The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee announces the production of its latest initiative - the Lemnos Gallipoli Exhibition Display. This initiative has been supported by the Victorian Government and the Victorian Veterans Council through the Victoria Remembers Grants Program 2021/22.
Following on the success of our initial photographic display, the Committee has been working to updated its visual promotion of Lemnos and its role in Gallipoli and Australia's Anzac Story. Since our initial display we have erected our Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial in Albert Park, the Australian Pier Memorial on Lemnos and published Jim Claven's Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed: A Pictorial History of the Anzacs in the Aegean 1915-15 in 2019 (cover below).
Our new Exhibition Display has been researched and created by our Secretary, the historian Jim Claven, who has been researching the Hellenic link to Australia's Anzacs story across both world wars for over ten years. This comprehensive research is reflected in his Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed book.
Now we have been able to enlist Jim to create an amazing visual depiction of Lemnos' Anzac story, told through many of the archival photographs identified by Jim for his book, added to by his own images of Lemnos' Anzac-related sites taken during his many field research trips to Lemnos, and all placed in context by his historical essays on each key theme of the Lemnos role.
The Lemnos Gallipoli Exhibition - Content
In recounting Lemnos' story, Jim has drawn from the archive of thousands of photographs taken by the Anzac and others themselves during the campaign, the many writings of those who were there (whether in letters home, in personal diaries and memoirs or in the official accounts from the time (whether unit war diaries or the many volumes of official history).
The artwork for the large format panels are AO size (approximately 84cm x 118cm).
Each of the following key themes and their associated panels are explained below:
Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed - An Introduction & Welcome (1 panel) - This panel explains and illustrates the whole exhibition, the Lemnos Australian archive, the Anzac photographers and the significance of the exhibition. Photo above of sunset on Lemnos, Jim Claven, 2015.
Before the Landings (2 panels) - These panels explain and illustrate the pre-Gallipoli history of Lemnos, the story of the first Australians who came their in 1915, the erection of the Australian Pier, the arrival of the Allied Armada, the troops preparing for the landings (photo from CA Masters Collection, SLV), those who fell ill and those died on Lemnos prior to the landings, the Australian Submarine (the AE2) and its presence at Lemnos prior to the landings and the departure of the troops to Gallipoli.
The Shield of Achilles - The Hellenes of Gallipoli (1 panel) - This panel explains and illustrates the Hellenes who served as Anzacs during the Gallipoli campaign (including Private Peter Rados from Asia Minor and Sapper Basil Passa from the village of Kontopouli on Lemnos), those who volunteered to serve with the French Foreign Legion during the campaign (including those from Crete and those from Asia Minor - see photo above, Unknown Collection, SLV), the Hellenic civilians who assisted the campaign and the Hellenes who helped the Allies establish the war cemeteries on the Gallipoli Peninsula after the war.
Lemnos Transformed (1 panel) - This panel explains and illustrates how Lemnos was transformed into the advance base of the Gallipoli campaign, with Mudros Bay emerging as a major shipping hub, the erection of key infrastructure (i.e. piers, jetties, roads, railways, the water condensing plant (photo above, Nurse Evelyn Hutt Collection, SLV), engineering depots and telegraphic signaling equipment) to supply those based their or on the Peninsula as well as to aid communication and transport across the Bay and the Island.
Lemnos' Medical Base Expands (3 panels) - These panels explain and illustrate the mounting medical emergency that confronted the Allies at Gallipoli, leading to the establishment of Lemnos as one of the major medical bases for the whole campaign, expanding from the first medical facilities established there before the Anzac landing to the great assembly of medical facilities established across the Turks Head Peninsula and surrounds (including the Australian 3rd Australian General Hospital and 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital as well as many other British and Canadian military medical facilities), bringing the Australian nurses to Lemnos (along with Canadian and British nurses, see photo of Australian nurses coming ashore on Lemnos in August 1915, A Savage Collection, SLNSW), they explain how the initial chaos and poor conditions was replaced by an efficient medical services that would demonstrate its efficiency and success in its low mortality rate, earning the praises of those they cared for and those medical administrators who reviewed their operations.
Return to Lemnos (2 panels) - These panels explain and illustrate the establishment and operation of the large rest camps near the village of Sarpi (modern day Kalithea) on Lemnos (photo of Sarpi Rest Camp in November 1915, H Harris Collection, SLNSW), their connection to Australia's Colonel John Monash, the exhausted condition of the troops who came there from the fighting on the Peninsula, their activities there and those who fell ill and those who died before they could return to the front. They also tell of the tragedy of the troopship Southland.
The Anzacs Discover Lemnos (3 panels) - These panels explain and illustrate how the Anzacs (and other Allied soldiers) came to meet the local Lemnians and began to explore and experience the Island and its life and culture (photo above Nurse Evelyn Hutt Collection, SLV), from their first impressions at Mudros Bay, as they walked the streets of Mudros Town and the villages of West Mudros, then rode their hired donkeys to far away Castro (modern day Myrina) and the baths at Therma, giving them an appreciation of Lemnos and its life which is reflected in their poignant photographs and in their writings.
Evacuation and Departure (3 panels) - These panels explain and illustrate how the Anzacs and other Allied troops returned to Lemnos following the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula (photo above A Savage Collection, SLNSW), their experience of the rest camps, their recreational activities and their Christmas and New Years celebrations, those who fell ill and those who died, and the final departures of the Anzacs from Lemnos between December 1915 and January 1916.
Those Who Remain (2 panels) - These panels explain and illustrate the establishment of the war cemeteries on Lemnos (photo above of Portianou, Jim Claven 2018), their constructions, how burials were conducted, the communications between the bereaved and the authorities (including as to the epitaphs to be etched on their loved ones grave) and some of the stories of those who are buried there, their remains a direct legacy of Lemnos' connection to Australia that stretches across the generations.
After Gallipoli (2 panels) - These panels explain and illustrate the story of Lemnos and the First World War after Gallipoli, the story of those veterans who made the long journey's of return over the decades to visit the graves of their comrades and the Island they walked on in their youth, of how Lemnos would be remembered in Australia (with the naming of homes and townships, even a football team). They also tell the story of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee and many of our initiatives, including the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial in Albert Park (photo above, Anthony Leong, 2015) and Australian Pier Memorial on Lemnos.
The Panels have been designed such that they can be displayed as a whole in a major exhibition of 20 panels or they can be displayed selectively, based on the themes that most interest a particular audience (i.e. such as the medical story etc.).
View A Sample Lemnos Gallipoli Exhibition Panel
The weblink below will show you what these amazing and beautifully created panels look like by allowing you to view the 3 Evacuation & Departure Panels. This is just a taste of what the other 17 panels reveal:
Lemnos Gallipoli Exhibition - Sample Panels - Evacuation & Departure - May 2023
Promoting the Story of Lemnos & Gallipoli
The Lemnos Gallipoli Exhibition will be launched by the Committee in coming months with a physical display at a venue to be confirmed.
The Exhibition is also available to like-minded not-for-profit community and educational organizations. We welcome proposals from across Australia and overseas, including Greece.
Note that unfortunately we are unable to provide the Exhibition to commercial organizations at this stage, due to the copyright restrictions or requirements of many of the items that are depicted in the display panels.
Upon request the artwork for each panel can be made available for printing by the recipient organization. Quotes for the printing of the panels can be made available on request to those organizations seeking to display the Exhibition panels.
The Committee is keen to encourage schools and other organizations interested in promoting awareness of the role of Lemnos in the Gallipoli campaign and Australia's Anzac story amongst their membership and/or the general public.
Contact Us - Help us tell the Lemnos Gallipoli story
If your organization is interested in obtaining the Lemnos Gallipoli Exhibition panels (in part or as a whole), please contact us to discuss your proposal by emailing jimclaven@yahoo.com.au.
Our Committee will then consider your proposal and its alignment with the objectives of the Exhibition to promote awareness of the role of Lemnos in the Gallipoli campaign.
Acknowledgement
The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government and the Victorian Veterans Council for this project, under the Victoria Remembers Grant Program 2021/22. It also acknowledges the significant in-kind contribution of the creator of the Lemnos Gallipoli Exhibition Display Panels, Jim Claven, to this project.
Lee Tarlamis - OAM MP, President LGCC
31 May 2023
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