Melbourne Shrine’s Armistice of Mudros Online Commemorative Service Sunday 31 Oct 2021– All Welcome

HMS Agamemnon. Public Domain.

The Shrine has advised the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee that this year’s Armistice of Mudros commemorative service will be held online.

This service was initiated by the Governors of Melbourne’s iconic Shrine of Remembrance on the proposal of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee. The first service was held in 2018 and the following year was held in conjunction with the unveiling of the special Lemnos 1915-16 Plaque and Tree dedication in the grounds of the Shrine. It has been held every year since.

Attendees at the Armistice of Mudros commemorative service held in 2019. Photograph Jim Claven 2019.

 

The Lemnos 1915-16 Plaque at the foot of the Lemnos Tree, Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance. Photographed following the 2019 annual Armistice of Mudros service. Photograph Deb Stewart 2019.

The location of the Lemnos 1915-16 Plaque and Tree in the grounds of the Shrine. Photograph Jim Claven 2019.

This service commemorates the 103^rd anniversary of the Armistice of Mudros. Signed on 30 October 1918 and coming into effect at noon on 31 October 1918, the Armistice signalled the end of the First World War across the Eastern Mediterranean, from Syria to northern Greece, and including the Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16 and the Salonika campaign of 1915-1918.

The Armistice was signed by British Admiral Arthur Calthorpe, representing the Entente Powers (as the Allies were then known) and representatives of the Ottoman Empire. The signing took place aboard the Royal Navy warship HMS Agamemnon while anchored in Mudros Bay, Lemnos, amongst the large Allied naval fleet that assembled there for the purpose and to take part in the coming occupation of Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire. Australian and Hellenic warships were part of this fleet.  

Where the Armistice of Mudros was signed 103 years ago this month - Mudros Bay, Lemnos. Photo Jim Claven 2018.

As many readers will know, the Aegean Island of Lemnos played an important role during the First World War. Only 50 kilometres from the Dardanelles, it operated as an advance base during the Gallipoli campaign, with major medical facilities for the treatment of the wounded and sick from the campaign on the Peninsula. Amongst the over 1,300 Allied service personnel buried in Lemnos’ war cemeteries are over 200 Australian and New Zealand war dead.

Shrine staff and the Shrine Guard will perform the symbolic service, including the wreath-laying in the Shrine. The service will begin at 11.45am on 31 October 2021. Members of the public can watch the service at the following link:

https://www.shrine.org.au/remembering-armistice-mudros

There is no need to sign-in for this event.

Committee President, Mr Lee Tarlamis, OAM MP, thanked the Shrine and its staff, including Dale Capron, the Ceremonial Programs Manager, on behalf of the Committee for their dedication in keeping this and the many other commemorative service going during the current pandemic.

“They have thereby ensured that the commemoration of the Armistice and the service and sacrifice of thousands continue to be remembered”, Mr Tarlamis said.

The Committee is hopeful of returning to a publicly-attended commemorative event in October 2022.

Lemnos Committee Secretary and historian Mr Jim Claven proposed the commemoration on behalf of the Committee as a result of his having researched the story of the Armistice of Mudros since 2013. He has had the story of the Armistice featured in publications from Australia to Greece and the UK, including a major feature in Remembrance, the Shrine magazine, as well as making public presentations on the Armistice at both the Shrine and at Mudros Bay on Lemmos in 2018.

Those readers seeking to find out more about the Armistice of Mudros can listen to the podcast of Jim Claven’s presentation at the Shrine in 2018 or read his article in Neos Kosmos, published on 2 October 2018, via the links below:

https://podtail.com/en/podcast/shrine-of-remembrance/armistice-of-mudros-jim-claven/

https://neoskosmos.com/en/2018/10/02/news/greece/melbourne-and-greece-to-commemorate-the-centenary-of-the-armistice-of-mudros/

Jim Claven, Secretary, Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

 

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee’s 2021 Commemoration Event Cancelled - Statement from the President

This year’s annual Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial commemoration has been cancelled. Under normal circumstances this year’s event would have been held on Saturday, 14th August 2021 at the Memorial at Lemnos Square, Albert Park, however due to the uncertainty associated with the current pandemic we have held off scheduling it.

Unfortunately, this is now the second year since the unveiling of the Memorial in August 2015, that we have not held our annual service. We do so with a heavy heart but in recognition of the current COVID-19 restrictions it’s the responsible thing to do.

Now is the time for all of us to take care of each other by wearing a mask, following all the restrictions, getting tested if we have even the mildest of symptoms and getting vaccinated. This is the only pathway through this.

At the earliest opportunity that restrictions allow, representatives from our Committee will attend the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial and lay a floral tribute in honour and memory of the service of those Australian men and women who came to Lemnos during the Gallipoli campaign, as well as those local Lemnians who assisted them. The medical staff - doctors, nurses and orderlies - on Lemnos in 1915-16 cared for thousands of wounded and sick soldiers in trying circumstances, under the heat of summer and the wind and rains of winter - like medical officer Stanley Argyle, Matron Grace Wilson, Staff Nurses Evelyn Hutt and Lucy Daw, dispenser and orderly Henry Gissing and hundred's more. This care saw the vast majority of those they cared for survive the ravages of war.

In holding our annual service, we honour the service of these medical staff. As such, this is an appropriate time to also think of all our health care workers who have been and are continuing to work so hard to keep us all safe as well as those who, while caring for those in our community, have contracted Covid-19. We all owe them a debt of respect and gratitude for doing their important work at this difficult time.

Our Committee will be working towards the return of our annual service on 13th August 2022 which we envisage will be bigger and better than ever.

We are hopeful that our annual Armistice of Mudros commemorative service at the Shrine of Remembrance will be able to proceed as scheduled on 31st October 2021. However, this will depend on what restrictions are in place at that time. We will advise further closer to this event.

In the meantime, our Committee continues to work to advance the commemoration of the Hellenic link to Australia's Anzac story. Current projects include the installation of our two new commemorative memorials on Lemnos that are part of our Lemnos Gallipoli Heritage Trail, the inauguration of our new commemorative service at the Shrine honouring those Australians who served in the Salonika campaign, the donation of George Petrou's impressive painting of Grace Wilson to one of Melbourne's major health facilities associated with Grace and our on-going Sister Schools program linking schools on Lemnos and in Australia.

Lee Tarlamis OAM MP
President, Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

106th Anniversary of the Battle of Lone Pine

Above: Lone Pine Cemetery, Photograph Jim Claven 2015

Today, the 6th August, marks the 106th anniversary of the Battle of Lone Pine, the opening of the August Offensive. Below is the media release from the Minister for Veteran's Affairs.

The planning for and execution of this Offensive was one of the main reasons for the expansion of medical services on Lemnos, which included the arrival of Australia's (and Canada's) nurses on the Island. 

 

Many of the wounded from the Offensive would be brought to Lemnos for care and some would succumb and be buried in Lemnos' military cemeteries.

Lest we forget.

Jim Claven

Secretary, Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

 MEDIA RELEASE

6 August 2021

ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF LONE PINE, GALLIPOLI 

 

Today marks the 106th anniversary of the start of the four-day Battle of Lone Pine, one of the deadliest battles of the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Andrew Gee said the Battle of Lone Pine demonstrated the courage, skills and determination of our Australian soldiers.

“The Battle of Lone Pine in 1915 came just months after the Australian landings on Gallipoli. In just a few days our forces suffered more than 2000 killed or wounded,” Minister Gee said.

“Part of a series of battles known as the August Offensive, Lone Pine was planned as a diversion to keep the Turkish reserve forces from supporting their lines where the main Allied attack was occurring.

“The objective was to take and hold the Turkish line, and draw the Turkish reserves away from the action occurring higher up on the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971.

“At 4.30pm on 6 August 1915, the attack began. As the sun was setting, the Australians rose from their trenches and charged into no man’s land to attack the heavily fortified Turkish trenches.”

Within twenty minutes of the attack, Australian soldiers had seized the first of the Turkish trenches. Over the next three days a fierce and intense battle was fought with the Australian troops ultimately claiming victory in the battle. However, Australia’s losses were heavy.

“From the actions at Lone Pine, seven Australians received the Victoria Cross – the most ever awarded to Australians from one battle,” Minister Gee said.

“One of those awarded a Victoria Cross was John Patrick Hamilton who has a special connection to the Central West of New South Wales. Born in Orange, Hamilton was working as a butcher in Lithgow before enlisting into the Australian Imperial Force. Orange has not forgotten Hamilton. A statue of him stands on Anson Street.

“News of the battle and the extraordinary courage displayed there reached Australians on the home front. Lone Pine was to become synonymous with the ANZAC name and legend.

“The anniversary of Lone Pine is an opportunity for us all to reflect on the selfless service and courage of the Australians who served in the First World War and we must always remember them.”

For more information on the Battle of Lone Pine visit the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Anzac Portal.

 

Minister Gee office: 0459 966 944

DVA Media: 02 6289 6466

Today is the 105th Anniversary of the Australian Evacuation from Gallipoli and Return to Lemnos

Australian nurses and soldiers witness the return of Allied troops to Lemnos, December 1915. Albert Savage Collection, SLNSW

105 years ago today the last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli, completing the evacuation of Anzac Cove and Suvla.

The last Australian to leave the front was Sub-Lieutenant Charles Hicks and 50 men of the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train, who departed Suvla a few minutes after 4.30am on 20th December. So ended the service of the approximately 50,000 Australian troops who had served at Gallipoli.

Allied troops would not complete the evacuation of the whole peninsula until 8th January 1916, with the withdrawal of the last British forces, the last service personnel to leave being the British Royal Navy's Lieutenant Langton-Jones who was taken off at 4.30am.

The vast majority of the Allied troops returned to the northern Aegean Island of Lemnos, for greater or lesser periods of time, resting and recuperating, some to the many medical establishment there for treatment, some to be buried in the Allied war cemeteries on the island. Many would celebrate Xmas and New Year on Lemnos.

Lemnos would go on to perform a major role in the First World War, as an Allied naval base and as the site of the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, ending the war between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire in October 1918.

For more information on Lemnos' role in the evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula please read my Lemnos and Gallipoli Revealed: A Pictorial Histroy of the Anzacs in the Aegean 1915-16.

Lest we forget.

Jim Claven, Secretary, Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

2020 Albert Jacka Public Commemorative Service Cancelled

The following notice has been received from the City of Port Phillip:

"With regret, the City of Port Phillip will not be holding a commemoration ceremony for Albert Jacka next month due to ongoing uncertainty. To honour Albert Jacka’s memory, the Mayor will privately lay a wreath at the gravesite over the summer. The St Kilda Cemetery is open 365 days of the year, so regular attendees may visit the grave privately this year instead. We will be sorry not to see our regular guests in 2021, but we look forward to the 90th anniversary commemoration service in 2022."

The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee has in recent years taken part in this event, recognizing Albert's service on Lemnos in 1915-16.

Jim Claven, Secretary LGCC

 

Wishing all our supporters and friends a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year

Dear all

2020 has been a particularly difficult year for all of us. The COVID19 pandemic has impacted on all of our lives to a greater or lesser extent. On the commemorative front, we were unable to participate physically in commemorative events in Greece this year as many of us have been able to. Many of us have learnt to use Zoom and other platforms to show our continuing commitment to honour those who served in war. Nevertheless we have much to be thankful for, most importantly our health. 

On behalf of our Committee, we wish all of our supporters and friends across the globe, a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. We wish you all a great festive season and look forward to working with you all again soon.

The photographs on this years Committee Xmas Card are of the small northern bay on Lemnos' Turks Head Peninsula, with the causeway leading to Turks Head Island and the Chapel of St Nikolaos - an appropriate site for Xmas. It was to this bay that the Australian nurses landed in August 1915, as well as many of the 50,000 other Australian service personnel whose service brought them to Lemnos. The photograph at right is from the Savage Collection, State Library of NSW, depicting nurses and soldiers watching troops arrive, that on the left was taken by Jim Claven in 2018. Enjoy.

Yours sincerely

Lee Tarlamis OAM MP, President

Jim Claven, Secretary