Lemnos Square - Re-Naming Application Lodged

The Lemnos inscription on the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial plinth. Photo Jim Claven 2015

On behalf of our Committee, myelf as Secretary and Lee Tarlamis as President have formally lodged the application to re-name Foote Street reservation as Lemnos Square with the City of Port Phillip.
It has always been one of the aims of our Committee that the location of the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial should - where possible - be re-named Lemnos Square. This will both complement the Memorial and enable visitors to easily locate it on their maps or by GPS.
Our proposal is made on two main bases:

• Firstly, it is the location of the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial that was unveiled on 8th August 2015 and was recently gifted by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee to the care of the City of Port Phillip. The naming of the location as Lemnos Gardens or Lemnos Square will assist visitors and residents in locating the Memorial. A copy of two media reports on the Memorial are attached, as well as a poster containing images of the Memorial at the reservation.
• Secondly, the renaming of the reservation will also be another and appropriate recognition of the connection between Port Phillip and Lemnos, through both the Anzac story and as the arrival point for many of Victoria’s post-war migrants for Greece, including Lemnos.

The unveiling of our Memorial, August 2015. Photo Anthony Leong 2015

Port Phillip, Lemnos and Anzac
Port Philip has many enduring links not only with Australia’s Anzac legend but also with Lemnos and its role in the Gallipoli campaign.
They are linked by the soldiers from Port Phillip who served on the Island and those who remain buried there (such as Corporal George Knight of Albert Park, Driver Ralph Berryman of South Melbourne and Private Cyril Thomas Leishman of St Kilda). They are linked through Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Wilson, the Doctor from Albert Park and the Port Phillip nurse who served there (such as Staff Nurse Clarice Jessie Daley, of Elwood) and cared for the sick and wounded Anzacs, including those from Port Phillip (like Captain Harold Burke of St Kilda). And through the famous Anzac soldiers and nurses who were there too – like Corporal Albert Jacka VC, a future Mayor of St Kilda and Matron Grace Wilson, of the 3rd AGH and the future of Matron of the Alfred Hospital.
Our submission was supported by various documentation, including my short historical paper explaining some of the major aspects of the connection between Port Phillip, Lemnos and Anzac (entitled Lemnos and Port Phillip – The enduring link with Australia’s Anzac Legend). If you would like to read this document, please click here.

The unveiling of our Memorial, August 2015. Photo Anthony Leong 2015

The renaming of the reservation will also complement the decision by Port Phillip to support the erection of the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial at this location and our Committee's recent gifting of the Memorial to the care of the City.
The Memorial will also be the location for a limited number of commemorative events through coming years. It's re-naming will also complement and support these respectful occasions.
It is for all these reasons that the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee proposes the renaming of the reservation at Foote Street as Lemnos Lemnos Square. It will give further recognition to this important historic and enduring link between Port Phillip, Lemnos and Anzac.

The nurse statue from our Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial. Photo Jim Claven 2015

The process of re-naming an area will require careful consideration - both at the local government level and by the relevant State Government authority.
We look forward to a favourable outcome and being able to celebrate the anniversary of the unveiling of our Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial with the naming of its location Lemnos Square by August 2016.

Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee 

An Aberdeen Anzac - The Story of Private James Laidlaw Paterson and the tragedy of the Nino Bixio in August 1942

Studio Portrait of Lance Corporal James Laidlaw Paterson. AWM

On 7th December 2016, Essendon-born former Sapper VX39694 William "Bill" Rudd will celebrate his 98th birthday.  Bill is an Anzac veteran of the 2nd AIF who served in the Middle East, fought at El Alamein and survived the torpedoing of the Italian POW transport ship Nino Bixio off Methoni, Greece in August 1942. He would go on to escape from his prisoner of war camp in Italy to freedom in Switzerland and survive the war.
For Bill's coming birthday we recount the story of one of his fellow diggers who didn't survive the attack on the Nino Bixio in August1942 - Private James Laidlaw Paterson
The Battle of Greece and Crete
The Second World War saw Greece and Crete became a battleground as the Axis powers invaded in April-May 1941 and began an occupation which lasted for four long years. We know of the battles of the Anzacs in Greece - from Vevi, Platamon, Tempe, Brallos Pass, Thermopylae, Corinth Canal, Kalamata, Maleme, 42nd Street, Rethymno, Heraklion and many more.
But the Anzac connection to Greece and Crete extended beyond these famous engagements. Captured diggers were kept in Prisoner of War camps and transported across Greece to Germany and Italy. Escaped diggers made their way back to the Allied lines with the help of local Greek civilians. Allied airmen flew over Greece and Crete during the occupation, gaining information and harassing the occupier. And Australian warships sailed the seas of Greece and Crete.
Methoni, Pylos and the Anzacs
A little known story connects the region around Methoni and Pylos to the Anzacs - the tragedy of the Nino Bixio, an Italian freighter turned into a POW transport ship in August 1942.

Nino Bixio. Source: Web

This ship was transporting some 2,000 Allied prisoners in its holds from Benghazi to Italy - Australian, New Zealander, British, Indian and Free French troops.
Sadly, on the second day of the voyage, 17th August 1942, south west of Pylos, the ship was hit by two torpedoes from the Royal Navy Submarine HMS Turbulent.

RN Turbulent, on the outboard side, moored up. IWM

Over 300 Allied POW's were killed, including 41 Australians and 116 New Zealanders. Many died trapped in the holds of the ship, as they struggled to escape the sinking ship through the jagged-edged holes left by the torpedoes or in the waters beyond.

The stricken ship wallowed helplessly all night but at first light one of the Italian destroyers returned and towed the Nino Bixio to Pylos.
Many of the dead were buried at Pylos, including approximately 20 New Zealanders. After the war, 19 New Zealanders and 1 Australian were re-buried at Athens' Phaleron War Cemetery. Others who died after the tragedy were buried at War Graves in Italy. Many of the others who were killed are listed on the war memorial at El Alamein War Cemetery.
122 Australians and 58 New Zealanders survived. After being incarcerated in the Pylos Castle, the survivors where then moved to Patras and eventually to Bari in Italy, and thence to POW camps in Italy.

The fate of the POW's of the Nino Bixio off Methoni and Pylos followed that of the Sebastiano Venier (a former Dutch ship called the Jantzen or Jason) which had suffered a similar fate in the waters off Methoni in 9th December 1941. Over 500 out of 2,00 prisoners were killed, including at least 44 New Zealand soldiers.
Aberdeen's Anzac - Lance Corporal James Laidlaw Paterson

One of the diggers who died was an Anzac from Aberdeen in far-off Scotland.
He was Lance Corporal James Laidlaw Paterson of the 2/28th Battalion, 2nd AIF. Born in Aberdeen, James had come to Australia, working as a clerk and when he enlisted he was resident in Claremont WA. He sailed from Australia for service in the Middle East as part of 2/28th Battalion on 30th July 1940.
He was promoted to Lance Corporal in August 1941.
Along with the rest of his Battalion, James fought at El Alamein from 17th July 1942 and took part in the attack on Ruin Ridge on 27th July 1942 - as did Sapper Bill Rudd and his unit, the 2/7th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers. James' Battalion suffered heavy losses and nearly 500, including James, became POW's.
Transported from Benghazi aboard the Nino Bixio in August 1942, James suffered the fate of many aboard.
After the ship was struck by the torpedoes, James escaped from the stricken ship and managed to find a raft to support himself.
A drifted for some nine days - without food or water, scorched by the sun, wind and sea spray.
He is reported to have died of exhaustion on 26th August 1942 - seven days after the Nino Bixio was struck.
He was only 26 years old and left behind a widow, Dorothy, in South Perth, Western Australia. His name is listed on the memorial at El Alamein War Cemetery in Egypt.

Lest we forget.

Methoni Castle, Greece. Photo Jim Claven 2012.

Commemorating the Pylos and Methoni Anzacs
Over recent years moves have been afoot - in Australia and in Greece - to commemorate these Anzac and other Allied POWs at Pylos and Methoni, Greece.
Suvivors like Anzac veteran Bill Rudd have been supporting these moves for many years. Sydney-based Rhonda Cousens Georgopoulos has visited the area many times with her husband - who is from Methoni - to research the story and to support the cause of a memorial.
Let's hope that the coming 75th anniversary of the battle of Crete and Greek Campaign will see these efforts result in a fitting new memorial to these fallen Anzac's and their comrades. Watch this space.


Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

 

Michael Keighery's Dead Man's Penny Exhibition - Janet Clayton Gallery, Paddington, Sydney, to 20th December 2015

Dead Man's Penny exhibits, Michael Keighery. From ABC RN website

ABC Radio National today interviewed an artist - Michael Keighery - who has created an exhibition based on the life of his his relative, Private Frank Keighery, who died at Lone Pine.
The exhibition is called Michael Keighery: Dead Man's Penny: Commemorating the death of Frank Keighery on Lone Pine in 1915.
The exhibition will be held at the Janet Clayton Gallery in Paddington, Sydney between 26 November to 20 December 2015. Opening hours 10:30am to 4:30pm Wednesday to Friday, 10:00am to 6:00pm Saturday, 11:00am-4:00pm Sunday.
For more information on the artist and the exhibition, including articles and a video, click here.

Next of Kin Plaque: Gunner H.G. Cope, 2nd Division Ammunition Column, AIF. AWM
REL29192

The Dead Man's Penny - the Memorial Scroll

The so-called Dead Man's Penny was actually a memorial plaque presented to the surviving family of soldiers who had died in the First World War.
The following information is from the National Museum of Australia:
"The Dead Man’s Penny is a commemorative medallion which was presented to the next-of-kin of the men and women who died during World War One. The bronze medallion features an image of Lady Britannia surrounded by two dolphins (representing Britain’s sea power) and a lion (representing Britain) standing over a defeated eagle (symbolising Germany). Around the outer edge of the medallion are the words ‘He died for freedom and honour’. Next to Lady Britannia is the deceased solider’s name, with no rank provided to show equality in their sacrifice. The Dead Man’s Penny was accompanied by a letter from King George V, stating ‘I join with my grateful people in sending you this memorial of a brave life given for others in the Great War’."
The following information is from the AWM:
"The shape and appearance of the plaque earned it nicknames such as the "Dead Man's Penny", the "Death Penny", and the "Widow's Penny"The round bronze Memorial Plaque is 120mm in diameter. It shows Britannia and a lion on the front and bears the inscription: "He died for freedom and honour". The full name of the dead soldier is engraved on the right hand side of the plaque. No rank, unit or decorations are shown, befitting the equality of the sacrifice made by all casualties.
Families also received a Memorial Scroll was presented to the next of kin of those soldiers, sailors, and nurses who died while serving in the Australian Imperial Force or Royal Australian Navy during the First World War. Later they were presented with a Next of Kin Memorial Plaque. The Memorial Scroll bears the Royal Coat of Arms and a message paying tribute to the soldiers who gave up "their own lives that others might live in freedom".

Memorial scroll, Sergeant M P McCall, 56 Battalion, AIF. AWM REL41097.004

Dead Man's Penny Exhibition - The ABC RN Interview
The following is reproduced from the ABC RN website:
Gallipoli was evacuated in December 1915 and many families across Australia  were grieving the loss of their sons on the battlefields of the Gallipoli peninsular.
Rather than Christmas letters or presents from their soldier sons, they received a medallion sent to all British Empire soldiers killed in action – the so called “Dead Man’s Penny”
The Keighery family received one of the medals, as one those killed was private Frank Keighery, shot dead aged just 21 at Lone Pine while he was writing a letter home to his mother and  father.
Artist Michael Keighery began a quest to find out more about the elusive past of his uncle. This inspired his exhibition of ceramics called “Dead Man’s Penny”.
To listen to the interview, click here.
Canberra Times Report on the Exhibition during its installation at the Watson Arts Centre - September 15, 2015

The memorial plaque sent to soldiers' next of kin quickly became known as the Dead Man's Penny. Canberra Times. Photo: Ron Cerabona.

"Michael Keighery's great-uncle, Frank Keighery, died at Gallipoli 100 years ago on September 11, 1915. His family was one of more than 1 million in the British Empire who received a memorial medal that quickly became known as the Dead Mans' Penny, the Death Penny or the Widow's Penny. The medal was actually a plaque, as it was decorated on only one side.
Michael Keighery commemorates his great-uncle in ceramic artillery castings in Dead Man's Penny at Watson Arts Centre."

Michael Keighery commemorates his great-uncle in ceramic artillery castings in Dead Man's Penny at Watson Arts Centre. Canberra Times

"The sculptured image by Edward Carter Preston (1885-1965) is replete with images of empire. The draped figure of Britannica is surrounded by two dolphins symbolising Britain's sea power, with a lion representing Britain's military might standing dominant over the vanquished German eagle.
The soldier's name was engraved on the medal, but listed without his rank, because it was considered that all combatants were equal in this sacrificial death. Six hundred of these medals were sent to the next of kin of women who also died in this conflict.
Michael Keighery has commemorated his great-uncle in this exhibition with work that includes a series of ceramic plaques, cylindrical vases and a wall installation."

Small, white ceramic pieces of clay moulded from human knuckles on two walls of the gallery represent the 8709 Australian soldiers killed at Gallipoli. Canberra Times

"Small, white ceramic pieces of clay moulded from human knuckles on two walls of the gallery represent the 8709 Australian soldiers killed at Gallipoli. The inscription on Frank's gravestone in the Lone Pine cemetery at Gallipoli celebrates a clean, straight life nobly ended. Frank comes to life through his poems and his wartime diary. The diary, taken from his fallen body and sent to his grieving parents, is in the Australian War Memorial.
Frank was a reporter and printer from Lang Lang, a small Victorian town in South Gippsland. The diary, written in Pitman shorthand and full of the slang and colloquialisms of the day is slowly being translated. One of his poems available to read in the exhibition was written in the heat and dust of Egypt while waiting embarkation to Gallipoli. In this poem he poignantly remembers the smell of the wet peppermint gums and South Gippsland scrub – a smell he was never to experience again.
The series of cylindrical forms by the artist is a reference to the two brass vases in the exhibition made by soldiers from the castings of brass artillery shells. This art, arising from the detritus of modern warfare, is sometimes referred to as trench art. The two ornamental vases are incised with graceful sprigs of flowers, perhaps in an unconscious attempt to domesticate these feared objects of destruction.
Keighery has incised, painted or printed his vase forms with poppies and native Australian flowers, as well as prints of his great-uncle's portrait. The spiky lengths of barbed wire that appear on some of these vessels and their blood-red interiors are a stark and dramatic intrusion in what is otherwise a sombre and reflective exhibition. The ceramic plaques impregnated with wartime memorabilia evoke the portraits of dead soldiers with their medals that hung in many Australian homes.
However, the most significant aspect of the exhibition is the installation of ranks of small, white ceramic pieces on two walls of the gallery. There are 8709 of these squeezed and fired pieces of clay moulded from human knuckles. They represent the official number of Australian soldiers killed at Gallipoli. The artist has made the end of each uniformed row irregular to symbolise the unknown soldiers who were not included in the official war dead lists, but died after the war of war-related trauma and injuries.
The wall installation is impressive in its visual and symbolic impact. Every twisted piece of clay represents an individual. The work questions our inability to comprehend the sheer numbers of the casualties. The enormity of death on this scale seems to blur our senses, until we come face to face with an individual such as Frank. What we respond to is the human face of this vast tragedy.
Keighery has successfully brought together these two aspects of the Gallipoli campaign by interweaving the terrible loss of human life to the nation and the private loss by a family. Through our insight into Frank's story, we can comprehend the tragic end to the lives of so many Australians like him – young men and women who never survived to smell the wet peppermint gums again and see the families that loved them."
Reproduced from The Canberra Times - http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-life/art-review-dead-mans-penny-commemorates-national-and-private-loss-20150913-gjlrd7.html

Jim Claven 
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

 

Lemnos 1915 - Then & Now - New Book Available

Cheryl Ward is the creator of some amazing "then and now" images of Lemnos - inserting some of the iconic photographs from 1915 by AW Savage and Herschel Harris into modern photographs taken by herself.

She has now produced a book featuring some of these montages or creations. 

The book is called "Lemnos 1915 - Then & Now."

The Book is 48 pages, costs $90.99 and can be purchased via the following website by clicking here.

The promotion for the book states:
"Cheryl Ward’s play 'Through These Lines' tells the moving story of Australia’s First World War army nurses. As part of the research for the play, Cheryl traveled to the Greek island of Lemnos to walk in the nurses’ footsteps. Using period photographs and diaries crammed full of invaluable eyewitness accounts, Cheryl was able to turn back the clock 100 years. These impressive photographs present a new perspective on the Anzac story."


Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Anzac Display - Pammessinian Social Club of Papaflessas

Recently, I was fortunate to be invited to visit the Anzac Display at the Pam-Messinian Social Club of Papaflessas hall at Gooch Street, Thornbury. I attended along with some other members of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee, including Vice-President Christina Despoteris.
This display include a dedication to Kiwi Anzac Jack Hinton who won a VC at the battle of Kalamata in April 1941 (above).
Above and below are some of my photographs from this display.

 

 

Well done to Paul Sougleris and the Pam-Messinians on their display, as well as Paul's great work in tracking down more of the Hellenic link to Anzac.

Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

Aussie Rules Footballers who died in the Battle of Crete and Greece

Hawthorn FC player Bombardier Leo (Gus) Young, AIF, who died during the battle of Crete. AWM

2016 will see the 75th anniversary of the battle of Crete and Greek campaign.
One of the aspects of this campaign was the enlistment of sportsmen into the AIF that served during the campaign. The campaign would see the formation of the 2nd Anzac Corps - and the first time that the Anzacs walked on Greek soil since the service of the 1st Anzacs at Lemnos and in the Salonika campaign.
Amongst the over 17,000 Australian soldiers who served in Greece and Crete in April and May1941 were many sportsmen - cricketers, footballers of all codes and others.
Weary Dunlop was one of the famous rugby union players to serve in Greece and Crete in 1941, taking part in the evacuation and setting up a field hospital at Nafplio under German aircraft attack. The famous cricketer Keith Miller served as a fighter pilot on the western front in the Second World War. One of his famous quotes is reproduced below:

Over 300 of these diggers would die during the campaign - killed in action, died of wounds or missing presumed dead.

Pre-war VFL Footy Record - 1938. Web

Essendon Members Season Ticket, 1941. Web

Three of these Australians who never made it back to their loved ones in Australia were Australian Rules footballers (having played games for teams in then VFL).
Every year the AFL honours the service of Australian service personnel with its Anzac Day game - at the MCG and in Tasmania.
Next year - the 75th anniversary of the battle of Greece and Crete - these three diggers should be especially honoured by the AFL and their AFL teams.
This is some of the story of the three Aussie Rules footballers who fell in the battle to defend Greece and Crete against the Axis invasion.
Lance Bombardier John (Jack) Montague Drake VX9796
Born Perth, Jack Drake enlisted at Hawthorn and served with the AIF's 2/2 Field Regiment (Artillery).

Brallos Pass – 1941, AWM

Brallos Pass, Jim Claven Photo 2013

He died of wounds defending the vital Brallos Pass in central Greece during the fighting retreat of Allied forces on 23rd April 1941. He was aged 37.
Jack is buried at Phaleron Military Cemetery, Athens.
He played for Hawthorn in the VFL, in the 1926 season.

Grave stone of Lance Bombardier Jack Drake, Phaleron Military Cemetery. Photo Liza Koutsaplis 2015

Phaleron Military Cemetery, Athens. CWGC

Bombardier Leo (Gus) Young VX48662
Born at Heyfield in country Victoria, Gus Young enlisted at Caulfield. His photograph from his AIF paybook is reproduced above.

Members of Leo Young’s unit, the 2/3 Anti-Aircraft Regiment, at Maleme Crete, 18^th May 1941. AWM

He served with the AIF's 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery.
He was killed in action while at sea during the battle of Crete on 29th May 1941 - presumably during the evacuation of the Island.

He is listed on the Memorial to the missing at Phaleron Military Cemetery, Athens.
Gus also played for Hawthorn in the VFL.
Pilot Officer Beresford Stanley (Beres) Reilly, 454 Squadron, RAAF
Born in Clifton Hill, Beres Reilly lived and was brought up in Footscray prior to his enlistment into the RAAF.

RAAF Martin Baltimore Light Bomber – this was the type of aircraft plane that was flown by Beres Reilly when he was shot down over Crete. AWM

Martin Baltimore aircraft of No. 454 Squadron RAAF preparing to take off from their base at Gambut, Libya, April 1943. Beres Reilly would have flown from this base to Crete. AWM

His squadron was based in the Middle East and conducted regular bombing raids of Axis-occupied Crete in support of the resistance on the Island.
He was killed during low level bombing run over central Crete (near Iarapatra) on 23rd July 1943. He was aged 28.

El Alamein Military Cemetery, Egypt. CWGC

Beres is listed on the Memorial to the missing at El Alamein Military Cemetery, Egypt.
Played for North Melbourne, Melbourne and St Kilda in the VFL.

Lest we forget

Jim Claven

Secretary

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee