On 31 October the end of the First World War across the Middle East and northern Greece was marked with the annual commemoration at Melbourne’s iconic Shrine of Remembrance.
The annual service is organised by Melbourne’s Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee under the auspices of the Shrine. This is the fifth annual service since its inception in 2018, the centenary of the Armistice of Mudros, and four years since the unveiling of the Lemnos plaque and Lemnos Tree naming in the gardens of the Shrine.
The Committee’s service in Melbourne is the only annual commemorative service marking the Armistice held in Australia or overseas. The service is timed to take place at 12 noon when the Armistice came into effect on 31 October 1918. The Committee initiated the service in recognition of the significance and importance of the Armistice to Australia’s Anzac story and its part in the Hellenic link to Anzac – a seminal event in Australian and Greek history and one that should not be forgotten.
The Armistice of Mudros
The Armistice brought to an end the First World War across the Western Mediterranean and the Middle East – from the battlefronts of Macedonia and Thrace in Northern Greece to the plains and cities of Syria.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the nations of the Entente Powers had fought across the Ottoman Empire, including tens of thousands of Australians. Australian soldiers had served in the defence of Egypt, the battles across Palestine, Mesopotamia and Syria. They had fought at Gallipoli, served on Lemnos and with British Army units on the Salonika Front. Hundreds of Australian nurses and other medical staff had tended to the sick and wounded of these campaigns.
In May 1918 the Bulgarian defences in northern Macedonia were successfully breeched by the Greek Army at the battle of Skra-di-Legen. Throughout the Middle East, the forces of the Ottoman Empire were in retreat. The fall of Jerusalem was followed by that of Aleppo and Damascus, Australian troops playing important roles in these victories. The surrender of Bulgaria in September brought to an end the front across Macedonia, with the Entente armies now free to advance through eastern Thrace to Constantinople itself. By this stage of the war, the Ottoman Empire was exhausted.
The signing of the Armistice brought all these campaigns to an end. From this day the guns fell silent across the region and thousands of Allied servicemen, captured across many of the battles fought in the region, were released and began their long journey home. These included the men of Australia’s AE2 submarine who had been captured on the scuttling of the vessel after its successful penetration of the narrows of the Dardanelles as the Australian soldiers came ashore at Anzac Cove.
The Ottoman Empire delegation arrived at Lemnos in October to begin the negotiations for the armistice. The negotiations took place on the great British warship – HMS Agamemnon. Not only had this mighty warship taken part in the Gallipoli and Salonika campaigns, but her very name brought to mind the siege of Troy and the stories of Homer. Witnesses from the time recall that Lemnos’ great Mudros Bay was again full of warships and other naval vessels – as she had been in 1915 when the same waters had played host to the armada sailing for the Gallipoli peninsula. And two of those ships which lay at anchor in Mudros Bay in October 1918 were Australian – HMAS Torrens and HMAS Yarra. They were soon joined by HMAS Parramatta and HMAS Brisbane who also take part in the implementation of the Armistice in the days following the signing.
Negotiations for the Entente were led by the British Admiral Gough-Calthorpe and the Ottoman Empire by Rauf Bey, the new Minister for Marine and a distinguished naval commander during the war. The negotiations commenced on 27 October, concluding with the signing of the Armistice on 30 October.
The terms of the Armistice would see the occupation of strategic points across the Ottoman Empire, including Constantinople, as well as the Gallipoli peninsula. Ottoman forces would be demobilised. Soon a great Allied armada – including Australian warships – was sailing through the Dardanelles Straits to Constantinople. The Hellenic flagship Averof would follow and set anchor in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Gallipoli peninsula itself would be occupied by British and French troops.
It is true that the signing of the Armistice did not result in a long lasting peace. The occupation of Constantinople and various zones of the Empire by Entente forces would eventually lead to further conflict, the Asia Minor catastrophe and the exchange of populations between Greece and the new Turkish state.
Nonetheless in commemorating the Armistice we commemorate the end of four years of terrible war that wreaked havoc across the world. We acknowledge the service of all those who served on the various fronts across the Ottoman Empire, especially those who died or were wounded and their loved ones at home. We acknowledge the relief that must have been felt by the survivors of the war. We acknowledge the upheavals and sorrows experienced by millions of civilians across the region.
The choice of Lemnos as the location for the negotiation and signing of the Armistice was also significant. Lemnos – along with nearby Imbros and Tenedos – played a key role in the tragic Gallipoli campaign in 1915-16. Lemnos had been the advanced base for the Gallipoli campaign. It was from Mudros Bay that the tens of thousands of Allied troops – including Australians – had sailed on that fateful morning of 25 April 1915. Mudros Bay became the safe harbour for hundreds of Allied shipping vessels as they made their way to and from the battlefield of Gallipoli and beyond. Its shores were dotted with supply bases, soldiers rest camps and field hospitals – where Australians nurses served the sick and dying from the campaign – as well as the military cemeteries where many Allied soldiers would be buried. And it was to Mudros Bay that the Allied troops returned at the end of the campaign.
During the campaign Mudros Bay was gazed upon by thousands of Australian service personnel – men and women like Brigadier John Monash, Corporal Albert Jacka VC, Private John Simpson and Staff Nurse Evelyn Hutt. The Australians and other Allied service personnel who came to Lemnos also enjoyed the hospitality of the Island and its people. Maintained as an Allied Base for the rest of the First World War, Mudros Bay was now the stage for the final act of the war that would bring it to an end across the region.
Importantly, the weeks following the Armistice would see two Australian sailors from HMAS Brisbane succumb to pneumonia and be the last Australian casualties of war, being laid to rest at Lemnos’ East Mudros Military Cemetery on Lemnos on 2nd December 1918 – Stoker John Godier of Bendigo and Abel Seaman Thomas Chitts from Sandringham.
The Service
The service this year was overseen again by Shrine Governor Squadron Leader Dr Steven Campbell-Wright, with myself taking on the role of Master of Ceremonies for the service. Following my address marking the Armistice, Colonel (Retired) Jan McCarthy ARRC, patron of the Committee and President of the RSL Victorian Branch Nurses Sub-Branch, read the Ode as part of the service. Committee member Deb Stewart, the granddaughter of Nurse Evelyn Hutt, who served on Lemnos during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915-16, layed the wreath on behalf of the Committee, followed by Colonel McCarthy on behalf of the Nurses Sub-Branch. The service again enjoyed the participation of the impressive Shrine Guard. Following the formal service, those attending visited the Lemnos Tree in the Shine gardens.
The service was attended by members and supporters of the Committee as well as members of the public. A number of individuals and representatives of various Hellenic organisations also attended the service. These included Kris Stamboulidis of the Krithia Association of Australia, Simela Stamatopoulos for the Australian Federation of Pontian Associations, Yiota Stavridou of the educational institution Hellenism of Anatolia and Ange Kenos RSL Victorian Branch Executive Member and Essendon Sub-Branch President. The Committee also thanks Evan Binos, Sofia and Con Kotanidis for taking part in the service.
Some of those attending took the opportunity to purchase a copy of the Committee’s book Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed which they will donate to an appropriate institution for the education of future generations. The Committee thanks Kris Stamboulidis, Simela Stamatopoulos and Yiota Stavridou for taking up this option.
The Committee thanks all who attended this year’s service as well as the Shrine for its continuing support of this important event and especially Shrine Governor Squadron Leader Dr Steve Campbell-Wright and Shrine Ceremonial Programs Manager Dale Capron for their assistance and participation on the day.
Jim Claven is a trained historian, freelance writer and published author who has been researching the Hellenic link to Anzac for many years. The author of Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed and Grecian Adventure, his latest publication – Imbros & Gallipoli Revealed – will be available for purchase in coming weeks. He can be contacted at jimclaven@yahoo.com.au.
