia’s Anzac tradition. Discussion was also had concerning a possible Lemnos- Gallipoli-themed photographic exhibition at the Australian War Memorial, or a similar venue in Australia’s national capital. The Ambassador was also invited to attend the Committee’s forthcoming commemorative events in Melbourne.
The Committee welcomed the opportunity to meet with representatives of Canberra’s Greek community. Mr Steve Kalenderidis is President of the Canberra Greek community and Lemnian Association and is connected both to the village of Atsiki on Lemnos as well as nearby northern Aegean Island of Tenedos, while Mr Costas Sofatzis was born at Thanos. The meeting discussed both the Committee’s and the Canberra communities’ commemorative activities, with the later displaying a new commemorative plaque concerning Lemnos and Gallipoli, which is envisaged to be installed at Canberra’s impressive Hellenic Club.
Ms Despoteris and I provided an update on the Melbourne Committee’s activities. The Canberra Greek community was invited to consider joining with the Committee to build the Lemnos Gallipoli Heritage Trail by sponsoring the creation of one or more commemorative plaques for installation on Lemnos. Discussion was also held on the possible display of the Committee’s Lemnos Gallipoli Photographic Exhibition in Canberra in the future. During our meeting at Canberra’s Hellenic Club, we were given a display by some of the more than 150 participants in the Greek community’s Greek dancing classes.
We also took the opportunity to visit Canberra’s impressive memorial precinct, a series of major commemorative memorials which line the avenue between the Australian War Memorial and across to the Australian Parliament. These include a number of memorials which include commemoration of the Hellenic link to Anzac across both world wars – such as the National Nurses’ memorial, the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force memorials and the Australia-New Zealand memorials.
One of the most impressive memorials is the National Hellenic Memorial, dedicated to commemorating the battle of Greece and Crete in WW2. This features a broken column, damaged steel girders, all enclosed by a classically-inspired amphitheatre surrounded by olive and cypress trees, with what can only be described as an eruption of rock symbolising the mountains of Greece and Crete. A visit to this memorial is recommended for all interested in the Hellenic link to Anzac.
Melbourne’s Committee are hopeful of working with members of Canberra’s Greek community – as well as the Australian War Memorial – to help build awareness of the Hellenic link to Anzac both in Australia and in Greece, including through the organisation of joint commemorative events and create new memorials in Greece honouring that link across both World Wars.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend the Lemnos Gallipoli Photographic Exhibition at Queens Hall in Victoria’s Parliament House from Monday 6 – Friday 10 August 2018, the Committee’s annual commemoration at the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial in Albert Parks’ Lemnos Square at 11am on Saturday 11 August and the commemoration of the Armistice of Mudros at 12 noon, 31st October 2018 in the Sanctuary of Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. All welcome.
*Glasgow-born Jim Claven is a trained historian, a freelance writer, and the secretary of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee. He has researched the Hellenic link to Anzacs over a number of years, led commemorative tours on Lemnos and across Greece, and is now preparing a major new pictorial history of Lemnos’ role in the Gallipoli campaign. He can be contacted at jimclaven@yahoo.com.au