Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc.

Incorporation No: A0058466A • C/O - Office of Lee Tarlamis MLC, 157A Sladen Street Cranbourne VIC 3977 Mobile: 0409 402 388 • Email: [email protected]

THE LEMNOS - GALLIPOLI STORY - THE KEY FACTS The Gallipoli Campaign was the first major campaign by Australian forces (and the wider Anzac Corps) in the First World War. 50,000 Australian troops took part in the campaign, with over 8,700 killed and 19,000 wounded. The signicance of this campaign to Australia and its part in Australian history has long been recongised. What has not been sufficiently recognised is the critical role the nearby Island of Lemnos played in the Gallipoli campaign, and the specific Australian aspects of this involvement. The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee seeks to promote recognition and commemoration of this role in the commemoration of Anzac both in Australia and overseas. Some of the key facts of the role of Lemnos to the Anzac Gallipoli story are: • The island was the principal assembly, embarkation and supply point for the Gallipoli landings; • The landings at Gallpoli were practiced on Lemnos prior to their deployment at Gallipoli; • The islands’ harbour was a major staging post for naval operations in the Gallipoli campaign, including the submarine campaign; • It was the location of the major nursing stations for the Gallipoli campaign, the first overseas deployment of Australian Nursing units to a war theatre; • A number of major Australian military figures visited and were photographed on the island, such as Albert Jacka VC and Generals Birdwood and Monash; • The armistace concerng the allies and the Ottoman Empire was signed on board HMS Agamemnon in Mudros Harbour, Lemnos in 1918; and, • It is the location of two major but under-recognised Commonwealth War Graves, with 148 Australian and 76 New Zealand graves. The following provides a more detailed background on the role of Lemnos in Australia’s Gallipoli story. DETAILED BACKGROUND Why Lemnos? • Situated only 80 kilometres from the entrance to the Dardanelles straights, Lemnos was the main assembly point for the allied Gallipoli invasion force, with subsidiary bases at islands of Imbros, Tenedos and Skyros. • Australian troops first encountered a Greek population when they landed on the island of Lemnos on 4 March 1915. • Lemnos was chosen as the staging point for the Gallipoli landing because it has one of the best harbours in the Aegean and is very close to the Gallipoli peninsula.

The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc. was formed in 2011 to promote the recognition of the role of Lemnos in the ANZAC story, with the participation and support of Members of Parliament, Pan-Lemnian Federation of Australia, Victoria’s Lemnian and broader Greek Community, the Hellenic RSL and historians. Patron - Lambis Englezos AM; President - Lee Tarlamis MP; Secretary - Jim Claven

• The Greek Government led by Prime Minister Venizelos offered the Allies use of the island as a naval base and offered three divisions of Greek troops to help the allies capture the Gallipoli peninsula. • Lemnos played a vital role in the 8 and half month Gallipoli campaign, whether as a key transit point for troops, housing large hospitals and the location of convalescent and rest camps.

The AIF andGallipoli Lemnos Lemnos Commemorative Committee Inc. C/O - Office ofofLee 157A Sladendid Street Cranbourne VIC 3977 • The first contingent theTarlamis AIF to MLC, land on Lemnos so on 4 March 1915, having departed 0409 the 4023rd 388Infantry • Email: Brigade, [email protected] from Egypt. ThisMobile: comprised an engineer company, a field ambulance, a casualty clearing station, a brigades transport and part of a field bakery. • Due to the lack of water on the island, after initially landing ashore the brigade was removed after four days to stay on the ships in Mudros Harbour, with only a battalion billeted on the island in a supply role. • Eventually two massive tent cities were established around the Harbour at Mudros in 1915. The main Australian camp “Mudros West” was located near the village of Sarpi, modern day Kalithea. The British and French Camps at “Mudros East” were located on the flat land south east of Mudros Village. The camps could accommodate 3,000 casualties in basic conditions mattresses on the ground, limited water and sporadic electricity. • The AIF underwent a rigorous training program at Lemnos for the Gallipoli landing, practicing beach landings and dashes to the low hills near the shore. • On 24th April the 1st Australian Brigade moved out of Mudros Harbour to the Bay of Bournia on the island’s north, and were joined there by most of the 2nd Brigade, and the following morning the Australians landed at Gallipoli. Before leaving Lemnos the Anzacs were addressed by General Birdwood who told the troops that eyes of whole world would be on them. • Greek civilians from Lemnos provided support to the Allies at Gallipoli, with their donkeys as water-carriers, ferrying in supplies in small boats and operating a canteen on the landing beach. For example when the 2nd Brigade landed at Cape Hellas on 6th May, Greek porters were on the beach, unloading stores from the pontoons under enemy shellfire. • Australian troops billeted on the island during transit to Gallipoli were served by the Army‘s Field Butchery, with fresh meat purchased from the islanders and butchered by local Greeks. • Lemnos was used as a transit point for Australian troops to Gallipoli throughout the campaign. It was also a major place for rest and field hospitals during the campaign. • Troop camps were dotted across the island, such as the Anzac camp at Sarpi. During rest periods troops would leave the camps to buy eggs, grapes and figs from the local Greek villagers. The YMCA provided entertainment facilities for the troops during their rest periods on Lemnos, including concerts attended by the Australian nurses. Anzac battalions are reported as having played cricket matches on the island, with nurses joining the spectators. • At Therma on the Island - just 4 km from the camps - many resting troops availed themselves of a local natural hot spring bath-house. It became one of the most frequented “resorts” on the island. • Conditions in the troop camps were often inadequate, with General Monash active to improve the situation, in terms of the lack of tents and field kitchens. He was particularly scathing of the headquarters staff quartered on the SS Aragon in Mudros Harbour, described by one author as “a floating palace ... costing the British taxpayer $35,000 per month”. • Following the evacuation of the peninsula in early December 1915, the Australian brigades moved back to Lemnos. Between 4th and 20th of December, the 1st and 2nd Australian

Page 2 The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc. was formed in 2011 to promote the recognition of the role of Lemnos in the ANZAC story, with the participation and support of Members of Parliament, Pan-Lemnian Federation of Australia, Victoria’s Lemnian and broader Greek Community, the Hellenic RSL and historians. Patron - Lambis Englezos AM; President - Lee Tarlamis MP; Secretary - Jim Claven

Division’s (comprising 5,965 and 7,209 men respectively) were based at the Anzac camp at Sarpi, and the Australian and New Zealand Division at a camp at East Mudros. • By early 1916 the last Australians had departed Lemnos, following the evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula. Nurses and Lemnos

Lemnos Gallipoli Inc. • Lemnos was the locationCommemorative of two Australia field hospitals – the 3rdCommittee Australian General

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C/O - Office Lee Mudros Tarlamis MLC, 157A StreetStationary Cranbourne VIC 3977 Hospital (AGH) atof West and the 2ndSladen Australian Hospital (ASH) at East 0409 402 nurses 388 • Email: Mudros, staffedMobile: with Australian of [email protected] Australian Army Nursing Service (as well as nurses from the civilian nursing profession). There were other allied hospitals on the island staffed with nurses from the respective allied countries (i.e. Canada and Britain). By October 1915 there were an estimated 9,000 beds on Lemnos with the Australians providing almost half the total accommodation. Additional Australian nurses also served hospital and transport ships carrying the sick and wounded from Gallipoli to Lemnos. The 96 Australian nurses of 3rd Australian General Hospital were led by Matron Grace Wilson. Note that prior to her arrival, Matron Wilson’s brother, Lance Corporal Graeme Wilson of the 2nd Australian Light Horse had been killed on the peninsula. The remaining 34 Australian nurses served on the Island with the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital. While male orderlies provided initial nursing care to troops on Lemnos from March 1915,| the main body of Australian nurses arrived at Mudros on 5 August 1915, having sailed from Australia, via Plymouth, London and Alexandria in Egypt. Following the erection of the hospital site and tents, the Australian nurses came ashore on 8th August, led by a piper. The hospital began operation on 9th August 1915. Before breakfast on the 9th August 200 wounded and sick had been admitted to the new hospital. 4 days later the number of patients had risen to 800. In the two months to October 1915, 57,000 sick and 37,000 wounded were evacuated from the beaches of Gallipoli to the allied hospitals on Lemnos and from August more than 100,000 casualties were shipped from Mudros to other facilities in Egypt, Malta and England. These field hospitals were remarkable successful in that despite the conditions and the fact that they dealt with the most serious injuries, the survival rate was 97.5%. The tent hospitals developed homely national touches, with the main thoroughfare of one called “Macquarie Street”, with little flower gardens decorated with white stones in the shapes of kangaroo’s and emu’s. The Australian Hospital treated the wounded and sick of all allied armies engaged in the campaign. For example, up to October 15th out of a total of 3,906 cases admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital 30% were Australian, 13% New Zealand and 57% British and Indian. The great number of wounded and dysentery cases from the peninsula placed a heavy burden on the nurses. While initially deaths of patients were those who had suffered gunshot wounds in the August offensive, after August 1915 most of the deaths resulted from disease. Anzac soldier memoirs record the affection and admiration felt towards the AANS nurses on Lemnos. They also attended troop concerts. Nurses presented troops leaving for their second tour to Gallipoli with extra rations, chocolates and “a fine Australian flag”. One of the most celebrated events on Lemnos was the marriage of Sergeant Ernest Lawrence and Staff Nurse Clarice Daley at West Mudros in the Church Camp at West Mudros on 21 October 1915. They both survived the war and lived in Elwood, Victoria.

Page 3 The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc. was formed in 2011 to promote the recognition of the role of Lemnos in the ANZAC story, with the participation and support of Members of Parliament, Pan-Lemnian Federation of Australia, Victoria’s Lemnian and broader Greek Community, the Hellenic RSL and historians. Patron - Lambis Englezos AM; President - Lee Tarlamis MP; Secretary - Jim Claven

Lemnos and the Navy • During the Gallipoli campaign Lemnos became the main staging base for the landings. Ship after ship steamed into Mudros Harbour until some 200 ships was moored there, making a “city on the water”. • Some of major allied warships at Mudros Harbour were the Queen Elisabeth, the flagship and headquarters of the campaign commander, General Hamilton, the French battleship Henry IV and theC/O five- funneled Russian cruiser, Askold, referred to by troops as the “Packet of WoodOffice of Lee Tarlamis MLC, 157A Sladen Street Cranbourne VIC 3977 bines” in reference to her funnels. Mobile: 0409 402 388 • Email: [email protected] • In terms of Australian naval vessels, the famous AE2 E Class submarine was based in Mudros Harbour during its operations in the Dardanelles Straits. This was the first allied ship to pass through the straights. After the Gallipoli campaign five Royal Australian Navy warships HMAS Brisbane, HMAS Parramatta, HMAS Swan, HMAS Warrego and HMAS Yarra - reached Mudros and patrolled off the Gallipoli peninsula and Imbros in 1918. • In addition to naval warships, all manner of civilian vessels were pressed into service to assist in the transport of troops, including Greek caciques. • Australian merchant ships also participated in transport of troops to Gallipoli, and in many cases landed our troops on the beach at Anzac Cove in the ships’ lifeboats - manned by merchant seamen, who also came under the deadly fire from the Turkish guns. It is also interesting to note that the great majority of wounded in that campaign were taken in the ships’ lifeboats - with merchant seamen manning the oars - to the hospital ships which were waiting offshore. The merchant ships evacuated most of our troops from Gallipoli to Lemnos, as well as to Alexandria and Cyprus and then transported the wounded home to Australia. • German submarines and Turkish naval vessels were operating throughout the Gallipoli campaign, with a number of allied ships sunk by German submarines. These included several troop ships that were sunk near Lemnos, including the ship carrying the 21st Battalion who had arrived in Egypt in June 1915. The Battalions transport was torpedoed near Lemnos and had to be abandoned. As a result, there are a number of naval graveyards surrounding Lemnos. • The HMT Southland was a troopship carrying the men of the 2nd AIF Division from Egypt to Gallipoli on 2nd September 1915 when it was torpedoed by the German submarine UB14 thirty miles from Lemnos. The ship did not sink and all but 40 of the 1,400 men took to life boats and were picked up by other transports. The rest of the men departed the ship later that day. • The 1st Royal Australian Navy Bridging Train unit, originally comprising nearly 400 men, landed at Suvla Bay on 7 August 1915. A logistics and engineering unit, the RAN Bridging Train Unit constructed the piers used during the British landing (the heavy timber required having been obtained from Mudros), carried out maintenance duties, assisted with the landing of troops, stores, and ammunition, controlled water supplies to the front lines, stockpiled and repaired machinery and equipment in their makeshift workshop on the battlefield, and finally assisted with the evacuation in December. It was the last Australian unit to leave the Gallipoli peninsula during the December 1915 evacuation (departing 20 minutes after the last Anzac troops left Anzac cove) and rested at Mudros on Lemnos before departing for Egypt. This was the most decorated RAN unit in WW1.

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc.

Important Visitors to Lemnos during the campaign • Albert Jacka, VC, was on Lemnos. • Albert Facey, the famous author of A Fortunate Life, was on the Island. • Sydney Loch, author of To Hell and Back and the future Australian refugee worker at Oranoupoli in Thrace, was on the Island Page 4 The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc. was formed in 2011 to promote the recognition of the role of Lemnos in the ANZAC story, with the participation and support of Members of Parliament, Pan-Lemnian Federation of Australia, Victoria’s Lemnian and broader Greek Community, the Hellenic RSL and historians. Patron - Lambis Englezos AM; President - Lee Tarlamis MP; Secretary - Jim Claven

• Generals Monash and Birdwood were present on Lemnos during the campaign. • General Kitchener visited Lemnos on November 1915, where he held a conference with General Birdwood and others. It was during this conference that the decision to evacuate was made. • Rupert Brooke, the British war-poet and officer in the Royal Naval Brigade, visited the Island. • The Anglican Dean of Sydney (a Dr. Talbot) presided at a concert for resting Anzac troops on Lemnos.

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc. - Office of Lee Tarlamis MLC, 157A Sladen Street Cranbourne VIC 3977 Lemnos and theC/O Armistice Mobile: 0409 402 388 • Email: [email protected]

• On 30th October 1918 the armistice between the defeated Ottoman Empire and the Allies was signed on board HMS Agamemnon in Mudros Harbour signalizing the end of the war in that theatre. Lemnos and War Graves • 1,232 Commonwealth burials (including 148 Australians) are interred at Lemnos’ two Commonwealth War Graves (at the East Mudros and Portianos Military Cemeteries). • There are 885 Commonwealth from the First World War interred at East Mudros, including 98 Australians and 47 New Zealanders. • There are 347 Commonwealth burials from the First World War interred at Portianos, including 50 Australians and 29 New Zealanders. • A further First World War Military Cemetery is located at West Mudros on the Turks Head peninsula, the West Mudros Moslem Cemetery. This memorial is dedicated to the 57 Turkish Prisoners of War and 170 Egyptian Labour Corps members who are buried near this spot. Lemnos and Commemorations • The first Anzac commemorative service was held on Lemnos in April 1999 through the auspice of the Lemnian Community Victoria. • April 2002 saw the unveiling of the Anzac Commemorative Plaque near the pier in Mudros Harbour. Some Australian impressions: • Gunner Sydney Loch, 2nd Brigade Australian Field Artillery wrote of Lemnos: “I never quite shook off the glamour of that island in the deep blue of the Aegean. Never was there an early morning when the skies were not blue and waters unruffled. Breezes softer and more scent than human kisses floated perpetually to us from the hills of Lemnos.” • Australian Signaler, A H Edmonds, wondered whether the men of the AIF were aware of “the sanctity of classical ground on which they trod”, recalling the island as being sacred to the ancient Greek God Hephaestus. • Nursing Sister Donnell, on leaving Lemnos on 20th January 1916 wrote: “We have just seen the last of Lemnos. Of course, we are glad, yet there are many things we will miss; the unconventional freedom and the unique experiences we had there. The glorious colourings of the sky, the watching of the beautiful Star of Bethlehem at night, and the harbour and the hills; but when we think of the cold, the wind, and dust, we are thankful we are not going to spend the winter there ... Goodbye Lemnos. We take many happy memories of you. I would not have like to miss you ...” Further Reading • Anzac Day Commemorative Committee (Qld) Inc, The War at Sea, http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww1/anecdotes/waratsea.html Page 5 The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc. was formed in 2011 to promote the recognition of the role of Lemnos in the ANZAC story, with the participation and support of Members of Parliament, Pan-Lemnian Federation of Australia, Victoria’s Lemnian and broader Greek Community, the Hellenic RSL and historians. Patron - Lambis Englezos AM; President - Lee Tarlamis MP; Secretary - Jim Claven

• AWM, The nurses’ experience of Gallipoli from their letters, http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/5environment/nurses.html • AWM, The 3rd AGH (Australian General Hospital) Lemnos Island, Greece, 1915, http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/5environment/nurses/third-agh.html • AWM, Lance Corporal Archibald Barwick and the Island of Lemnos, http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/5environment/barwick-diary.html • CW Bean, Official History of Australia in War of 1914-18 - Volume I - The Story of Anzac C/O - Office of of Lee MLC, Sladen Street Cranbourne 3977 May 4th 1915, from the outbreak war Tarlamis to the end of 157A the first phase of the Gallipoli VIC Campaign, Mobile: 0409 402 388 • Email: [email protected] 11th edition, 1941, http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67887 • CW Bean, Official History of Australia in War of 1914-18 - Volume II - The Story of Anzac from the 4th May 1915 to the evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula, 11th edition, 1941, http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67888 • Fred & Elisabeth Benchley, Stoker’s Submarine – Australia’s Daring on the Dardanelles on the Day of the Gallipoli Landing, 2001 • A G Butler, Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services, 1914-18 - Volume I Gallipoli, Palestine and New Guinea, 2nd edition, 1938 • David Cameron, Gallipoli - The Final Battles and the Evacuation of Anzac, Big Sky Publishing, 2011 • Kevin Fewster, Vecihi Basarm, Hatice Hurmuz Basarm, Gallipoli - The Turkish Story, Allen and Unwin, 2003 • Tom Frame, The Shores of Gallipoli - Naval Aspects of the Anzac Campaign, Hale and Iremonger, 2000 • Hugh Gilchrist, Australians and Greeks: Volume 2 The Middle Years, 1997 • Katrina Hedditch, Lemnos 1915 - A Nursing Odyssey to Gallipoli, Press Here, 2011 • Arthur W Jose, Official History of Australia in War of 1914-18 - Volume IX - The Royal Australian Navy, 1914-18, 9th edition, 1941, http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67895 • Alan Moorhead, Gallipoli, Macmillan, 1989 • Peter Rees, The Other Anzacs - Nurses at War 1914-18, Allen and Unwin, 2008 • Jodie Smith, “Love in Wartime: an old photograph sparks interest in the story behind a Gallipoli wedding”, Remembrance, April 2011 • Susanna de Vries, Australian Heroines of World War One - Gallipoli, Lemnos and the Western Front, Purgos Press 2013 • Wikipedia, Royal Australian Navy Bridging Train, http://en.wikpedia.org/wiki/Royal_Australian_Navy_Bridging_Train

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc.

Note that the Australian presence on Lemnos during the Gallipoli campaign is well recorded in the Australian War Memorial (Canberra) and Imperial War Museum (London) photographic archive.

The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc. was formed in 2011 to promote the recognition of the role of Lemnos in the ANZAC story, with the participation and support of Members of Parliament, Pan-Lemnian Federation of Australia, Victoria’s Lemnian and broader Greek Community, the Hellenic RSL and historians. Patron - Lambis Englezos AM; President - Lee Tarlamis MP; Secretary - Jim Claven