This year’s commemoration of the Battle of Kalamata, which took place in April 1941, was enhanced by a free community screening of the documentary Anzac: The Greek Chapter at the Theo Angelopoulos Cinema and Auditorium in central Kalamata.
The screening was organised by the Kalamata Municipality and the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee. It followed the formal commemorative service held earlier in the day at the Battle of Kalamata Memorial near the harbour.
I had the privilege of representing both the Committee—which funded the film’s production with a major grant from the Australian Government’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs—and the production team as Associate Producer. I was joined by Vicki Kyritsis, who managed community liaison for the film.
The day began with a memorial service attended by diplomatic, military, and local political representatives, along with many descendants of veterans, expatriates, and locals. They gathered to honour the Greek campaign and the battle that occurred on the evening of 28 April 1941. Although the engagement was successful, the city fell to German forces the following day.
The service featured speeches, wreath-laying, the playing of the national anthems of Greece, the United Kingdom, and Australia, and a reception in the adjacent Railway Park.
Among those in attendance were Australian Ambassador Alison Duncan, British Deputy Ambassador Susan Geary, Kalamata Mayor Anastasios Vasilopoulos, Messinian MP Periklis Mantas, Deputy Governor of Messinia Stathis Anastasopoulos, and Secretary of the Messinians Abroad Panagiotis Bazigios.
Members of the UK-based Brotherhood of 1941 Greek Campaign Veterans also participated, including Chair David Sanderson, Secretary Janet Parkin, and members Doug Beckett, Barry Parkin, and Paul Hadwin. The Battle of Kalamata Memorial, erected in May 1994, was a joint effort by the Brotherhood and the Kalamata Municipality.
As in previous years, Doug Beckett honoured select Greek campaign veterans by affixing small wooden commemorative crosses—each adorned with a poppy and the veteran’s service details—to the railings around the memorial. This year, he included two Australians: Captain Albert Gray of Red Cliffs, who received the Military Cross, and Captain Robert Vial of Camberwell, awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his role in the Greek evacuation. This gesture was deeply appreciated by Australian attendees.
During her speech, Janet Parkin praised Anzac: The Greek Chapter, a unique 90-minute documentary that retells the 1941 Greek campaign through the testimonies of veterans. The film had already premiered in Australia and recently screened at the Athens War Museum. Parkin commended the Committee and the production team—Dr Peter Ewer, John Irwin, Vicki Kyritsis, and myself—for their sensitive and comprehensive work. She thanked the Kalamata Municipality for organising the evening screening and encouraged all to attend.
Following the service, I spoke with Mantas and Vasilopoulos about the historical connections between Kalamata and Australia, later presenting Mantas with a copy of my book Grecian Adventure.
At the reception, I was honoured to present the Brotherhood with rare publications about the Hellenic link to Australia’s Anzac story. These included Gavin Long’s Greece, Crete & Syria (the official Australian history of the Greek campaign), Active Service with the Australians in the Middle East (a wartime account featuring participant narratives), and my own Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed. I was joined in the presentation by British Deputy Ambassador Susan Geary.
The evening screening was a great success. Attendees, including families of British veterans, praised the film enthusiastically. I gave a brief introductory speech, with Vassilis Papaefstathiou of the Kalamata Municipality offering an impromptu Greek translation. On behalf of the Committee and production team, I thanked Mayor Vasilopoulos, the Municipality, and Papaefstathiou for their efforts. I also conveyed the gratitude of the family of Australian Private Syd Grant—whose photographs, including those from Kalamata, appear in the film—especially from his daughter, Catherine Bell.
A post-screening gathering took place with Brotherhood members at Hotel Haikos on Navarino Street, near the 1941 battle’s climax site—an appropriate venue for the occasion. The screening was the culmination of months of collaboration between myself and Papaefstathiou and follows previous showings in Athens and Kardamyli. Additional screenings are planned in Kalamata later this year and during next year’s commemoration.
Among those at the screening was Bazigios of the Messinians Abroad. I first met Panagiotis in Melbourne in 2019 during a Kalamata delegation visit, which included the late archaeologist Petros Themelis. During that visit, I showed them our Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial in Albert Park and the Shrine of Remembrance. Bazigios expressed his appreciation for the film and its celebration of the Australian-Hellenic connection, and he supported the idea of further screenings in Kalamata.
A further screening of the film is planned for Chania, Crete, later this month to coincide with the Battle of Crete commemorations. We are also discussing potential free community screenings with the Brotherhood in the UK, and in Canada.
*Jim Claven OAM is a historian, freelance writer and author who has spent many years researching the Hellenic link to Australia’s Anzac story. His book Grecian Adventure was published with the support of Melbourne’s Pammessinian Brotherhood Papaflessas. He is an honorary member of the UK-based 1941 Greek Campaign Veterans Brotherhood.
