Cricket on Lemnos ... The 3rd Australian General Hospital v 2nd Brigade

The Anzacs time on Lemnos was not easy.
For the most part they had to suffer the vagaries of the weather - summer heat and dust, followed by winter cold and rains. Insects be-deviled them. Encampments were often ill-prepared, tents limited in number and often soldiers lay exposed to the elements.This affected the soldiers in the rest camps as well as the nurses and medical staff in the hospitals. And all this while seeking to cope with the ever present influx of patients from the peninsula - wounded and sick. And overcoming the initial lack of medical equipment. Coping with these pressures is reflected in the photographs they took and the written records they left behind.
Yet despite all this, the Anzacs were able to enjoy moments of relaxation.
We know they traveled the Island during periods of leave, they visited the churches and shops, vbaths of Therma and talked to the locals. and they palyed soccer.
But now we know that they also played Cricket.

In a folder of photographs, postcards and ephemera held at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, are a unique collection of one of these games. Taken or collected and preserved by Captain Anderson of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, these images record this game in action, as the soldiers played and the soldiers and nurses of the 3rd Australian General Hospital watched and cheered on their players.
Reproduced are just some of these great images.

 

Just some of the amazing stories from Lemnos in 1915 waiting to be discovered and remembered in this the year of the Centenary of Anzac. Wouldn't it be good to recreated this - and the game of soccer - played by the Anzacs on Lemnos 100 years ago this year?
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Lemnos Remembered - Lemnos Creek, Lorne, Victoria

Another reminder in Australia of the impact of far away Lemnos on Australia - Lemnos Creek, outside Lorne, on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia.
These images were produced by the Rose Stereograph Company, which operated between c1920 and 1954. They are a set of two postcards.

The Rose Stereograph Company - and WW1
The Rose Stereograph Company produced many such postcards of Melbourne, beaches, the Grampians.
As a teenager, George Rose worked in his father's shoe store in a Melbourne suburb while he studied photography. He started his photographic career around 1880 at the age of 19, producing three-dimensional images. He called his business 'The Rose Stereograph Company'. He toured the world with his 3-D camera, producing stereographs for the home and overseas markets. During his career, he is said to have taken about 9,000 stereographs in at least 38 countries as well as Australia.

German procession, Federation Celebrations, Melbourne Australia 1901. George Rose. Museum Victoria Image MM06889

Around 1912 he turned his attention to the production of postcards which had become very popular in Australia and overseas as they were a simple means of communication. They enabled short messages to be sent to family and friends, there was no room for complicated etiquette which inhibited letter writing amongst the ordinary folk.With attractive images on the front, people loved and saved these cards, keeping them in albums and shoe boxes.

Farewell of the AIF, Collins St Melbourne. Rose Stereograph Co.

During WW1 he produced 56 stereoviews showing World War I subjects; they bear image numbers 12,904-12,959. The views were probably marketed in boxed sets of 20-40, with composition changing as more images became available. The quality of the images and finished stereographs was good, but as was the case with most manufacturers, the images were tame and included no action shots. Half of the images were taken in Australia before the deployment of the Australian Expeditionary Force. Most of the rest showed scenes behind the lines and ruins on the Western Front. Rose used two sizes of mounts for his stereographs during the World War I period. Both were curved with rounded corners and made of good quality dark cardboard. The earlier mount was the standard size of 3½ x 7 inches. Later cards were 3⅞ x 7 inches. In the declining years of stereograph production, Rose returned to mounts of the standard size; they may be distinguished from the early mounts by their squared corners.
One thing that sets Rose stereographs apart from those of any other manufacturer is the integration of the captions with both halves of the stereo images. Placing captions on the negatives eliminated the need for a separate step in production. The captions tended to be lengthy since Rose did put any explanatory text on the reverse of the cards.
Besides the main office in Melbourne, Rose Great War stereo-views listed offices in Sydney, New South Wales; Wellington, New Zealand; and London. George's son Herbert, a noted artist in his own right, helped in the business until his untimely death at the age of 47 in 1936. As stereo-views declined in popularity, Rose switched to production of postcards and decorative cards. The company stopped manufacturing stereo-views in the 1920s, and George Rose died in 1942. Rose Stereograph Company kept the original name and remains in business today as a manufacturer of postcards and tourist memorabilia in Glen Waverly, a suburb of Melbourne.
This information has been sourced from the following websites - http://greatwarin3d.org/Rose.htm and http://www.ronblum.com.au/

Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Mudros on Lemnos - Images from the past

Here are some images of Mudros on Lemnos taken from postcards. Some are from 1915, others from before and after the Gallipoli campaign.
Mudros was one of the major towns on Lemnos and its major pier in the great bay of Mudros. In 1915 it bustled with the sounds of many lands - Greek villagers, Australians and New Zealand soldiers and nurses, French and British soldiers and more.
In the early months of the Gallipoli campaign an Australian military field hospital was based near here. Australian nurses and soldiers visited its cafes and shops - and its great Church - Agios Evanglismos.
This Church stands to this day, as does the East Mudros Military Cemetery, where many Anzacs lie buried alongside their Allied comrades.
Enjoy.
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lemnos Remembered - Shepparton, Australia

Further to our post on the Pascoe Vale South connection to Lemnos, here are some of the images of the township of Lemnos near Victoria's north-eastern city of Shepparton.
Named Lemnos on the insistence of Digger Ernie Hill, who fought at Gallipoli, a comrade of Albert Jacka VC, recuperated on Lemnos and survived the battlefields of northern France.
The Diggers of 1915 didn't forget and neither should Australia and Greece in this centenary year!
Enjoy.
Thanks to Lee Tarlamis, our President for sharing these images.
Note that the Lemnos Primary School is seeking to link up with Kontias Primary School on Lemnos this year as part of its centenary activities.
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

 

 

 

 

 

Lemnos Avenue ... Melbourne, Australia

We know that outside Shepparton is the township of Lemnos. And we also know that a number of homes were named after Lemnos and Mudros in honour of fallen relatives.
Here is Lemnos Avenue, Pascoe Vale South, in Melbourne's northern suburbs. It intersects with Gallipoli Street.
More evidence of the awareness of Lemnos' role in Anzac in Australia.
Send us more images of Lemnos-related namings in Australia.
Thanks to Julie Kun for the photograph.
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Forgotten Photographs of WW1 - New BBC Documentary

The BBC have released a new documentary on the photography of individual soldiers in WW1. It includes photos that were salvaged from garbage - an amazing story.
The documentary explains the camera's they used, how much they cost, how they took them to war and the types of photographs they took.
The photographs tell the story from the point of view of the soldiers themselves. They include images of the famous Christmas Truce on the Western Front in 1914.
Even though they were specifically against orders after 1914 (in the British Army), the soldiers continued to take them.Some even sold their photos to the press - including those of the Christmas Truce. Historians believe that it was the appearance of these images that led to the banning of soldier's photography.
Conversely, the German Army didn't forbid photographs - and the German Photography Society sent cameras to soldiers at the front.
Just as on Lemnos in 1915, British - and other (including German) - soldiers took photographs of their war experiences, their friendships.
Lets hope this program is shown in Australia soon.
A link describing the program is contained here.
I have reproduced some of the images here.

Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Lemnians raise funds for the British Red Cross - during WW1!

We have known for a long time - from the diaries and records of the Anzacs - that the local Lemnians welcomed them and supported them during 1915. They sold them food, they accompanied them on trips to the Therma baths and welcomed the diggers into their churches and their families. And the Anzacs treated the Lemnians villagers in their field hospitals, equipped with the latest x-ray and dental facilities.
And some acted as guides and labourers on the beaches and gullies at Anzac.

Yet there are few records of the views of the locals.
I have recently come across a newspaper report of demonstrating the active generosity and support of the local villagers for the Anzacs and the Allies who came to their Island in 1915 - raising major funds for the British Red Cross. Here is a transcript of the article from the Western Daily Press (Bristol, United Kingdom) from Saturday 4 March 1916:

“Greek Sympathy for the Allies – Subscriptions for British Red Cross, 
LONDON, Friday
Reuter’s Agency states that gratifying evidence of the goodwill existing between the inhabitants of the military zone at Mudros, in the Island of Lemnos, and the Allied forces is provided by the voluntary subscriptions of the villages within that zone to the British Red Cross. The people of their own accord approached the Assistant Provost Marshall at Mudros asking him to accept for the purpose a sum of £384 8s 9d, which had been subscribed in eleven different villages. The Bishop of Lemnos is collecting in the village of Castro for the same purpose at the request of the inhabitants.”

 

The British Red Cross - and its Australian Branch - provided a range of important services during WW1 - including providing aid to wounded and sick soldiers, voluntary aid detachment volunteers in field hospitals, as well as a wounded and missing information service for relatives. Over £380 would have been a significant amount for these local villagers. Today is equivalent to£38,000 or $72,799AUD. This is an important aspect of the Lemnos link to Anzac that we should remember during the festive season.

Lest we forget.

Jim Claven

Secretary

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee