The 14th Battalion Colours, St Kilda Town Hall. Photograph Jim Claven 2013 |
It was a great pleasure to meet with her to discuss our planned Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial statue and our forthcoming fundraising event on 30th October, which is now sold-out.Mayor Stevens will be speaking at the 30th October event.
While visiting the St Kilda Town Hall, we also viewed the AIF's 14th Battalion Colours which are displayed at the entrance to the main council hall or the former ballroom.
14th Battalion Association returning the Colours to the Municipality, 1930. Source PPCC sk0048 |
These Colours were presented to the Council in 1930 in honour of the 3,000 St Kilda men who served in the First World War, including Captain Albert Jacka, VC, who was also served as Mayor of St Kilda on his return from the war. The 14th Battalion was mainly recruited from Prahran, St Kilda and Bendigo and became known as "Jacka's Mob".
The 14th Battalion was present on Lemnos for periods, during its part in the Gallipoli campaign, to practice the landings and for periods of rest and recuperation. The men from St Kilda - along with their other 14th Battalion comrades - rested at the Anzac Camp at Sarpi in September and October, and returned to the Island following the evacuation of the peninsula in December 1915.Albert Jacka was famously photographed on the Island in 1915.
These Colours survived the fire at St Kilda Town Hall in 1991.
Seeing these Colours today impressed upon us the strong connection between the Port Phillip area and Lemnos.
The 14th Battalion Colours, showing their battles honours including the landings at Anzac and Sari Bair in 1915. Photographs Jim Claven 2013 |
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