The stories that people remember of their families will often find echoes in the wider history of the world, but the problem is that the details are often confused within the families themselves and hard to verify. It is a problem that third-generation Greek-Australian journalist, academic and writer Dr Phil Kafcaloudes has encountered more than once.
His 2011 novel Someone Else’s War recounts the story of his maternal grandmother, Olga Stambolis, who after settling in Australia to start her family, left for Greece and remained there during the Second World War to serve as a spy for the resistance who helped smuggle Allied soldiers to safety in Egypt. His work on the book became the basis of his PhD. While their mother’ story was recalled by her daughters there were differences in important details, which made verification of the story difficult.
“As a researcher I always have to ask if the oral history is sound. It is a shame that so much information was not collected and is now lost. Had it been collected, it would be part of history now,” Dr Kafcaloudes told Neos Kosmos. Over time he collected enough evidence to show that his grandmother’s story was not a fantasist creation.
Out of the vaults,of his father’s family story this time is one nugget of history that if properly verified could shed new light on Australia’s involvement in Greece during the First World War.
His grandfather Soteres Kafcaloudes, (and his wife to be) came to Darwin in 1917 from Kastellorizo on board a rescue ship that family legend has it was commissioned by the British and Australian authorities to evacuate the islanders who were under constant bombardment from the Turkish mainland. For the time being, Dr Kafcaloudes has yet to find official references to such a vessel yet it is hard to imagine why the story should not be true.
Soteres had originally left the island in 1915 to see for himself what life was like in Australia and if he liked it he would bring his family over. While it is hard to verify the facts, Soteres landed in Fremantle in Western Australia and may, according to family legend, have gone on a camel trek to Darwin before returning to Kastellorizo where the island was under regular bombardment.
Soteres returned on the Australian/British rescue ship with his family and landed in Darwin.
Despite the restrictions of the Immigration Act of 1901 on which White Australia Policy was based, Dr Kafcaloudes said that between 1914 and 1919 there were about 1,000 Greeks who lived in Darwin. Most worked on the railway line south of Darwin or at Vestey’s Meat Works – a major employer which unfortunately folded in 1920. At the same time work on the railway line had ended so that many Greeks left to work in Sydney or Melbourne. By 1920 just 320 lived in Darwin and that number was to dwindle to 76.
Dr Kafcaloudes’ grandfather and his family of 10 children stayed on. Soteres had saved his money to buy land and went on to found a successful construction company. One of the projects built by the company was the iconic Don Hotel. There is a street in the Northern Territory capital that is named after the family.
“Grandpa took the family to Brisbane and his eldest son, George stayed to run the construction company,” said Dr Kafcaloudes.
His father, Stefanos, who was the fourth child, kept notes which have helped with his son’s research.
Dr Kafcaloudes will present a talk on the work he is doing to reveal more of his family history for the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria on 27 April at the Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club.
“I am working on a play on my grandfather Soteres. I am also putting stories together for the talk and one of the benefits of the research that I am doing is that I am connecting with the Greek community.
“I will be giving a series of lectures on the Greek diaspora for the Charles Darwin University.”
♦ Dr Kafcaloudes will present his talk to the Kastellorizian Association Association starting at 6.30pm on Wednesday, 27 April. For more information about booking and tickets email: contact info@kazzieclub.com
