One hundred years ago, before the influx of Greek migrants touched down at Princess Pier in Melbourne, thousands of Australian families gathered to farewell their male family members making the trip up north to help the Allied forces.

Thousands of Australian men would have said their last goodbyes at the pier before they settled at the base in Lemnos, Greece, before the tragic voyage to Gallipoli.

Princess Pier was where the first Australian contingent of troops set off to the Great War, and it was where hundreds gathered 100 years later to mark the moment and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

At an Anzac Centenary commemorative ceremony at the pier on Sunday, Greek Australians joined the crowd to pay their own respects and share the Greek connection to a huge part of Australian history.

The Lemnian connection was represented in a stall set up by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee (LGCC), where passersby were able to see photos of nurses and other personnel on the island and get a small history lesson on the lesser-known Greek connection.

Christina Despoteris, executive member of the LGCC, says the stall was packed with people keen to find out more about Greece’s connection.

“There were lots of people – lots of interest,” Ms Despoteris tells Neos Kosmos.

“We had pictures of nurses on the island, we had pictures of the hospital there, pictures of soldiers, and they came and had a look at those.”

For Ms Despoteris, the day marked the start of the commemorative period, that will span four years just as the war did.

For many who saw their loved ones off at Princess Pier in 1914, they were blissfully unaware of how long the war would span and how bloody it would eventually become.

The island of Lemnos still holds a special place in Australian history. More than 100 Australian soldiers are buried there, while some of the first Greek migrants to travel to Australia were in fact Lemnians.

“Lemnos is slowly becoming acknowledged as part of the history of Gallipoli. Our role is to encourage and to make sure that more and more people know of it,” Ms Despoteris says.

Each of the 17 ships of the first convoy farewelled at Princess Pier had its own stall at the event, giving crowds the chance to learn of the soldiers who were on board and their fate.

For the LGCC, the event was a chance to fundraise and garner interest in the forthcoming statue, to be erected midnext year.

The group sold out of their fundraising badges, raising more than $600 for the statue.

Commissioned by sculptor Peter Corlette, the bronze statue depicts two figures, one a nurse standing tall, looking after a seated soldier.

The statue will be erected at Albert Park, linking it to the nearby Princess Pier legacy.

The committee is also organising a photographic exhibition, displaying a myriad of photos from the island during the war, with the hopes it will tour the country during the centenary commemorations.

For more information, and to donate to the statue, visit lemnosgallipolicc.blogspot.com.au