Our Greek Connection - Anzacs on Lemnos

A soldier in the hot mineral spring baths at Therma in 1915. Australian War Memorial Image

Nancy Lane - along with her partner, John Cook, took part in our recent Anzac Tour of Lemnos in April 2013. On returning, Nancy has put pen to paper and written a beautiful article in her local paper telling of Lemnos' Anzac links and her tour of the Island. One of the places she mentions in the famous mineral springs baths at Therma on the western side of Lemnos - which are still operating. Above is an image of the inside of the traditional baths, that Nacny has photographed and its reproduced in her article. Well done Nancy.

Nancy Lane - Our Greek Connection, Anzacs on Lemnos - North and West Melbourne News September 2013

The Stones of Kontias - A Lemnian Village and its Anzac Links

A restored traditional stone house in Kontias. Photograph: Jim Claven 2013

Australia's leading Hellenic newspaper, Neos Kosmos recently published an article by our Secretary on the Lemnian village of Kontias and its connection to the Anzac and Gallipoli story. It is a beautiful village, with many of its traditional houses and windmills lovingly restored, re-calling the history of the village in the early years of the 20th century.

A newly restored former windmill - now accommodation - in Kontias, many of which were photographed by the Anzacs in 1915. Photograph: Jim Claven 2013

Like many villages on Lemnos, their history includes visits from the hundreds - if not thousands - of Anzac soldiers and Australian nurses who wandered the Island in search of respite from the horrors of war. They wrote about their experiences and photographed the Island and its villagers, capturing a moment in time.

Anzac soldiers in the village of Kontias, 1915. Australian War Memorial Image

They are also villages connected to Australia through migration, with many Australian's of Hellenic descent coming from Lemnos, and who return to the Island to this day - as the land of their birth or of their ancestors.
Kontias like many Lemnian Islands stands testimony to the historical and on-going link between Australia and Lemnos - one that will be an important part of our commemorations in 2015.
 
The Stones of Kontias by Jim Claven - Neos Kosmos

Latest Lemnos Anzac Study Tour Report Released

Senator Anne McEwen and Mr Lee Tarlamis MP lay the wreath at the 2013 Anzac Day service at Portianou Military Cemetery, Lemnos. Photograph: Jim Claven 2013

Following the successful completion of the Committee's second Anzac study tour of Lemnos, the detailed Report of the Tour to the Victorian Parliament has been released.

Along with participating parliamentarians from across Australia, Committee members took part in an extensive tour of the key Anzac sites on Lemnos, Gallipoli, Istanbul and across Greece. These included:

• the opportunity to take part in Anzac services on Lemnos, the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove, commemorative services at Vevi in northern Greece;
• visits to Commonwealth War Cemeteries on Lemnos, at Gallipoli, Thessaloniki and Phaleron, near Athens;
• visits to the Anzac battlefields from April 1941 of Vevi, Platamon, Vale of Tempe, Brallos Pass and Thermopylae; and,
• visits to a number of the key evacuation sites, including Nafplion. 

The Report can be viewed at the link below:
Parliamentary Study Tour Report 2013

We hope that the Report adds to the growing understanding of Greece's Anzac links and encourages further commemorative visitation to these important sites.

Anzac and other allied war graves, Portianou Military Cemetery, Lemnos. Photograph Jim Claven 2013

The Daughters of Mars - by Thomas Kenneally

You may be interested to read Thomas Kenneally's book about the Australian nurses in World War One, including on Lemnos. Published late last year, it's now available at a discount price from the Book Depository - around $15AUD. I've attached a review from The Guardian (UK).
The Guardian's Review of Thomas Kenneally's Daughters of Mars

Nurses with wounded soldiers during the First World War

New Book on Gallipoli - the Air War

Great new book from Gallipoli historian Hugh Dolan on the air war over Gallipoli - includes references to the little studied role played by Lemnos, Tenedos and Imbros in the Allied air war during the Gallipoli campaign.


"When in future years the story of Helles and ANZAC and Suvla is weighed, it will, I think, appear that had the necessary air service been built up from the beginning and sustained, the Army and the Navy could have forced the Straits and taken Istanbul. -Air Vice Marshal Frederick Sykes, Chief of Air Staff, RAF, 1922

From the author of 36 Days comes the dramatic and almost unknown account of the war fought high above the Gallipoli peninsula. More than 2000 missions were flown by the early aviators of both sides, with the fragile seaplanes, aeroplanes and balloons of the Allies battling both the elements and the Turkish Air Service several thousand feet above enemy territory.

In Gallipoli Air War the bloody contest waged for Gallipoli is seen through the eyes of the pilots and their observers, often in perilous planes or balloons and blimps that had seen better days. Whether flying reconnaissance missions, acting as artillery observers for the guns of the Royal Navy or bombing Turkish targets, the men who flew these frail machines had a remarkable impact on the campaign that until now has never been properly brought to light.

Former Royal Australian Air Force intelligence officer Hugh Dolan has interwoven meticulous research, intelligence reports, and the diaries and accounts of the combatants, along with his own experience of the Iraq War, to create a detailed and compelling narrative. Gallipoli Air War has opened a fascinating new front in the well-known Gallipoli story." ... from the Pan Macmillan advertisement.

Hugh Dolan Gallipoli Air War Pan Macmillan