A team of Greek Australians and philhellenes are preparing to honour the ANZACs who fought at the Battle of Crete, walking the 100km trail they carried out all in the name of raising awareness and funds in the fight against pancreatic cancer.
The ‘Wish You Were Here’ team is set to fly out to Crete this coming May in recognition of the Battle of Crete’s anniversary, where they will embark on a five-day journey of the 100km trail from Maleme to Chora Sfakion.
Con Kanellis, who founded the non-for-profit community group alongside his friend Scott Hunt, explained the endeavour will see the team follow the journey the ANZACs took as they carried out a fighting retreat following the German invasion.
“It is very hard for us today to imagine how difficult this escape journey must have been for the Anzac Greek and British soldiers let alone for the Cretan civilians,” Kanellis told Neos Kosmos.
The ‘Wish You Were Here’ founder said the idea behind the tour came after a similar walk they had done of the Kokoda Track in August 2017.
“When we undertook the trek in Papua New Guinea we learned a great deal about the military campaign that took place there in 1942 by the Australians and Japanese,” he said.
They discovered after some further research that those same troops, the Australian 6th Division who fought the Japanese in the mountains and jungles of Kokoda, had previously fought in mainland Greece, and then in the Battle of Crete in May 1941.
“The more I read about these amazing human beings the more I felt compelled to do something that pays tribute to their sacrifice. What better way to do that than another epic trek in Crete?” Kanellis said.
The treks are the group’s way of putting themselves through brutal physical challenges that symbolise the pain, anguish and trauma that pancreatic cancer patients experience.
The group’s trek will raise pivotal funds to be used for various research programs into pancreatic cancer, with the proceeds going towards Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia.
Kanellis stressed they also hope to shed light on the significance of the Battle of Crete.
“We want to highlight the strong bonds that exist between Australia and Greece which were forged as much in the Gallipoli campaign but also in the battle of Crete,” he said.
“This chapter of history doesn’t receive as much attention as it deserves in Australia and we would like to do something about that.”
The group itself was forged as a response to the devastation cancer has caused, with Kanellis himself a cancer survivor after being diagnosed with stage metastatic cancer in the throat.
“I felt extremely lucky and extremely privileged to have beaten cancer when my father, uncles and other relatives had lost their battles,” he said.
Kanellis explained that he was deeply affected when his close friend, Nick Stamatakis, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2016.
“To be honest, up until this time I didn’t know what the pancreas was or that I had one,” he said.
“Coincidentally, another dear friend mentioned to me that he had a friend who was battling the same disease. Peter Grima died in 2016 and I saw first-hand the devastating impact this had on my friend, Scott Hunt.”
The ‘Wish You Were Here’ founder came to discover the difficulties the disease causes, which has a five-year survival rate of 10%.
“The more Scott and I explored the issues surrounding Pancreatic Cancer the more frustrated and angrier we became.”
They met with people from Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia (then called the Avner Pancreatic Cancer Foundation) to discuss the disease.
“Part of the problem with pancreatic cancer is that it is hard to diagnose early because of where the pancreas is located in the human body. Typically, patients are diagnosed only after the disease has spread to other organs,” he said.
“Another part of the problem has been the lack of awareness of the symptoms not just amongst the general public but GPs as well.”
Kanellis and Hunt decided to create ‘Wish You Were Here’ to shine a light on the situation and try to financially support research into early diagnosis, better treatments, and support for carers and loved ones affected by it.
The group organised a gala dinner in November 2017 which, along with the Kokoda trek, raised over $200,000 that was donated to the Avner Foundation.
“That dinner was an extremely emotional experience for me, because my dear friend Nick who by now was very ill got out of his bed and attended,” he said, revealing that Nick would eventually pass on in early 2018.
Kanellis stressed his passing only motivated him further to continue their work.
The group did another trek in 2019 to the Mt Everest Base Camp and organised another gala dinner in November of the same year which raised over $300,000.
They were unable to hold anything in 2020 and 2021, though that time inspired Kanellis to pursue doing something in his native Greece, which they are now about to finally achieve.
“All seven of us going on the trek are from Sydney. However, we are working with various groups in Crete to see if local Cretans want to join us,” he said.
The group has opened a link for the community at large to contribute donations to their cause, noting that donations over $2 are tax deductible.
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