Captain Albert Jacka VC Exhibition - Port Phillip Town Hall, St Kilda

Port Phillip Town Hall contains an exhibition or display dedicated to Captian Albert Jacka, Australia's first Victoria Cross winner of the First World War, and a former Mayor of St Kilda. Jacka was also present on Lemnos in 1915. The materials contain original material and documents in the collection of the City of Port Phillip.
Below are some images of the exhibition. Well worth a visit if you are in St Kilda.
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

 

 

 

Lemnos Nurse Violet Duddy - Plaque Unvieling

Nurses of the 3rd AGH in France. Nurse Duddy is fourth from the right in the front row.

A very active local historical group has succeed in raising funds to unveil a special memorial plaque to one of the Australian nurses who served on Lemnos in 1915 - Nurse Violet Blanche Duddy.

Born in Hastings New Zealand, Violet was 29 when she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service in July 1915. Trained at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, she was a member of the Royal Victorian Trained Nurses Association - as all Lemnos nurses were - the precursor body to the current Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.

Her service file records her as serving on Lemnos in October 1915 - at Moudros. She was evacuated with the rest of the 3rd Australian General Hospital nurses in January 1916.

Australian nurses waiting for a barge to take them to their transport ship in Moudros Bay, January 1915. AW Savage Photo. State Library of NSW.

Violet's memorial plaque will be unveiled on March 16th 2015. The memorial includes Lemnos as one of the places she served.  

The Committee encourages interested members of the community to attend this important event.

Event details are:

• Unveiling to occur at 11am on Monday March 16th 2015, at Queenscliff Cemetery, Point Lonsdale, 
• The event will be followed by light refreshments and a tour of an exhibit about Violet Duddy at the Queenscliff Historical Museum.

Thanks to Margaret Stowers for this information.

Jim Claven

Secretary

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Lemnos Commemorative Events Scheduled for April 2015 - Update 6 More Details on Presentations on Lemnos and in Athens

The Committee has recently been advised of the commemorative events being planned for Lemnos in April 2015. These events have been determined in consultations between the Australian Embassy in Greece and the Lemnos Authorities, and have also involved representatives of New Zealand and Canada.
We have also been advised by the Lemnos Friends of Anzac as well as by the Canadian Ambassador to Greece, His Excellency Robert Peck. HE Robert Peck has advised us of the Canadian sponsored commemorative events on Lemnos.

Commemorative Events on Lemnos (April)

The following updated list of the scheduled commemorative events to be held on Lemnos in April 2015 is provided to assist visitors:

Friday 17th April 
1800 - Canadian Nurses Memorial Plaque Unveiling by Canadian Ambassador to Greece, HE Robert Peck. Unveiling of memorial plaque to Canadian nurses by Ambassador Peck. This plaque will memorialize the two Canadian nurses who died on Lemnos in 1915 and are buried in Portianos Military Cemetery. Followed by speech on Gallipoli campaign and the role of Lemnos and showing of ABC Docu-drama episode from "ANZAC Girls" at Portianou Cultural Centre, with buffet/reception hosted by the Canadian Government.

Ships in Mudros Harbor, French troops in foreground. Lemnos, 1915. AWM image.

Saturday 18 April 2015
1.1000 - HMAS Success berths at Myrina, Lemnos
2. Chief of Navy (CN), Vice Admiral Tim Barrett AO and the Australian Ambassador, John Griffin, fly Athens to Lemnos

Graves, East Mudros Military Cemetery. Lemnos, 1915. AWM image

3. 1730 - Events at Moudros: Memorial service at East Moudros Military Cemetery, laying of wreaths by official representatives, speeches on the Centenery of the Gallipoli campaign, followed by a parade or march at East Mudros Military Cemetery or at Moudros harbour front, to be followed by a photographic exhibition at the Moudros Cultural Centre and reception on behalf of the P.E. Limnos (location TBC). Alternatively, a sunset service at East Mudros Military Cemetery (Time to be confirmed)

3rd AGH staff attend a burial party. Portianos Military Cemetery. Lemnos, 1915. AW savage Photograph. State Library of NSW.

Sunday 19 April 2015
1. 1100-1530 - Events at Portianou (TBC):
0930 - Memorial service at Portianos Military Cemetery, laying of wreaths by representatives
1200 - Commemorating Gallipoli's Hellenic Heart - Lemnos and the Anzacs 1915 - Portianou Cultural Centre
Jim Claven, historian and Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Secretary, will make a major presentation, illustrated with overhead images, explaining Lemnos' link to Anzac, drawing on the words and photographs of the diggers and nurses themselves.

Lemnos and Gallipoli - A Story in Pictures - Photographic Exhibition at the Portianou Cultural
Centre
This presentation will be accompanied by a major Photographic Exhibition featuring 40 of the most iconic images from 1915, taken by the diggers themselves.
Mr. Jim Claven, has selected these images based on his extensive research of the Lemnos link to Anzac. Those selected have been sourced from various collections in both Australian and overseas and feature the photographs taken by the Anzac's themselves as well as by other famous Allied official photographers. Amongst others, it features the work of AW Savage, an Australian soldier with the 3rd Australian General Hospital, Philip Schuler, one of Australia’s war correspondents at Gallipoli and Ernest Brookes, the British official war photographer.
The images tell in a vivid way the story of Lemnos’ role in Gallipoli. As the base for the campaign, the place of assembly and practice prior to the landings on 25th April, as the location of the Australian hospitals and their 130 nurses, where the great Anzac Rest camp was erect as a place of recuperation and as a place of recreation and interaction between these young Australians and the local Greek population – an interaction which continued to the waves of post-war migration to Australia.
The latter photographs are particularly poignant, revealing the Australian soldiers and nurses visiting local churches and spas, villages and cafes – and having their photos taken with local villagers. They show the local villagers helping the Allies and being tended at the Australian hospitals on the Island.
Note that the Exhibition will be gifted to the people of Lemnos by the Lemnian Community of Victoria.
(MORE INFORMATION ON THESE EVENTS TO COME)

The team from the destroyer HMS Hunter playing a game of soccer against a 6th Battalion team at a camp on the Aegean island of Lemnos. AWM image

1400 Commemorative football (Soccer) match at Kontias football park between Hellenic Army and HMAS Success teams - recreating the game played in 1915. (TBC) *NEW EVENT* 
2. 1900 - Reception on board Australian warship HMAS Success berthed at Myrina for official representatives

The Allied fleet assembles, Mudros harbour. Lemnos, 1915. AWM image.

Monday 20 April 2015
1. CN departs Lemnos for Turkey (via Athens) (Time to be confirmed)
2. Ships sail from Myrina, Lemnos (Time to be confirmed)
3. 1300 - Ships conduct formation anchorage in Moudros Harbour (To be confirmed)
4. 1500-1600 Commemorative Service at Moudros Harbour Memorial - laying of wreaths, presentation of a video by Australian Embassy in the open area of Moudros Harbour front, symbolic lighting of 550 candles representing the dead buried on Lemnos. There will then be a performance by Lemnian traditional dancers, Greek traditional music and the promotion of Lemnian produce.

Note - Previously announced burial at sea service is unlikely to proceed. 
It is most likely that senior representatives and ships of the Hellenic Navy will also be present at Lemnos to take part in these commemorative events.

Young Endeavour is also planned to visit Lemnos but dates are not firm and its arrival is dependent on weather.

Friday 25th April 2015
Anzac Day Events.  Melbourne's RSL Hellenic Sub-Branch President Steve Kyritsis advises that they will be holding a memorial service on Lemnos on Anzac Day, with number of Australian Army Cadets present - more details to follow.


Other Lemnos Anzac Events

7th April- 30 June 2015 Art Exhibition - “NO MAN'S LAND”  by Nicolas Bliatkas and Irene Christoforidou . At the Art Space: "Ochre Blue" (P.Kyda 8), Myrina, Lemnos island. Under the aegis of Lemnos Municipality . Telephone: 003022540-26264 (Mobile: 6976220673). Opening Night: Tuesday, April 7th at 8.00 pm. Two visual artists, Irene Christoforidou and Nikolas Bliatkas participate in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli in which the island of Lemnos had a strategic role as the base for the launch campaign for the Allied Forces. Bliatkas focuses on poems from World War Ι and through the use of mixed techniques introduces the viewer into a world of memory and meditation. Christoforidou in her works using colours symbolically: Black for War, White for marble monuments and Red as Life. *NEW EVENT*
To view the event leaflet, click - Lemnos Ochre Blue Anzac Art Exhibition Brochure


Athens - Anzac Day Events - 25th April 2015


Time (TBC) - Phaleron Military Cemetery Commemoration. The official Australian Government Anzac Day commemorative event in Greece will take place at the Athens Military Cemetery (Commonwealth War Graves) at Phaleron (Time TBC but more likely in the morning).
1930 - Commemorating Gallipoli's Hellenic Heart - Lemnos and the Anzacs 1915 - War Museum of Athens
Jim Claven, historian and Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Secretary, will make a major presentation, illustrated with overhead images, explaining Lemnos' link to Anzac, drawing on the words and photographs of the diggers and nurses themselves. This presentation will be accompanied with a major article published in the Hellenic Navy's Quarterly publication.

The War Museum of Athens
The War Museum of Athens is located at the corner of Vasilissis Sofias Avenue and Rizari Street, Athens. For more information on the Museum click here. The Museum will also be open for visitors to view.

Lemnos and Gallipoli - A Story in Pictures - Photographic Exhibition at the War Museum of Athens
This presentation will be accompanied by a major Photographic Exhibition featuring 40 of the most iconic images from 1915, taken by the diggers themselves. The exhibition will be open to the public from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th April inclusive.
Mr. Jim Claven, has selected these images based on his extensive research of the Lemnos link to Anzac. Those selected have been sourced from various collections in both Australian and overseas and feature the photographs taken by the Anzac's themselves as well as by other famous Allied official photographers. Amongst others, it features the work of AW Savage, an Australian soldier with the 3rd Australian General Hospital, Philip Schuler, one of Australia’s war correspondents at Gallipoli and Ernest Brookes, the British official war photographer.
The images tell in a vivid way the story of Lemnos’ role in Gallipoli. As the base for the campaign, the place of assembly and practice prior to the landings on 25th April, as the location of the Australian hospitals and their 130 nurses, where the great Anzac Rest camp was erect as a place of recuperation and as a place of recreation and interaction between these young Australians and the local Greek population – an interaction which continued to the waves of post-war migration to Australia.
The latter photographs are particularly poignant, revealing the Australian soldiers and nurses visiting local churches and spas, villages and cafes – and having their photos taken with local villagers. They show the local villagers helping the Allies and being tended at the Australian hospitals on the Island.
Note that the Exhibition will be gifted to the War Museum of Athens by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee.

(MORE INFORMATION ON THIS EVENT TO COME)

Burial at Sea Service - A proposal to a commemoration of those buried at sea has been cancelled.

While there will be additions and changes to this list of events, they are provided by the Committee to assist those planning their travels to Lemnos in April 2015. Where we are advised of changes, we will endeavour to update this list (for those interested please check this page for updates).

Updated 3rd March, 2015

Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Peter Fitzsimmons' Gallipoli Interview

Recently author Peter Fitzsimmons spoke at a literary event about his new book - Gallipoli. This was replayed on the ABC's Tony Delroy program on 28th January 2015.
To listen the program, follow the link to the program titled "The Far North-West and a Beach in Turkey,
January 28, 2015", by clicking here.
Enjoy
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Lemnos Hero - Blackburn's Private Edward Tozer

The above image is of a digger playing the Last Post at sunset aboard the HMAT Euripides as it sailed from Australia to Egypt, Lemnos and Gallipoli. It was taken by a merchant seaman, Denver Wood Wansey, and is held by the Australian War Memorial.
As this ship sailed to war, aboard was one Private Edward Tozer of the 4th Battalion, AIF. A nearly 24 year old railway worker from Blackburn, Tozer would serve at Gallipoli and France - and on Lemnos.
But for Tozer and his time on Lemnos - at Sarpi and the villages nearby - is of special resonance.
For Tozer would return to Australia after WW1 and one of his relatives would marry someone from the land he had walked in 1915.
The story of Edward Tozer and how later his family would marry into the Tarlamis family from Tsimandria and Agariones - villages not far from the Anzac Rest Camp at Sarpi - encapsulates the link between Australia and Lemnos through the Anzac story.
More to come on the Tozer-Tarlamis story.
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Ballarat RSL Briefing

Avenue of Honour Victory Arch, Ballarat. Photo Jim Claven 2015

Today members of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee attended the Ballarat RSL to provide them with an update on our work to commemorate Lemnos and its role in the Gallipoli campaign.
We met with Ms Alexandra Tascas, President of the Ballarat RSL.
We discussed the possibility of the Ballarat RSL hosting our Photographic Exhibition during the Centenary year.
We took the opportunity to view the Ballarat RSL's historical collection and displays. These included a nurses uniform and also a section including Ballarat Nurse Gertrude Munro, who served on the Salonika Front in WW1 and who died of illness. She is buried in Thessaloniki's Mikra Military Cemetery.

Sister Gertrude Munro display, Ballarat RSL. Photo Jim Claven 2015

Sister Gertrude Munro display, Ballarat RSL. Photo Jim Claven 2015

Sister Gertrude Munro display, Ballarat RSL. Photo Jim Claven 2015

Ms Tascas served as a nurse in the Australian Army. Her father was from Kato Kleines in northern Greece.
The Ballarat Region and Lemnos At least two Ballarat nurses are recorded as having served on Lemnos in 1915. These were Staff Nurse Isabel Curnow and Staff Nurse F Hudson. At least seven servicemen connected to the Ballarat area are buried on Lemnos - Sebastopol’s Corporal Charles Edward Gunn of the 21st Battalion, Learmonth’s Private Donald Alexander Gordon Chisholm of the 23rd Battalion, Nerriwa’s Private Henry Joseph Stevens of the 23rd Battalion, Wendouree’s Private James Leslie White of the 22nd Battalion, Kyneton’s Private James Williams Sims of the 15th Battalion, Ararat’s Private William Edward Withers of the 22nd Battalion and Berrybank’s Gunner Louis Stephen Crawforth 2nd Brigade Australian Field Artillery.
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial Commissioned - Media Announcement

Peter Corlett's emerging Lemnos Gallipoli memorial sculptures, Peter Corlett’s Melbourne studio, January 2015. Photograph Jim Claven 2015

The thousands of Anzacs – soldiers and nurses – who served on Lemnos during the Gallipoli campaign will finally have a lasting and appropriate memorial commemorating their memory erected in Australia.
Melbourne’s Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee celebrated the end of 2014 with the formal commissioning of its memorial to the role of Lemnos in Australia’s Gallipoli story. Along with the Committee’s other associated projects, this will make a unique and lasting contribution to the Centenary of Anzac in 2015.
As the base for the campaign in 1915, the Anzacs who served at Gallipoli all spent time at Lemnos whether in practising for the landings, as a place of rest or in its field hospitals. Along with doctors, orderlies and other medical staff, some 130 Australian nurses served here – the first contingent of Australian nurses to serve in field hospitals. And 148 Australians and 76 New Zealanders lie buried here amongst the 1,233 Commonwealth war dead in its two military cemeteries.
At their final meeting for the year, Lee Tarlamis, their President, informed the Committee that sufficient funds had been raised to commission the memorial.

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee end of year meeting and celebration, John Rerakis’ Philhelene Restaurant, 4 December 2014

The Committee has raised over $200,000 to date towards the memorial. Although further funds are still needed to complete the memorial and its associated projects, we have sufficient funds to proceed with the commissioning of the memorial.

Support from Government and the Community Acknowledged  
Mr Tarlamis said that the Committee had been successful in its various funding submissions, and had received funding from all levels of government. The Committee had also received significant donations from two trade unions in honour of their former members who fought at Gallipoli.
“It is particularly fitting that the memorial will recognise the service of Corporal George Knight, an electrician from Albert Park, who lies buried on Lemnos. Our memorial will recognise the role of Australia’s nurses and ordinary diggers, like George”, Mr Tarlamis said.
He pointed to the support from the dedicated Committee membership and the wider community, both from organisations and individuals. He especially thanked the City of Port Phillip, the Lemnian Community of Victoria, the Hellenic RSL Sub-Branch, the Pontiaki Estia, Coburg’s Marble Centre Exclusive, as well as Terry Paule and Nick and Sophia Kambouris for their support.
He also thanked all those individuals across the Victorian community who have supported the work of the Committee through purchasing its $5 memorial badges, $10 posters and other fundraising items as well as those who have attended our functions and events - including representatives of the Melbourne Nurses Memorial Centre and Alfred Hospital Nurses League.
The Memorial Statue Design
The memorial statue consists of a larger than life-size nurse and injured soldier, on top of a sandstone plinth, on which will be engraved the names of many of the Lemnos villages visited by the Anzacs. The inscriptions will be in Greek and English. The memorial will be completed by the addition of an information board and two flag poles.

Peter Corlett with his emerging Lemnos Gallipoli memorial sculptures, Peter Corlett’s Melbourne studio, January 2015. Photograph Jim Claven 2015

The sculptures have been designed by and are being created by Australia’s pre-eminent commemorative sculptor, Peter Corlett, OAM.

Head and shoulders of the nurse statue.Peter Corlett’s Melbourne studio, January 2015. Photograph Jim Claven 2015

Mr Corlett, who has commenced production of the sculptures, has long been inspired by the sculpture of Classical Greece and his design will resonate with those familiar with the bronzes of Ancient Greece. He said that this would also be reflective of the references to Ancient Greece in the writings of many of the Anzacs in 1915.

Some of the inspiration assembled by Peter Corlett to inform his Lemnos Gallipoli memorial sculptures. Photograph Jim Claven 2015

Unvieling Planned - 8th August 2015
It is the intention of the Committee for the memorial to be unveiled at a major ceremony on Saturday 8th August 2015 – one hundred years to the day since the Australian nurses arrived on Lemnos to help the wounded and sick soldiers.

A Major New Commemorative Publication Planned

The Committee is also raising funds to publish a major commemorative publication in conjunction with the memorial.

The publication will contain some of the hundreds of images the Anzacs took in 1915, of their arrival at Lemnos’ Mudros Bay, their preparations for the landings in the waters and beaches of Lemnos, the massive soldier’s camp at Sarpi, the hospitals around Mudros and the cemeteries of Portianou and East Mudros. Most importantly it will tell the story of the interactions between the locals and the Anzacs.

The book is being written by historian and Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Secretary, Mr Jim Claven.
Mr Claven said that there was no existing publication that has focused on reproducing the amazing images from the Lemnos archive and puts these in the context of the Lemnos Anzac story, using the words of the soldiers and nurses who were there, including the interaction between the Australians and the local Lemnian villagers.
“For too long the Lemnos story has been all but ignored in the re-telling of the Gallipoli story. Now is the time to tell the Lemnos story – to honour the service of those who served there in 1915 and those that remain buried there”, Mr Claven said.
The Committee is currently raising funds to make this publication a reality and Mr Tarlamis urged the community to support the publication project.

Events on Lemnos April 2015

The Committee has also been working with the authorities in Lemnos and Athens to confirm arrangements for the commemorative activities that will be held on the Island in 2015. Mr Tarlamis urged all those interested in going to Europe to commemorate the Anzac story to come to Lemnos in April 2015.
“The events planned on Lemnos in April will be memorable – involving the Greek and Australian authorities. While details are being finalised, these will be the best Anzac commemorations ever held on the Island.”
Mr Claven will be leading commemorative tours of Greece in 2015, including tours of Lemnos’ unique Anzac-related sites in April.

Photographic Exhibition Event

Mr Tarlamis announced that the next fundraising event will be held in the New Year – a photographic display of some of the famous images the Anzacs took while on Lemnos.
“These images tell a thousand stories. We are trying to right a historic wrong by giving them a wide viewing, to show them to a new generation who can now appreciate the role of Lemnos in the lives of the Anzacs and this historic connection between Australia and Greece. Watch this space for further details on this major event”, he said.

Creating A Lasting Legacy  
Mr Tarlamis said that the unveiling of the new memorial, the publication of our major new commemorative Lemnos Gallipoli book and the events on Lemnos in April 2015 will be major steps in the well-deserved recognition of Lemnos’ role in Anzac.
Mr Claven added that the Committee hoped that the activities and events will have a lasting legacy for Australia, Lemnos and Greece.
“Through the commemoration of the service of those Australian nurses and soldiers who came to Lemnos in 1915 we hope to re-inforce the deep bonds between Greece and Australia. And hopefully create a path for many Australians to discover and retrace our Anzac links in Greece,” he said.
Contact Us

Anyone interested in supporting these projects through sponsorship or direct donations or taking part in Mr Claven’s tours of Lemnos and Greece contact the Committee Secretary, Mr Jim Claven by email on jimclaven@yahoo.com.au.

Jim Claven

Secretary

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee