RSL Hellenic Sub-Branch RETURNED SOLDIER APOSTRATOS Memorial Hall, 14A Ferrars Place South Melbourne Vic 3205 Phone (03) 9699 9844 July 2016 Dear Veterans, Members and Friends of the RSL Hellenic Sub-Branch A warm welcome to all our new members that have joined our Sub-Branch, we hope to see you regularly at the club - Mr Bill Papageorgiou, Mr Nikolaos Bakaloumas, Mr Constantinos Sarantis, Mr Ilias Bakolias, Mrs Irene Poutselas, Mr George Charalambidis, Mr Chrys Kypreos, Mr Apostolos Dimitriou, Mr Gabriel Maroulis, Mr Ioakim Christodoulou, Mr Efterpi Kiritsopoulos and Mr Kostas Elisseou. Continued on page 2 His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC greets Hellenic Sub Branch President Steve Kyritsis at the Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary Battle of Crete and Greek Campaign. To Steve s left is Dr Robert Webster, Senior Vice President of the Victorian Branch of the RSL. To Steve s right is Commander John Moller OAM (Retd) representing the State President of the Naval Association of Australia. Continued on page 7 1
Welcome from the President Continued from page 1 In this edition of Apostratos, we focus on the Centenary of the Western Front, Fromelles (19 th July), Pozieres (23 rd July), Villers-Bretonneux and other disastrous 1916 WWI battles involving Australian forces of the 1st AIF. After the failure at Gallipoli, Australians moved with its Allies to fight the Axis Forces in France and Belgium. Almost 300,000 Australians served on the Western Front in France and Flanders, taking part in every major British offensive between 1916 and the Armistice in 1918. More than 46,000 lost their lives of whom some 18,000 have no known grave. Eight Greek Australians where killed, including Leonidas Manusu. He served with the 4 th Battalion and was killed in action at Pozieres on 28 th July 1916. More details are in the book "Greek-Australians in the Australian Forces WWI & WWII" Lest we Forget Steve Kyritsis OAM, President Date Milestones and Past Events 24 th March 2016 Greek National Day 3 rd April 2016 Annual General Meeting 10 th April 2016 75 th Anniversary of The 1941 Battle of Crete Commemoration. 25 th April 2016 Anzac Day 15 th May 2016 Mother s Day at the Hellenic Sub-Branch. 19 th July 2016 100 th Anniversary of the WWI Battle of Fromelles France Date Future Events 11:00am Saturday First anniversary of the unveiling of the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial at Foote 13 th August 2016 Street Reserve, Albert Park. 1:00pm Sunday Fathers Day at the Hellenic Sub-Branch. All members and friends are invited. 11 th September 18 th August 2016 The 1966 Battle of Long Tan Vietnam 50 th anniversary Friday OHI Day at the Hellenic Memorial & Shrine. 28 th October 2016 11 th November 2015 Remembrance Day 7.00pm Saturday New Years Eve function at the Hellenic Sub-Branch. Three course meal, traditional 31 st December 2016 Greek music by DJ George Dalaras, a great atmosphere not to be missed. 28 th October 2016 OHI Day As with every year, our Sub-Branch members will begin OHI Day by attending a Church service at the Greek Orthodox Church South Melbourne (9:30am start). There will be two wreath laying ceremonies, firstly 12:00noon at the Australian Hellenic Memorial (Birdwood Ave near the Shrine of Remembrance). At 1.00pm, we lay wreaths within the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance. We conclude with a light complimentary lunch back at our club rooms. All members are welcome. 2
2016 Greek National Day Due to Catholic Good Friday, the 2016 Greek National Day commemorations were held a day early and on Thursday 24th March. Sub Branch Secretary Major Terry Kanellos hosted two wreath laying ceremonies at the Australian Hellenic Memorial and within the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance. The day concluded with a light complimentary lunch back at our club rooms. Greek Consul General Mrs Christina Simantiraki addresses the audience. Beside her are Father Dimitrios, Ilias Bakolias on flag duty and host Major Terry Kanellos. Mr Con Glekas representing the Pallaconian Brotherhood Leonidas lays a wreath 3
Top Photo (Left to right) Pantelis Kalimnakis, George Panagakos and Con Katsambanis Middle photo - Children from Oakleigh Grammar school lay a wreath. Bottom Photo - Inside the Shrine of Remembrance 4
Centenary of the WWII Western Front The Great War of 1914-18 produced 37 million battle casualties including 9 million dead, the war ironically supposed to end all wars. During the period 1916-18, more than 300,000 Australians went to the Western Front in France and Belgium in the largest military expedition in our history. Whilst the Gallipoli campaign gave rise to the Anzac legend, it was the Western Front battlefields such as Pozieres that were described by Australia s official WWI historian Charles Bean as more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth. The Battle of Fromelles 19 th July 1916. After arriving in France a century ago, the Australian Imperial Force first encountered the Germans on 19 th July 1916, at a small French village called Fromelles. The Australians were directed against a strong German position known as the Sugar Loaf. The attack was intended primarily as a distraction to draw German troops away from the main Somme offensive, then being pursued further to the south. A seven hour bombardment was ineffective to the well entrenched German force. When the Australian troops of the 5 th Australian and 61 st British Divisions attacked at 6pm on 19 th July, they suffered heavily at the hands of German machine gunners. Small parts of the German trench system were captured, but after fierce counter attacks, they were forced to withdraw. Nearly 24 hours later and by 8am the next day, the battle was over. That initial battle was the worst in Australian history. The extent of the slaughter was summed up by Corporal Hugh Knyvett in his witness account: If you had gathered the stock of a thousand butcher shops, cut it into small pieces and strewn it about, it would give you a faint idea of the shambles those trenches were. In a space of just 24 hours, the Australian 5 th Division suffered 5,533 casualties, including 1,917 men killed. The 61 st British Division suffered 1,547 casualties. The German casualties were little more than 1,000. The attack was a complete failure by the Australians and British troops and therefore had no impact whatsoever upon the progress of the Somme offensive. Photo - Lance Corporal Charles Lorking of the 53 rd Battalion managed to take this picture of his comrades shortly before leaving their trenches. Of the men shown, only three were alive the next day and all three of them were wounded. 5
The Battle of Pozieres 23 rd July 1916 3 rd September 1916 The Battle of Pozieres was a struggle for the French Village of Pozieres and the ridge on which it stands, during the middle stages of the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Though British Divisions were involved in most phases of the fighting, Pozieres is primarily remembered as an Australian battle. The Village of Pozieres lies atop a ridge approximately in the centre of what was the British sector of the Somme battlefield. Success on the Somme came at a cost which at times seemed to surpass the cost of failure. For the Australians, Pozieres was such a case. Pozieres became a focus of attention for the Germans. The German Command ordered that it be retaken at all costs. Three attempts were made, but each was broken up by the British artillery or swept away by machine gun fire. In the fighting around Pozieres, Australia suffered 24,139 casualties across a six week period. (AWM E1235) Soldiers using a duckboard to cross the otherwise impassable mud in the Ypres sector. Note the utter destruction caused by thousands of artillery bombs. 6
75 th Anniversary Battle of Crete and Greek Campaign On Sunday 10th April 2016, The Battle of Crete & Greece Commemorative Council along with help from The Cretan Brotherhood of Melbourne, Melbourne s Cretan Association and the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand hosted the official parade and wreath laying ceremony at the forecourt of the Shrine of Remembrance and at the Australian Hellenic Memorial with hundreds of people turning out to pay their respects. The long list of VIPs included The Governor General of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Gatzogiannis and the Mayor of Chania Crete Mr Anastasios Vamvoukas. The various speakers reminded the audience that many of the Anzac soldiers who evaded captivity received help from the Cretan people, who risked their own lives to shelter them. It was through the ill-fated campaigns in Greece and Crete that a lasting bond was forged between Australia and Greece. 75 years on, the friendship between the two countries has grown stronger. Awaiting the parade. Front row from left to right - Larry Irwin President of the Battle of Crete 75 th Anniversary Commemorative Committee, the Mayor of Chania Crete Mr Anastasios Vamvoukas, Reverend Christos Dimolianis, LT GEN Konstantinos Gkatzogiannis, Michael Houdalakis President Cretan Federation of Australia & New Zealand, Lady Cosgrove, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) and the Greek Consul General Mrs Christina Simantiraki. Manny PANOURAKIS Phone Number: (03) 9555 9475 Email Address: info@manvic.com.au Street Address: L1, 346-348 Highett Rd Highett Vic 3190 7
Nick Georgopoulos (Left) and 98 year old veteran Bill Rudd (Right) lay a wreath. Refer to previous March 2016 edition of Apostratos for their story. 10 Rosemary Court Mulgrave (03) 9561 5922 8
John Nikolakakis President Pancretan Association of Melbourne (Left) and Jim Papadimitriou President of the Cretan Brotherhood (right) lay a wreath at the eternal flame Please accept this gift His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) and LT GEN Konstantinos Gkatzogiannis 9
Lambis Englezos AM attended the 100th Anniversary Commemoration at Fromelles France The fact that 150 Australian families now have some form of closure a century after the WW1 Battle of Fromelles is largely due to the persistence of our own Sub Branch Member Lambis Englezos AM. In 2002, he began wondering whether there was a large mass grave at the Fromelles that was unaccounted for. Lambis examined aerial photographs of the battlefield at that time, which showed diggings near a small wood, along with the Red Cross files that referred to a collective grave outside Pheasant Wood. He lobbied hard until the Office of Australian War Graves agreed to request information from German archives. In 2006, the Army s history unit received a document dated 21st July1916 written by a Major General Ritter Von Braun that ordered the construction of mass graves for 400 English soldiers behind Pheasants Wood. In 2007, a full site survey was commissioned. In 2009 the grave was found with the remains of 250 soldiers. A year later, they were reburied in a newly built war cemetery at Pheasants Wood with full military honours. When asked for comment, Lambis response is always the same. We have a moral obligation to recover our war dead. On the 19 th July 2016, Lambis Englezos attended the 100 th Anniversary Commemoration at Fromelles France along with many of the families who thanks to him now have a grave to visit. 10
2016 ANZAC Day in Melbourne More than 40,000 people gathered in chilly conditions at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance for the Anzac Day dawn service. Later, Melbourne's Anzac Day march was led by Vietnam War veterans as thousands of people linedst Kilda Road to pay their respects to the men and women who served in the defence forces in conflict and in peace. As always, the Hellenic Sub Branch was well represented. Our procession was led by Army Cadets from the 30 th Army Cadet Unit Sunshine who proudly held the Australian and Greek flags, followed by students from St Johns Greek school. Photo taken just as the Hellenic Sub Branch were about to start the Anzac Day march. Pictured front row left to right Major John Stewart (Retd), Major Peter Mercoulia (Retd), Senior Vice President Manny Karvelas, Steve Manos OAM, Lieutenant Colonel Athanasios Masouras (Retd), Commander John Michanetzis (Retd), Past President Captain Peter Stathopoulos OAM (Retd). Absent is Major Terry Kanellos who was organizing the procession at the time this photo was taken. 11
RSL Hellenic Sub-Branch Committee The following members were voted into the committee at the 2016 AGM:- Steve Kyritsis (President) Terry Kanellos (Secretary) Dennis Patisteas (Treasurer) Emanuel Karvelas (Snr Vice President) George Kaltzidis (Vice President) Athanasios Masouras Thomas Zandes Bill Koutras Peter Stathopoulos Peter Mercoulia Dimitris Varnas Kyriakos Papadopoulos Themis Sitzoukis Con Katsambanis Peter Stratigis 75 th Anniversary Battle of Kalamata Greece On Sunday 15 th May more than one hundred people gathered for a commemorative service at the Australian Hellenic Memorial to honour the Anzacs and other Allied soldiers who served and those who died defending Kalamata Greece 75 years ago. In late April 1941, thousands of Allied troops fought a desperate rear-guard action to delay the advancing German forces invading Greece as they moved through Greece's Peloponnese on their way to various embarkation beaches. By 26 th April, nearly 20,000 troops were assembled at Kalamata. These included Australian, New Zealand, British, Greek, Palestinian, Cypriot, Jewish and Yugoslav troops. Evacuation was slow as the Allied naval evacuation force was under constant air attack. Commander John Michanetzis (Retd) addresses the audience. By 28 th April, around 8,000 Allied troops were still waiting for evacuation when German troops with artillery launched a fierce attack on the town and seized part of the harbour. Seventy Australian troops took part in a counterattack that recovered the harbour. They were led by the 2/6 th Battalion's Captain Albert Gray who was awarded the Military Cross for bravery. New Zealand Sergeant Jack Hinton was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery during this engagement. Many of the Allied troops that were evacuated from Kalamata and other embarkation beaches across Greece went on to defend Crete against the German invasion in May 1941. 12