Annual Lemnos Gallipoli Campaign Commemorations on Lemnos - 2025 Date Announced

East Mudros Military Cemetery. Photo Jim Claven

The Committee has received a communication from the Sub-Prefect of Lemnos and Agios Efstratios Mr. Apostolos Koutsogiannis, informing us of the date of this year's anniversary event to honour and remember the fallen of the Gallipoli Campaign.

The commemorative event is schedule to be held on Saturday 29th April 2025. 

A detailed schedule will be announced soon.

This post is made to assist all who may wish to attend this years coming event and so they can make their travel plans.

Jim Claven OAM Secretary LGCC

Melbourne Shrine’s Armistice of Mudros Commemorative Service - Thursday 31 Oct 2024 – All Welcome

 

HMS Agamemnon. Public Domain.

The annual commemoration of the Armistice of Mudros will be held on Thursday 31 October 2024. On this day in 1918 the First World War across the Balkans and Middle East came to an end with the coming into force of the Armistice signed between the representatives of the Entente powers and the Ottoman Empire in Lemnos' great Mudros Bay the day before.

This service was initiated by the Governors of Melbourne’s iconic Shrine of Remembrance on the proposal of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee. The first service was held in 2018 and the following year was held in conjunction with the unveiling of the special Lemnos 1915-16 Plaque and Tree dedication in the grounds of the Shrine. It has been held every year since.

Attendees at the Armistice of Mudros commemorative service held in 2019. Photograph Jim Claven 2019.

The Lemnos 1915-16 Plaque at the foot of the Lemnos Tree, Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance. Photographed following the 2019 annual Armistice of Mudros service. Photograph Deb Stewart 2019.

The location of the Lemnos 1915-16 Plaque and Tree in the grounds of the Shrine. Photograph Jim Claven 2019.

This service commemorates the 106th anniversary of the Armistice of Mudros. Signed on 30 October 1918 and coming into effect at noon on 31 October 1918, the Armistice signaled the end of the First World War across the Eastern Mediterranean, from Syria to northern Greece, and including the Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16 and the Salonika campaign of 1915-1918.

The Armistice was signed by British Admiral Arthur Calthorpe, representing the Entente Powers (as the Allies were then known) and representatives of the Ottoman Empire. The signing took place aboard the Royal Navy warship HMS Agamemnon while anchored in Mudros Bay, Lemnos, amongst the large Allied naval fleet that assembled there for the purpose and to take part in the coming occupation of Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire. Australian and Hellenic warships were part of this fleet.

Where the Armistice of Mudros was signed 106 years ago this month - Mudros Bay, Lemnos. Photo Jim Claven 2018.

As many readers will know, the Aegean Island of Lemnos played an important role during the First World War. Only 50 kilometres from the Dardanelles, it operated as an advance base during the Gallipoli campaign, with major medical facilities for the treatment of the wounded and sick from the campaign on the Peninsula. Amongst the over 1,300 Allied service personnel buried in Lemnos’ war cemeteries are over 200 Australian and New Zealand war dead.

The order of service for the commemorative service is as follows:

11.15am - Attendees assemble at the Lemnos Tree (B37) before moving to the Shrine Sanctuary;

11.30 am - Attendees assemble in the Shrine Sanctuary;

11.45 am - Service commences; and,

12.15 pm - Service concludes.

Committee President, Mr Lee Tarlamis, OAM MP, thanked the Shrine and its staff, including Dale Capron, the Ceremonial Programs Manager, on behalf of the Committee for their support over the years in holding this important service.

“They have thereby ensured that the commemoration of the Armistice and the service and sacrifice of thousands continue to be remembered”, Mr Tarlamis said.

Lemnos Committee Secretary and historian Mr Jim Claven proposed the commemoration on behalf of the Committee as a result of his having researched the story of the Armistice of Mudros since 2013. He has had the story of the Armistice featured in publications from Australia to Greece and the UK, including a major feature in Remembrance, the Shrine magazine, as well as making public presentations on the Armistice at both the Shrine and at Mudros Bay on Lemmos in 2018.

Those readers seeking to find out more about the Armistice of Mudros can listen to the podcast of Jim Claven’s presentation at the Shrine in 2018 or read his article in Neos Kosmos, published on 2 October 2018, via the links below:

https://podtail.com/en/podcast/shrine-of-remembrance/armistice-of-mudros-jim-claven/

https://neoskosmos.com/en/2018/10/02/news/greece/melbourne-and-greece-to-commemorate-the-centenary-of-the-armistice-of-mudros/

Jim Claven, Secretary, Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Anzac The Greek Chapter - Premiere Screenings Announced for Melbourne and Sydney GFF

 

Great news that the long awaited public premiere of our Committee's latest project - the documentary Anzac The Greek Chapter - have been announced and bookings are now being taken.

This important new documentary created for the Committee by filmmakers Dr Peter Ewer and John Irwin features the Greek campaign veterans themselves re-telling their experiences of the campaign in 1941. For more information on the background and details of the documentary, click here.

The screenings will take place in Melbourne and Sydney as part of this year's Greek Film Festival in October. The screening in Melbourne will take place at 8.30pm on 17 October 2024 and in Sydney at 2.30pm on 19 October 2024. 

Each of these screenings will include a special Q&A session where well-known journalist (and Greek campaign veteran's son) Barrie Cassidy - the narrator of the documentary - will interview filmmaker and historian Dr Peter Ewer. Historian Jim Claven OAM - the Associate Producer of the documentary - will also take part in the Melbourne Q&A. 

There will be an additional screening in Melbourne at 4.30pm on 27 October. 2024.

Read an article on the coming Greek Film Festival which highlights our documentary by clicking here.

Tickets are free - but please consider making a donation

The tickets are free - the screenings being underwritten by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee - however all attendees are encouraged to make a donation to the Committee when they book their ticket. This will contribute to the cost of the screening and allow the Committee to continue its important commemorative work.

Book Your Tickets Here

To book your ticket for the Melbourne screenings, please click here.

To book your ticket for the Sydney screening, please click here.

The Committee would like to place on record their appreciation for all the support from the Greek Film Festival organisers - the Greek Community of Melbourne & Victorian and the Greek Festival of Sydney. Without their support these public screenings would not have been possible. Special thanks to Jorge, Heidi, Antonia, Nia and Chryssa, 

Jim Claven OAM - Secretary Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

ANZAC: The Greek Chapter - The Documentary - Trailer Released

 

Greek Campaign Veteran Don Stephenson in a still from the documentary. Supplied

Recently the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee released the trailer for our latest completed project - ANZAC The Greek Chapter - the documentary.

The filmmakers have produced this short trailer for the documentary to promote the documentary and provide an excellent introduction to the content of the full documentary. The trailer features excerpts of the documentary, including many of the Greek Campaign veterans who were interviewed and which form the cornerstone of the documentary.

You can watch it be clicking here. 

Please feel free to share the trailer to help promote the screenings of the documentary. Note that the documentary is available at this stage only for non-commercial screenings.

For more information on the documentary click here.

Greek Campaign Veteran Mollie Edwards in a still from the documentary. Supplied.

Jim Claven OAM

Secretary - Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

ANZAC: The Greek Chapter - The Documentary - Background & Screening Information

The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee is honoured to announce the completion of its latest project - the creation of a powerful new commemorative documentary telling the story of the Anzacs and the Greek campaign of 1941.

This campaign saw the return of the Anzacs to Greece following on from their arrival on Lemnos in 1915. The campaign also witnessed the re-formation of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - ANZAC - the announcement referencing its earlier formation for the Gallipoli campaign.

“Greece – Burial Service.” Taken behind Allied lines, during the Greek campaign, April 1941. Alfred Huggins Collection, State Library of Victoria.

In April 1941 Hitler launched his invasion of Greece. In homes across Australia and New Zealand people feared for what lay ahead, with their loved ones part of the Allied force sent to defend Greece.

Now in this new 90 minute documentary tells the story of that valiant defence like never before. 

Drawing on over 130 hours of interviews, Anzac veterans share their previously untold stories of service in the Greece and Crete campaigns. They recount the bitter battles and sorrows endured and reveal how lasting bonds of love and respect formed between Anzacs and the Greeks.

Listen to their stories of the terrible battles they fought from Vevi to Pinios Gorge and the Vale of Tempe, from Servia to Thermopylae and Brallos Pass, from Corinth to Tolo and Kalamata - a desperate, fighting retreat across the length and breadth of the mainland as they made their way to the evacuation ports as they sought to continue the fight on Crete.

The veterans bring to the viewer their vivid recollections of what it was actually like - to be bombed as they sailed across the Aegean and to face the massive German airborne assault on Crete and the vicious fighting across the island - from Maleme and around Chania, from Galatas to 42nd Street, from Rethymno to Heraklion - that would end in the port of Sfakia. 

See the Anzacs who served there vividly recount their part in this fight against fascism from the Anzacs who served there. 

And hear them praise their Greek hosts who fought with them and helped them as they fell back. The Anzacs and their Greek hosts would never forget these brave days when this unique bond between these peoples was forged and has never been forgotten. In the words of one veteran, the Anzacs who served in Greece would always have a lot of time for the Greeks. 

“Kalamato [Kalamata], Greece, April 1941.” A gathering in Kalamata of locals and Allied soldiers. Sydney Grant Collection, State Library of Victoria.

 

"Two of the many Greek girls who fed us with bread and water standing at the entrance of an old church at Trachila [Trahila] Greece, 30 April 1941”. Sydney Grant Collection, State Library of Victoria.

Narrated by well-known Australian journalist Barrie Cassidy whose father served in the campaign, the documentary is a unique account of this campaign and of the Anzacs who served in it.

Brought to you by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee, funding provided by the Saluting Their Service Commemorations Program, a grant provided through the Australian Government’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs, with additional financial and in-kind support provided by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee.

ANZAC: The Greek Chapter is a fitting tribute to the Hellenic link in the Anzac story. Not to be missed.

Stills from ANZAC: The Greek Chapter. Supplied.

Watch the Trailer

The filmmakers have produced a short trailer for the documentary which provides an excellent introduction to the content of the full documentary. You can watch it be clicking here. 

Launch

ANZAC: The Greek Chapter will be launched in Melbourne as part of the Greek Film Festival in October 2024 with additional screenings to be held in other states. It is hoped that the documentary will also be broadcast.

Free non-commercial community screenings will be held subsequent to the launch, details to follow. Those interested in hosting such a screening please see contact details below.

The Veterans

The documentary features the voices and images of many of the actual veterans who served in the Greek campaign. This rich oral history is at the heart of the documentary. Veterans like Mollie Edwards, Don Stephenson, Syd Grant and Alfred Huggins.

Mollie Edwards 

Greek Campaign veteran Mollie Edwards. Still from ANZAC: The Greek Chapter. Supplied.

Mollie served as a nurse with the 2/5th Australian General Hospital. A staunch patriot, she sailed from Sydney for Egypt in October 1940, aboard the mighty liner Queen Mary. When the Greek campaign got under way, 2/5th AGH was deployed to Ekali, then on the outskirts of Athens, and received the first Australian casualties from the Battle of Vevi, fought on the northern border of Greece from 12 April. The medical work was demanding; on a night shift, Mollie found herself responsible for the care of up to 50 wounded Diggers. Apart from the sheer physical effort required, the emotional toll was harrowing: Mollie recalled how ‘many is the time I held their hands while they died.’

Don Stephenson 

Greek Campaign veteran Don Stephenson. Still from ANZAC: The Greek Chapter. Supplied.

Don joined the 2/6th Battalion, 6th Division. Along with the Battalion, Don fought his way across Libya in the First Libyan campaign in January 1941. Deployed then to Greece, Stephenson went ashore at the port of Piraeus: In the chaos of the campaign, his battalion never got fully into action before the evacuation began. Marching back to the port of Kalamata, his platoon was strafed by a Messerschmitt Bf110 heavy fighter. Taken to Crete Don was deposited on the dock at Chania. Surviving the German airborne invasion, Stephenson walked across Crete to the evacuation port at Sfakia on the south coast, only to be left behind at the last minute. He would spend four years as a POW.

Syd Grant 

Greek Campaign veteran Syd Grant. Sydney Grant Collection, MS 15995, State Library of Victoria.

Syd joined the 2nd AIF in December 1939 and was soon designated a Private in the 2/8th Battalion. He was would see service in both the European and Pacific theatre, the former including the Greek campaign of April-May 1941. Arriving in Greece in March 1941 as part of the Allied force sent to support Greece as it faced the coming Axis invasion. He would go on to retreat across the Peloponnese and after failing to secure evacuation from Kalamata, successfully evaded capture and evacuated by Allied warships from the Mani village of Trahila. After a brief period on Crete, Syd and the remains of his unit were returned to Egypt. Syd was one of a number of Australian soldiers who recorded their war service in photographs.

 

Alfred Huggins

Greek Campaign veteran Alfred Huggins. Alfred Huggins Collection, State Library of Victoria.

Born near Boort in the Victorian Western District, Alfred had left the family farm prior to enlisting at Sydney into the 2/3rd Casualty Clearing Station. Like Syd he also decided to document his war as an amateur photography, and experience that would seem him establish himself as a professional photographer in post-war Melbourne. Alfred saw service in the Middle East, including the Greek campaign. His collections of images of the campaign include over 40 photographs (along with postcards from the time) of Greece, the vast majority of which offer unique images of Greece before and during the Greek campaign.

The Documentary Makers

This documentary is the result of many years work, both in Australia, New Zealand and Greece, bringing together archival and field research with original interviews and video footage of the ground on which the Anzacs walked and fought.

The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh (sixth from left) makes the announcement of the Greek campaign documentary funding announcement at the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial, with Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee members and supporters. Photo Supplied Office of Peter Khalil MP, 2023. 

The production of the documentary was managed by Melbourne’s Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee with funding provided by the Committee and the Australian Government through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Saluting Their Service Commemorations Program.

Founded over ten years ago, the not-for-profit Committee has completed a range of major projects in furtherance of its goal to commemorate and build awareness of the Hellenic link to Australia’s Anzac tradition across both world wars. It has created a number of commemorative memorials both in Australia and in Greece, including the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial in Melbourne and the Australian Pier Memorial on Lemnos, Greece. It has organised conferences in Greece, held numerous commemorative presentations and published the definitive pictorial history of Lemnos and Gallipoli – Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed - and supported Jim Claven’s Grecian Adventure on the Greek campaign of 1941.

“The Committee is proud to have supported this important commemorative initiative. It brings vividly to life the story of the young Anzacs who served alongside their Allies in the defence of Greece in 1941. We congratulate the makers on their achievement honouring the service of these young men and women.” Lee Tarlamis OAM MP

Lee Tarlamis OAM MP (second left) meeting with members of the ANZAC: The Greek Chapter documentary project team – Vicki Kyritsis (left), Jim Claven OAM (second right) and Dr Peter Ewer (right) – and Barrie Cassidy (centre) the narrator of the documentary. Victorian Parliament House, 18 June 2024. Photo Vicki Kyritsis.

John Irwin - Director, Producer & Editor

John is a documentary filmmaker of many years standing. Since 1989 John and his company, Wild Sweet Productions has been documenting firsthand accounts of Anzac and local Cretan participants and witnesses in the Battle of Crete and the Greek resistance movements. John has also conducted field research across Greece, from Lemnos and the WW2 battlefields of northern and central Greece to those of the Peloponnese and Crete. He is currently completing a ground-breaking documentary series “Out of Their Own Hands: Women of Crete and the German Occupation 1941-44”.

Peter Ewer – Director & Scriptwriter

Peter is a trained historian who is the author of many publications on various aspects of the Second World War. Peter undertook extensive research into the story of the Anzacs who served in the Greek campaign, conducting extensive interviews with many of the veterans themselves. This research formed the basis for his ground breaking book on the campaign, Forgotten Anzacs, published by Scribe.

Jim Claven OAM and Vicki Kyritsis

The work of John and Peter was assisted by Jim and Vicki as members of the project team. Jim is a trained historian who completed his degrees at Monash University. The author of Grecian Adventure and someone who has completed many commemorative projects, as Associate Producer Jim brought both his historical training and understanding of the campaign as well as his project management skills to the project. A communications professional and Melbourne Greek Community Board Member, Vicki undertook community liaison for the project, ensuring its relations with many in Australia’s Hellenic community.

Barrie Cassidy - Narrator

Barrie is one of Australia’s national treasures, a noted journalist, television interviewer and personality, whose voice will resonate with many viewers. Recently appointed Chair of the Museum of Australian Democracy in Canberra, Barry is the author of Private Bill, his memoir of his father’s war and especially his part in the battle of Crete.

Barrie Cassidy. Photo supplied.

Advance Screening

Jim Claven and filmmaker Dr Peter Ewer with some of the Greek campaign veterans descendants - including David Huggins and Catherine Bell at right - at the advance screening. Photo Jim Claven 2024.

An advance screening of the documentary was held at Melbourne's iconic Shrine of Remembrance on 25 July 2024. This was held as a thank you and test screening for those who have either contributed to the making of the documentary or will assist in its future promotion.

Click here to read Jim Claven's report on the advance screening published online by Neos Kosmos.

Click here to read the report on the advance screening published online by The Greek Herald.

Filmmakers Dr Peter Ewer and John Irwin, with Committee President Lee Tarlamis OAM MP, as the advance screening. Photo Jim Claven 2024.

Greek campaign veteran Don Stephenson in a still from the documentary. Photo Jim Claven 2024.

Community Screenings Requests

ANZAC: The Greek Chapter is now available for free community screenings.

Those interested in organising a community non-commercial screening of the documentary should contact me via email - jimclaven@yahoo.com.au.

Jim Claven OAM

Secretary - Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Lemnos Nurse Daley-Sergeant Lawrence graves to be recognized in St Kilda Cemetery Tour - 28 April 2024

 LGCC members and supporters will be aware that Friends of St Kilda Library (FOSKL) will recognize the Daley/Lawrence graves in the forthcoming Anzac Day related tour which will take place on 28 April 2024. 

The tour is entitled - Remembering Our Fallen - and will recognize a number of Anzacs buried in the cemetery. The tour will be led by the FOSKL's Claire Barton. The tour will commence from the Dandenong Road Pavilion of the St Kilda Cemetery at 1.45pm for a 2pm start. Those attending are advised to wear appropriate footwear as surfaces can be uneven. A small attendance charge is required ($5 FOSKL members, $15 non-members), afternoon Tea included. Tour leaflet can be downloaded 

This recognition follows much lobbying by the LGCC of the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust and FOSKL over many years. 

The Daley/Lawrence grave is particularly significant in that it is not only a dual Anzac grave - containing the remains of both Nurse Clarice Lawrence and Sergeant Ernest Lawrence - but it is the only grave to contain two Anzacs who were married on Lemnos during the Gallipoli campaign. Their story is of course recounted in our publication - Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed.

The LGCC has raised the profile of the graves by our having held small commemorative gatherings, with Daley/Lawrence descendants, at the graves following the annual Albert Jacka service held there (pictured above). To read a report on a previous gathering click here.

Members of the Daly/Lawrence family will be attending the gathering and tour. 

All welcome.

Those wishing to attend should contact 0448 740 195 or email GKP@NETSPACE.NET.AU

Jim Claven OAM, LGCC Secretary

Anzac Lemnos 1915 Documentary and Through These Lines Playscript Release Announced

New Anzac Lemnos 1915 Documentary

"Anzac. Lemnos. 1915." is a new one hour documentary film recounting the “the little known role of Lemnos, the unsung hero in the shadow of Gallipoli", combining rare visual archives and gripping personal accounts. The film seeks to bring to life what that chapter in Australia’s wartime history was like.

Information from the fundraising Documentary Australia website states that Mr Pria Viswalingam is the Director and Ms Liz Kaydos is the Producer of the documentary. It provides the following synopsis for the film:

“The extraordinary story of a Greek island in the Aegean and its pivotal role in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. With rare visual archive and compelling personal accounts, this unique documentary explores a little known setting during Australia’s first war that was crucial in the shaping of our modern identity with themes that reach through the decades and stir the national interest. These include: the critical role of Lemnos in the Gallipoli Campaign; Women in Conflict Contexts (in National School Curriculum); Pioneering medicine in war zones; and, The foundation of Greek-Australian relations. Few people are aware that Lemnos served as the base for the Allied campaign against the Ottoman Empire. The island became the M*A*S*H for the Gallipoli campaign where medical procedures were pioneered in make-shift conditions under challenging environmental extremes.”

Below is a review of the documentary from The Age (Melbourne):

The documentary is being presented by the Lemnian Association of NSW, in partnership with the Consulate General of Greece in Sydney, and will be screened first at the club’s premises in Belmore on Tuesday 23 April (6.30pm for a 7pm start) before airing on SBS on Anzac Day.

To book for the Belmore screening click here.

Watch on SBS FREE-to-air and On Demand on Anzac Day, 25 April 7:30pm.

Through These Lines Playscript Release

A new edition of Cheryl Ward’s play script for Through These Lines, an original 5 act play based on the letters and diaries of Australian army nurses in WWI.

Follow Sister Florence Whiting on her four-year journey, from departure on the troopship Kyarra to tours of duty in Egypt, Lemnos and France. Flo and her fellow nursing sisters are outnumbered and out of their element, their skill dismissed by senior officers. Against a backdrop of lantern-lit wards, bright Mediterranean skies and crowded, muddy fields, we see Flo fight to find her place.

As the promotional material states, the book is “based on meticulous research, Through These Lines is an honest account of women in war. There is humour, anger, hope, sadness and frustration. But most of all there is courage – Flo sees her task through to the end.”

 “Out of the ordinary” – ydney Morning Herald; “Grabs the audience’s attention and emotions right ‘til the very end” – The Blurb; “Sad. Affecting. And very worthwhile” –Crikey

For more information, click here.

Jim Claven OAM, LGCC Secretary