Diplomatic representatives included Dimitris Tsilikis Deputy Consul General of the Hellenic Republic in Melbourne and Captain Jordan Ballisat of the New Zealand Defence Force representing the Consul General of New Zealand. The British Consulate was unable to attend but sent a wreath to be laid as part of the ceremony. Representatives of service and other related organizations included Major (Retired) Terry Kanelos OAM of the Hellenic RSL Sub-Branch, Steve Kyritsis OAM and Nikolaos Kydas representing the Australian Hellenic Memorial Foundation, former Victorian MP Bruce Mildenhall Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance Trustee and Ange Kenos former Executive Board Member of the RSL Victorian Branch. Natasha Spanos represented the Battle of Crete and Greece Commemorative Council. These representatives joined with Committee joint patron and Army nursing veteran Colonel (Retired) Jan McCarthy ARRC at the service.
Nurses organizations represented included the Alfred Hospital Nurses League (the local hospital were former Lemnos nursing matron Grace Wilson took held the position of matron after the war) and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. A number of veterans descendants were welcomed to the service, including Deb Stewart, grand-daughter of nurse Evelyn Hutt who served on Lemnos with the 3rd Australian General Hospital (3rd AGH) and Debra, the granddaughter of Anzac 2nd Lieutenant Allen Roark of the 21st Battalion who survived the attack on his transport ship Southland off Lemnos, came to Lemnos and Gallipoli in WW1.
The service saw the attendance and participation of many Greek community organizations. The Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria were represented by joint Vice-President Vicki Kyritsis, Spiridoula Demetriou and Helen Hiotis. Other Greek community organisations represented included the Lemnian Community of Victoria, the Kondia Limnos Seniors Club, Team Agapes, the Imvrian Society of Melbourne, AHEPA Victoria, the Thessaloniki Association, the Cretan Brotherhood of Melbourne, the Pammessinian Brotherhood Papaflessas and the Society of Kalamata. These were joined by regular attendees Committee joint patron Lambis Englezos AM and renowned commemorative artist George Petrou OAM.
School representatives are an important part of the Committee’s community engagement. The service was attended by a number of school representatives, including Vice Captain’s Spencer Holt and Scarlet Grieve of Albert Park College accompanied by Assistant Principal Duncan Box as well as SRC members of Irene Koutsovasilis , Connie Lekas and Chrisanthy Psaras accompanied by Deputy Principal Peter Dickinson.
The service was presided over by Master of Ceremonies for the day, Committee member and former nurse Arlene Bennett. The service commenced with the playing of the bagpipes by Committee Piper Stacey Harris in memory of Warrant Officer Archibald Monk of the 3rd AGH who piped the Australian nurses into their camp on Lemnos in August 1915.
Arlene opened proceedings with a traditional acknowledgement of country, recognising the various dignitaries in attendance and welcoming all to the service. In her opening address Arlene stated that “today we honour the thousands of soldiers and nurses who served on the island – the Hellenic people who welcomed them – and those who remain in the island’s war cemeteries”, adding that Lemnos brought together Hellenes and Australians, a connection that has continued over the decades.
She drew attention to Memorial that the Committee created and installed in 2015, designed by Australia’s renowned commemorative artist Peter Corlett OAM and comprising of two evocative bronze statues, one of a nurse and the other of a digger, on a stone plinth, carved with the names of the villages of Lemnos where the Anzacs walked. It is now a well-known commemorative landmark in Melbourne.
A key part of the service is the reading of two iconic commemorative poems, one by nursing assistant Vera Brittain entitled The Sisters Buried on Lemnos written following Vera’s visit to Lemnos during the war and the other Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields, the poems read by Albert Park College School Captain’s Scarlet Grieve and Spencer Holt.
Addresses were delivered by Port Phillip Mayor Alex Makin who remarked on the community spirit embodied in both the Memorial itself and the service, stating that the City of Port Phillip is proud to be custodian for such an important Memorial. Melbourne’s Deputy Consul of the Hellenic Republic Dimitris Tsilikis spoke of the bond between Greece and Australia, forged in war and enhanced by the waves of migration to Australia. Underling the politically bipartisan support for the recognition of Lemnos in Gallipoli, addresses were made by Nina Taylor MP on behalf of the Victorian Government and the Hon David Davis MP on behalf of the Victorian Opposition.
This year’s keynote address was delivered by Committee joint patron and military nurse veteran Colonel (Retired) Jan McCarthy ARRC. Jan’s nursing military service included in Vietnam and her address covered the history and role of Australian Army nursing across the ages, from Lemnos to today, including peace-keeping operations. She highlighted the difficult tasks of military nurses, delivering vital medical care in often trying conditions.
The service then proceeded to the formal wreath-laying service and the reading of the Ode. Many organizations took up the Committee’s suggestion to purchase a lay a copy of the Committee’s book in place of a wreath, the book then being gifted by the organization to a student, school or library to spread awareness of the Lemnos Gallipoli story. Some of those who lay wreaths or commemorative books are pictured below.
Arlene concluded the service by highlighting some of the Committee’s achievements in addition to the Memorial and the renaming of Lemnos Square including the publication of Jim Claven’s Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed book, the Australian Pier memorial on Lemnos and the Anzac the Greek Chapter WW2 documentary.
She also mentioned the forthcoming installation of two of the Committee’s new memorial plaques on Lemnos – that to the Royal Australian Navy and to Lemnian Anzac Sapper Demetri Passa – as well as the realisation of the Australian Government-funded Lemnos Remembrance Trail next year, a project on which Committee historian was engaged as consultant historian. She expressed the Committee’s thanks to both honorary members Peter Sotiropoulos and Marie Giannakopoulos for their generosity in transporting the two plaques to Lemnos. She encouraged all to continue to spread awareness of the role of Lemnos in the Gallipoli campaign and to come to our event next year.
She also thanked all Committee members and supporters for helping again with the service, including Jan McCarthy ARRC, Lee Tarlamis OAM MP, Jim Claven OAM, Vicki Kyritsis, Terry Kanelos OAM, Steve Kyritsis OAM and Ange Kenos.
Jim Claven OAM, LGCC Secretary
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