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. As part of his PHD studies 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.

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