The story of the Anzacs who came to help in the defence of Greece in 1941 will be re-told in a new, vivid, documentary, made possible by last week’s announcement of Australia government funding for this important new project, which will be managed by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee.
Acting Defence Minister and Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh MP made the announcement at Melbourne’s iconic Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial, alongside federal MP’s Peter Khalil and Josh Burns, with supporters of this new project from the veterans’ community in attendance.
Minister Keogh announced over $139,000 in financial support for the new project under the current round of the Australian government’s Saluting Their Service Community Grants Program. The grant will support the production of a broadcast quality, feature length (90 minute) documentary – entitled Anzacs: The Greek Chapter – telling the story of the Anzac involvement in the Greek campaign of 1941.
The Minister stated that the awarding of the grant reflected the government’s commitment to funding organisations committed to honouring the service and sacrifice of our defence personnel and preserving our military history.
“I am glad to announce this grant which will allow the committee to produce the documentary telling this important story of Australian and New Zealand service personnel in Greece during the Second World War”, Minister Keogh said.
Drawing on original historical and field research into the campaign, the documentary will reveal the Greek campaign through access to an unrivalled collection of sources, ranging from veteran and civilian video interviews, veterans audio recordings and veterans campaign photographs only recently made public. In this way, the project aims to tell the story of the campaign through the lived experience of the Anzacs who served in the Greek campaign.
The project is being undertaken by the committee with the engagement of an expert project team comprising historian Dr Peter Ewer and documentary filmmaker John Irwin, assisted by the committee’s secretary, historian Jim Claven MA. Committee executive member Vicki Kyritsis, a communications professional, will also assist the community liaison and promotion of the documentary. She is also a director of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
Ewer and Claven have researched the Greek campaign over many years, both in Australia and in Greece. Peter is the author of Forgotten Anzacs: the campaign in Greece 1941, while Jim is the author of recently published Grecian Adventure: Greece 1941 – Anzac Trail Stories & Photographs. John Irwin of Wild Sweet Productions has been documenting firsthand accounts of Anzac and Cretan participants in the Battle of Crete and the Greek resistance movements since 1989, currently completing, a ground-breaking documentary series, Out of Their Own Hands: Women of Crete and the German Occupation 1941-1944.
Dr Peter Ewer thanked veterans and their families for their support, many of whom have been willing to share their stories and archival material for use in the project.
“This documentary needs to be made. But it can only be produced with the active support of veterans and their families themselves. Veterans like Don Stephenson, Syd Grant and Robert Vial have ensured that their lived experience of this important campaign can be appreciated by other generations, enabling us to honour their service, those of their comrades and their civilian helpers”, Dr Ewer stated.
In welcoming the announcement Mr Claven said that the ferocity of the Greek Campaign had a profound effect on all who took part in it, despite lasting barely three months.
“The experience of the campaign would be etched on the memories of its veterans for the rest of their lives. They would never forget the bravery of their allies and that of the many Greek civilians who came to their aid as they sought to escape or evade capture. The project will honour the service of these Anzacs and their helpers in a unique way”, Mr Claven said.
Mr Lee Tarlamis OAM MP, president of the committee welcomed the announcement, noting that the project would be a great complement to the committee’s previous commemorative work, including its support for Jim Claven’s Grecian Adventure book on the Greek campaign. He said that they were also very glad to have been able to bring together such an expert Project Team to deliver this important project.
“Our committee thanks historian Dr Peter Ewer and documentary filmmaker John Irwin for agreeing to work with us on this project and bringing their extensive expertise to its realisation. They have researched the campaign archives and walked the Anzac Trail across Greece. As a proud Australian of Greek heritage this documentary will ensure that this important part of our common history will be better appreciated now and will endure for generations to come”, Mr Tarlamis said.
A number of veterans and Greek community organisations who support the project were also present at the announcement.
Mr Doug Pendergast, president of the Oakleigh RSL Sub-Branch stated how it is vital that projects such as this were funded, enabling the next generation to learn of the service of their forebears during the dark days of the Second World War.
“Diggers who served in Greece came from across Australia including Private George Foot from my own suburb of Oakleigh, now home to a vibrant Greek-Australian community. The Oakleigh-Carnegie is proud to lend its support to this project which will commemorate the strong bond between Greeks and Australians, formed in war but strengthened in peace”, Mr Pendergast said.
Colonel (Retired) Jan McCarthy, ARRC, President of the Nurses Sub-Branch was glad to see that the project would incorporate the medical aspects of the campaign, the experience of nurses who faced enemy air attack as they sought to provide essential medical care to the wounded diggers.
“The Nurses RSL Sub-Branch is very much supportive of the project incorporating the often overlooked campaign experience of medical field staff like Nurse Mollie Edwards and Sergeant Alfred Huggins”, she said.
A number of Greek-Australian community organisations are active supporters of the project, including Melbourne’s Pammessinian Brotherhood Papapflessas and the Pontiaki Estia. On the news of the announcement, Mr Bill Papastergiadis, OAM, President of the Greek Community of Melbourne, congratulated the Government for its decision and expressed the support of Melbourne’s vibrant Hellenic community.
“The connection between the Greek and Australian peoples is a rich one. The story of the Anzacs who came to Greece in 1941 to help in its defence against invasion is an important part of this connection, binding our two peoples through friendship and sacrifice. Re-telling this story in a vivid documentary format through the words and images of those who took part will help build awareness for new generations of Greeks and Australians. This reflects well on all of us when such initiatives are taken to document our rich common history. I congratulate the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee – and in particular its Secretary historian Jim Claven – for its initiative in proposing the project and look forward to its completion”, Mr Papastergiadis said.
Mr Peter Khalil, MP congratulated the Committee on its receipt of the grant. He stated that the proposed documentary, featuring veteran video interviews, audio recordings and photographs, will bring to life a chapter of the ANZAC story that should be better known.
“Honouring the service of our defence personnel is about honouring their experiences, which are ever more important to the Australian story. I know that this project means so much to the family members of veterans who served in Greece as well as the broader Greek-Australian community.”
Following the announcement, Minister Keogh, Peter Khalil MP and Josh Burns MP were show some of the still photographs taken by Private Syd Grant and Sergeant Alfred Huggins that will feature in the documentary and were presented with copies of the author’s publications – Grecian Adventure and Forgotten Anzacs – as well as Jim Claven’s Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed presented by Lee Tarlamis OAM MP on behalf of the Committee.
The documentary is planned to be completed by August 2023 and will be shown in community screenings around Australia, and subsequently be made accessible online to all those interested in this pivotal moment in the Anzac story. In this way, the documentary will be providing a major new vehicle to raise awareness of the key Anzac involvement in the Greek campaign.
The committee is aware that additional archival material from the Greek campaign may still be waiting be brought to the attention of the public. Readers who would like to bring such material in private collections to the attention of the Project Team should contact Jim Claven at jimclaven@yahoo.com.au
