Last weekend saw major celebrations take place around Australia’s major cities. The Greek National Day parade made a return to Melbourne’s Shrine precinct, with celebrations centring at the iconic Australian Hellenic Memorial on Birdwood Avenue and the Shrine. The Hellenic Museum also hosted a major community celebration. In two Melbourne suburbs Hellenic themed events brought the good vibe – or should I say philotimo – to suburban Yarraville and Hampton.
Over 400 people attended the community event in Hampton. A commemoration of the WW1 connection to the local Castlefield Estate, the event saw the unveiling of the street plaques in the Estates streets, named in recognition of famous Anzac battle sites from the war. One of these is the northern Aegean Island of Imbros (now named Gokzeada) which played a key role in the Gallipoli campaign.
As I have written my research points to how this brought together the then overwhelmingly Hellenic population of the island and the tens of thousands of Allied soldiers, including many Australians such as the war correspondent Charles Bean.
Following an invitation from the organisers Melbourne’s Imvrian community embraced the project hosting a pavilion with its famous Imbros and Gallipoli pictorial exhibition on display. The display has already been shown across Melbourne, Sydney and Melbourne. It will soon by shown at Canberra’s Hellenic Club.
Staffed by Melbourne’s Imvrians, the pavilion was a major hit of the event as visitors viewed the informative display boards, with their reproductions of many archival and modern images of Imbros, spanning 1915 to today. The event organisers thanked the Imvrians for supporting the event and making their special contribution to the day.
The community was very moved by the warmth of the response. George Xinos from the community said that the Imvrians were overwhelmed by the numbers and interest shown in their display. “The display helped many attendees really appreciate why Imbros and its part in Gallipoli was given such prominence with the naming of one of the Estate’s streets in the years following the end of the war”, he said.
Many locals and residents of Imbros Street were eager to purchase my Imbros book – From Imbros Over The Sea – no doubt so they could find out more about the connection between the street, Gallipoli and Imbros.
The community was especially glad to welcome to the display the Victorian Minister for Veterans Natalie Suleyman MP, local state MP Ryan Bachelor, Federal MP Zoe Daniel and Rob Webster Victorian RSL President. They took the opportunity to thank the Minister for her support for their display project and formally presented her with a copy of my Imbros book and a special CD of music from the island.
Meanwhile across the bay in Yarraville people were crowding into the iconic Sun Theatre for a screening of the 1941 Greek campaign documentary entitled Anzac The Greek Chapter. Readers will be aware that this 90-minute documentary tells the story of the 1941 Greek campaign through the experiences of the Anzacs themselves. Drawing on over 130 hours of veteran interviews conducted by historian Dr Peter Ewer, augmented with other footage from archives and the work of filmmaker John Irwin as well as many veteran stills images, including those from the collections of Victorian Greek campaign veterans Private Syd Grant and Sergeant Alfred Huggins. The film is narrated by journalist Barrie Cassidy whose father served in the campaign.
The film was produced for the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee by filmmakers Dr Peter Ewer and John Irwin with the assistance of myself as Associate Producer and communications professional Vicki Kyritsis, with funding provided by the Federal Government’s Department of Veterans Affairs Saluting Their Service program.
The film was brought to Yarraville as part of its annual Yarraville Festival through the urging of the Festival’s Con Frescos and supported financially by Eleni’s Kitchen, the Yarraville Cub and the Yarraville Grill.
“When we saw the film launched at Melbourne’s Greek Film Festival last year, we were determined to bring it across the bay to Yarraville. The film’s Associate Producer historian Jim Claven has been a regular contributor to our Festival over a number of years and we were keen to showcase this new project from his expanding portfolio of commemorative works,” Frescos said.
The screening was well attended, some travelling from across Melbourne to see the film, with audible reactions during the screening to the moving testimony of the veterans. The screening included a Q&A session conducted by myself, with many of the attendees asking poignant questions on the story of the creation of the film and the Greek campaign. They were particularly moved by the heartfelt expressions of appreciation by the Anzacs for the local Greeks who helped them in their hour of need, sharing their scarce food supplies with these desperate soldiers.
As usual with these sorts of events many new connections were made. Many participants took the opportunity to obtain a copy of my Grecian Adventure – my history of the campaign – as well my previous historical work Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed.
Following the screening many attendees stayed in the foyer, engaging with each other and myself, voicing their support for the film and recounting personal family connections to the 1941 Greek campaign. In this, the documentary is achieving what it aimed, stimulating awareness of the Anzacs in the campaign and paying homage to the bravery of these young Anzacs and the locals who so bravely assisted them.
Meanwhile near the cinema a number of our local Hellenic-connected independent authors mounted a major display of their literary works. The bookfest is a regular feature of the Yarraville Festival. This year saw John Martino and Kathryn Gauci return to Yarraville, this time joined by authors Karen Martin, Olympia Panagiotopoulos and all the way from Sydney the irrepressible Billy Cotsis. All adding to the Hellenic theme at the Festival.
These are just two of the many events held to celebrate Hellenic culture on Greek National Day across Australia and are a reminder that many local communities are touched by things Hellenic, whether it is the many local Hellenic Australian communities (like the Imvrians in Melbourne’s south eastern bay-side suburbs), Greek restaurants, Greek musical and theatrical events and the Australian links to Greeks and Greece through the shared experience across both world wars. A great way to celebrate all things linking Australia and Greece.
Jim Claven OAM is a trained historian, freelance writer and published author. Associate Producer of Anzac The Greek Chapter, he has also worked over a number of years with Melbourne’s Imvrians’ Society to research and promote awareness of the role of Imbros in Australia’s Anzac story. He can be contacted via email – jimclaven@yahoo.com.au
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