Return to Anatolia and Greek Federal Organisation of Ex-Servicemen’s Reserve of Greece in Australia Inc. proudly presents Remembrance Day national pilgrimage and wreath laying.

Dr Panayiotis Diamadis, director of the Beyond Anzac Cove project will be making a brief presentation about the significance of the pilgrimage, about the experiences of Australian POWs in the Hellenic world as well as the contributions to Hellenism of the people of the City of Ballarat.

“Eleven November is marked every year as Remembrance Day, the day World War One ended,” Dr Diamadis told Neos Kosmos about the significance of this day. “On that day, many of the Australians who had been taken prisoner by the Ottoman Turkish Empire were released from captivity. In honour of the Anzacs who were held as prisoners-of-war in Anatolia in World war One as well as those held in Greece during World War Two – almost 5,000 men in all – RTA and the Greek Ex-Servicemen’s are jointly holding this pilgrimage to Ballarat, site of the only Australian Prisoner-of-War Memorial in the country.”

He said “the importance of the event lies in the combination of the uniqueness of the memorial, and the event being held between Hellenic National Day and Remembrance Day”.

“Holding such a commemorative event illustrates the multilateral nature of the Australian Hellenic relationship. It highlights the Australian heritage in Hellas as well as the Hellenic contribution in Australia.”

A church service will be held at 10.00 am on 6 November at the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, 116 Humffray Street, Ballarat followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Australian ex-prisoner of war memorial at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, Gillies Street and Wendouree Parade, Lake Wendouree. A presentation and lunch will take place at the Greek Community Hall at 116 Humffray Street, Ballarat and the cost is $15.