Alison Duncan, Australia’s Ambassador to Greece, is not of Hellenic heritage. But like many Australians she has relatives who served on Greek soil during the ANZAC participation in both World Wars.
Her great grandfather set off from Lemnos for the 1915 Gallipoli campaign.
“We don’t know all the details, he didn’t keep a diary, but we know he was on the second landing at Gallipoli on the 25th of April after the dawn landing.
“Ten days later, during the attack on Krithia at Cape Helles, he was wounded badly enough to be repatriated and discharged from the army.”
Duncan starts recounting the story that took place 110 years ago but left its mark on the family.
Suffering severe injuries, her great grandfather would have been treated in the field hospitals of Lemnos before being transferred to Alexandria and repatriated to Australia.
“But then he re-enlisted! We have his re-enlistment papers which list his wounds from the Gallipoli campaign to his left abdomen, left thigh, right back, under right breast, left back and right leg,” Duncan says.
After fighting in France in the battle of the Somme, he returned home.
“Despite his terrible wounds, it’s a story that had a happy ending. He did survive the war. He made it home. He had children. His children had children, and he raised my father.
“But, you know, so many of that generation were very badly scarred by the war. They didn’t talk much about it.”
Her husband’s grandfather, a New Zealander, was an ANZAC too. He fought in the Battle of Crete in 1941 and lost his leg during the counter attack on Maleme airfield.
“He survived and lived into his 90s. I didn’t meet him, but my husband says he never spoke with any rancour about the enemy, despite losing his leg and becoming a prisoner of war.
“He had good memories of Greece.
“Isn’t it amazing that in the middle of a war people can have good memories?”
Last year, the couple along with their young son took a trip to Gallipoli for the first time.
“And of course we’ve been to Lemnos too, we go to Lemnos every year. It’s really moving to go to these places.”
More than 64,000 ANZACs had set off from the Greek island of Lemnos for the 1915 Gallipoli campaign. And more than 45,000 ANZACs fought in Greece during World War II.
“We were a small population at the time, and Australia had a huge proportion of its young men and women serving in those two wars,” Duncan says.
As part of this year’s Gallipoli Campaign commemorations, hosted by the Region of the North Aegean and the Municipality of Lemnos, the Ambassador announced the launch of the Lemnos Remembrance Trail website by the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Raising awareness on the historic events, the Trail aims to serve as “a lasting memorial to the ANZACs’ service and sacrifice on Lemnos and acknowledge the critical role of Lemnos in the Gallipoli Campaign.”
“It’s part of our shared history,” Duncan says.
Athens in top 5 of Australia’s busiest passport posts
The ties between the two countries continue to this day, also thanks to Greeks who made Australia home and those who migrated back.
“A lot of them came back to Greece in the ’70s, some reemigrated to Australia.
“That’s one of the things I love about the Greek diaspora – that they keep coming back.
Greek Australians have held on to their heritage and are so passionate about it.”
The embassy estimates there are around 100,000 Australians living in Greece at the moment.
How do they know?
Through a large part of the embassy’s work: issuing passports.
“We are one of the busiest passport posts in the world for Australia. We’re in the top five,” Duncan says.
“We estimate a quite large community of around 100,000. And one of the best ways of estimating is through the number of people who apply for passports.”
Since assuming duties in 2023, the Ambassador has visited some of Greece’s largest Australian communities, including on Kastellorizo, Kythira and Kalymnos. This year, she plans to travel to Ithaca and Kefalonia.
And she’s keen to increase the embassy’s visibility of the “many great Australian-run businesses in Greece.”
“There are a lot of Australians involved in the tourism sector here, with small hotels, restaurants and other businesses.”
The embassy has set up an online database that allows Australians living in Greece – or who are regular visitors to Greece – to connect with the embassy.
“Anyone who is interested can sign up to our database which enables us to reach out about upcoming embassy events, voting in elections, job vacancies at the embassy, and outreach in times of crisis,” Duncan says.
“And as people sign up, it gives us a better picture about where large communities of Australians reside in Greece so that we can better target our outreach.”
– People can follow the embassy’s social media accounts on Facebook (AustraliainGreece), X (@AusAmbAthens) and Instagram (@ausembgr).
– Australians living in Greece interested in attending embassy events can sign up by completing this form.
– The Lemnos Remembrance Trail website was launched last month by the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Visit the website on www.lemnosremembrancetrail.gov.au
