Sun shines on Imbros’ Anzac connection in Sydney
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
It was a beautiful sunny Sydney day that brought the city’s Imbrian community out in force to see and hear about their island’s rich history as part in the Gallipoli campaign and Australia’s Anzac story.
The event saw the Sydney launch of the pictorial and historical exhibition- From Imbros Over the Sea: Imbros & Gallipoli Revealed– and the associated book of the same name as part of this year’s 42nd Greek Festival of Sydney, the annual initiative of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW.
The 21 panel exhibition and 132 page book were produced by the historian Jim Claven OAM for Melbourne’s Imvrian Society with the financial support of the Victorian Government, the Victorian Veterans Council, many organisations, individual donors and the Society itself.
They were originally launched by the Society at the community hall of the Greek Orthodox Church in Parkdale last year.
The exhibition depicts in vivid photographs and artworks from the time, placed in context with accompanying historical text, arranged in various themes, the depth of involvement of Imbros and its people in the Gallipoli campaign.
Sales of the book support the on-going commemorative work of the Society.
Claven delivered the keynote address, travelling from Melbourne for the event with Greek Community of Melbourne Board Member Vicki Kyritsis and representatives of Melbourne’s Imbrian community – George Xinos and his father Arthur as well as Kaye Lafyati.
The sell-out event was held at the Prince Henry Centre at Little Bay.
Claven said that this was a great location for the event, the venue opening out on to the waters of Little Bay in Sydney’s south east, reminding him of the waters of the northern Aegean that surround Imbros itself.
Many of the attendees were drawn from Sydney’s Imbrian community, including the president of the Imbrian Benevolent Society of Sydney, Marino Paronis, as well as many other members of the Society. Others had come from Greece, including Vaso Xinou from Athens and Kali Kanaki from Thessaloniki. Many old connections were renewed and new ones formed.
Claven said that he was looking forward to working with is new friends from Greece to promote Imbros’ Anzac story amongst the large Imbrian community in Greece.
The event was also attended by many prominent members of Sydney’s Greek community including Helen Vatsikopoulos and her partner Mark Corcoran, Effy Alexakis and partner Leonard Janiszewski as well as the former Mayor of Randwick Council John Procopiades amongst many others.
Claven was able to meet with many local enthusiasts for the Hellenic Anzac story, including Lieutenant Colonel Paul Simadis, Chair of the Western Front Association in Australia.
The role of Master of Ceremonies was undertaken ably by Themi Kallos, the well-known SBS Greek Radio Program Executive Producer.
Introductory addresses were made by Yannis Mallikourtis Sydney’s Greek Consul, Nia Kateris Chair of the Greek Festival of Sydney, Randwick City Councillor Deputy Mayor Alexandra Luxford and George Xinos on behalf of Melbourne’s Imvrian Society.
Claven then delivered his keynote address, explaining the genesis of the exhibition, outlining the history of Imbros’ role in the Gallipoli campaign and its Australian connections as well as making some references to how awareness of Imbros, its people and their connection to Australia’s Anzac story might be advance.
He explained how the Island’s involvement was a result of its proximity to the theatre of operations on the Gallipoli Peninsula and the recent liberation of the island and its overwhelmingly Hellenic population by Greece in 1912.
The campaign saw Imbros transformed into a major advanced military and naval base, with great army camps, field medical services, supply depots, aircraft bases, military cemeteries and more.
It’s great harbour of Kephalos Bay – and to a lesser extent that of Aliki Bay on the south coast – became major transportation hubs for the hundreds of Allied shipping that ploughed the waters between the Peninsula and Imbros.
The new technology of air warfare came to Imbros too – with its aircraft, seaplanes, aerial balloons and hydrogen-fuelled airships in the skies above the Island – and the bases and support ships needed to sustain such a great force across the months of the campaign.
Most importantly it was also the location of the Allied headquarters for the whole campaign, where the direction of the campaign was planned as well as from where the final and successful evacuation was overseen.
Claven also explained some of the many Australian aspects to this involvement – from the Australian soldiers and airmen who came to the island to the large contingent of bakers who supplied the Anzacs and other Allied troops on the Peninsula with the thousands of loaves of fresh bread throughout the campaign.
Australians served in the air force that flew from Imbros and they guarded the Allied headquarters as well as much more. And at least two Australians were buried there.
Australian war correspondents – Charles Bean and Philip Schuler – were also there, based at a house on the shores of Kephalos Bay which they dubbed the Villa Pericles!
It was from here that many of their accounts of the campaign were written, eagerly read by the friends and families of the diggers back in Australia. It was also here were the famous Anzac Book – a best seller in wartime Australia – was compiled with contributions from the Australian soldiers who served at Gallipoli.
Claven stressed that for him the most significant aspect of Imbros’ part in the Gallipoli campaign was how it brought together Australians and Hellenes.
Thousands of new arrivals came to Imbros and interacted with its local Hellenic population.
While many of the locals were engaged directly in the campaign as suppliers of food and other goods and others as labourers, many more locals would meet the soldiers as they made their way across the island, exploring its hinterland during short periods of leave.
In this way they experienced the environment and hospitality of Imbros and its people.
Many young Anzacs from across Australia wrote of their experiences on Imbros, these writings now preserved for all to read in the archives of the Australian War Memorial and National Library of Australia. Many also photographed and created artworks documenting their time on the Island. Together these document a too-often overlooked aspect of the Gallipoli campaign – the social interaction of two communities – Hellenes and Australians.
Claven also used the opportunity to raise the possibility of the creation of a new historical commemorative trail on Imbros – an Imbros Gallipoli Remembrance Trail – to complement the experience on the Peninsula as well as the new trail being slowly established on nearby Lemnos.
As many readers will know, Claven was engaged as the historical consultant for the Australian Government project on the Lemnos Remembrance Trail.
Neos Kosmos wish him and the Imvrian Society well in their endeavours to promote the possibility of this new trail on Imbros.
The exhibition was well received, many attendees commenting on their family connections to some of the villages and areas photographed or mentioned in the writings of the Anzacs that form part of the exhibition.
Many took the opportunity to purchase the exhibition book as a memento of the exhibition.
George Xinos reports that nearly all copies available for sale at the exhibition were sold, with a few still available from Sydney’s Bilingual Bookshop.
For those who missed out, a new print order for the book has been made.
After the event the Sydney Imbrian community hosted the presenters and other attendees at a local venue where good greek parea and hospitality was enjoyed by all in the usual way.
Sydney’s impressive Bilingual Bookshop also took part in the event with their bookstall offering for sale Claven’s other historical works on the Hellenic link to Anzac – Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed and Grecian Adventure – which were both eagerly purchased by the attendees. Claven thanked Katerina Vetsakis for taking the time to bring her bookshop to the event.
Claven expressed his thanks to the Greek Festival of Sydney – and especially his good friends Society Chair Nia Kateris and Chryssa Karagiannidou, the Society’s Events Coordinator – for all their support in bringing the exhibition to Sydney and inviting him to make his presentation.
“Their work promoting all things Hellenic is much appreciated in Sydney and beyond,” Claven said.
Claven pointed out that the exhibition is available for display for those wishing to host it. Currently the exhibition is confirmed for further showings at Brisbane’s Greek Club, Canberra’s Hellenic Club and the Greek Centre in Melbourne.
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
