Hellenic legends - Greece, Australia and WWII

[Truth Bearer]

Forging the Aussie Greek connection
Peter Ewer
April 15, 2008 12:00am





THE landscapes and the peoples of Melbourne and Greece seem to have almost merged in some ways.

The cafes and lounges around Lonsdale St have the feel of Athens.

And many a rotary hoist can be found in Greek backyards whose owners have relatives Down Under.

But before the wave of immigration made Melbourne one of the world's biggest "Greek" cities, our nations had forged a brotherhood in blood.

It came from April 1941, with the brave but ill-fated efforts of a poorly organised British-Anzac force to defend Greece from Nazi invasion.

Many Australians - some of Greek heritage - are unaware of this joint history. It belongs to heroic Greeks and forgotten Anzacs.

Next Saturday at the Melbourne Town Hall, the Greek community will honour "the contribution of the Hellenes to the Australian war effort in the 20th century".

And 10 young Victorians will soon visit Greece as winners of the Premier's Spirit of Anzac prize.

The origins go back to October 1940.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini looked to emulate Adolf Hitler, and saw an easy prey in Greece.

Unprovoked, he sent in his troops, only to get a profound shock - the Greek people rose as one.

The Italian army left in tatters.

The Greeks, under General Alexander Papagos, gave the Allies their first substantial land victory in World War II.

With Hitler coming to Mussolini's rescue, Britain's Winston Churchill thought he could build a "Balkan Front", drawing Yugoslavia and Turkey in as allies against the fascists.

British and Australian troops were set to sweep Italy out of North Africa, but instead many were sent to Greece.

New Zealanders joined to create an Anzac force, as in Gallipoli in 1915.

Churchill's wishful thinking was matched by poor planning.

The Australian Cabinet learned that our army commanders thought the expedition was doomed only after the troops were on their way.

When the Aussies got to Athens in March and April 1941, they accelerated a cultural exchange that has led to our modern links. First impressions resulted in some surprises.

A young infantry officer, Frank Reid, found no translator available.

The call went out for any Greek speaker among the Diggers. One sergeant came forward, sheepishly.

It transpired his real name was Christopoulos and he had enlisted under an anglicised name. Reid and his comrades were dumbfounded - "he looked like a bushman to us".

But these forgotten Anzacs never stood a chance - without air or tank support, Hitler's panzer tanks and dive-bombers chased them back across the Mediterranean, with heavy losses.

There were 594 killed in Greece and Crete, hundreds more wounded or taken prisoner. But they never forgot the hospitality of the besieged Greeks.

Don Stephenson, now of Bentleigh, tramped through a town to the evacuation beaches, to find an elderly woman at her front door, offering food.

It still moved him 60 years later: "Do you know how big you feel? All you're worried about is getting out, and she's trying to give you this bit of chicken."

Dimitris Tsiaousis, who later emigrated to Australia, ran supplies to the Anzacs hiding in the hills after they had been bypassed by the Germans.

The cost was prodigious - Tsiaousis lost his father, mother and two uncles to ruthless Nazi reprisals against partisans. Tragically, this was typical of the immense suffering.

About 25,000 Greeks were executed.

The Nazi occupiers stripped the farm land to feed their army. By 1945, 400,000 Greeks had starved to death.

From post-war political turmoil, came the thousands of Greek migrants to Australia. Some of them brought memories of the Anzacs in 1941.

Kevin Price was an anti-tank gunner who fought the first of the battles on the northern border of Greece.

He came home to East Malvern, to find the local fish and chip shop under new management - of a Greek family, who witnessed that battle near their village.

This Anzac Day, the heroism of the Greeks and the sacrifice of the Australians deserves recognition.

Saturday's event, staged by the RSL Hellenic sub-branch, is a great start.

- Peter Ewer's book, Forgotten Anzacs, will be launched at the Shrine of Remembrance on Thursday

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...000117,00.html

[Truth Bearer]

Can one of the moderators please correct my spelling legens should be with a D.

[TirAlb]

Lol TB i thought some Albanian was spamming the forum.Legen in Albanian means many things,ad can be used as an insult as well.

[makedon]

Good find, I enjoyed reading it very much.

I have always wondered, WHY ?, on parade days, especially
in October, why veterans are not invited, many of them
fought in Greece, and the countries involved are all
the Anglo-Saxon countries to my knowledge, Australia,
NZ, UK, Canada, and maybe others.

Why not honor those that fought on our soil for us.
Everything about WWII was bogus bullshit but men
did die and fight for freedom and for us.

It would be great PR too, but mostly to honor them.
And to educate people as well, just as this article does.

Hammond, I have the deepest respect for, I idolize him
as a hero for these reasons, our people inspired him
during WWII, and look what he did. He wrote about
the mountain wars, my favorite reading, his accounts.
The book is very rare. He was 94 when he published his
last book, on Alexander.

[Truth Bearer]

Hammond was more Greek than us a true Philhellene!!!!

[johnalexis]

Originally Posted by makedon

Good find, I enjoyed reading it very much.

I have always wondered, WHY ?, on parade days, especially
in October, why veterans are not invited, many of them
fought in Greece, and the countries involved are all
the Anglo-Saxon countries to my knowledge, Australia,
NZ, UK, Canada, and maybe others.

Why not honor those that fought on our soil for us.
Everything about WWII was bogus bullshit but men
did die and fight for freedom and for us.

It would be great PR too, but mostly to honor them.
And to educate people as well, just as this article does.

Hammond, I have the deepest respect for, I idolize him
as a hero for these reasons, our people inspired him
during WWII, and look what he did. He wrote about
the mountain wars, my favorite reading, his accounts.
The book is very rare. He was 94 when he published his
last book, on Alexander.

They are, I think. I have seen New Zealand veterans on TV quite a few times. They are invited to ceremonies in Crete that celebrate the sacrifices made by ANZAC troops during WWII on this island.

I have a couple of books in my library that are about Greece and British and Anzac soldiers during WWII. One of the best is Ill Met by Moonlight. A really good book.

John.

[Truth Bearer]

Isn't this a great read??I had goosebumps reading it.....

[Truth Bearer]

We must forward this article everywhere and post it on all forums lads!!

[makedon]

Originally Posted by johnalexis

They are, I think. I have seen New Zealand veterans on TV quite a few times. They are invited to ceremonies in Crete that celebrate the sacrifices made by ANZAC troops during WWII on this island.

I have a couple of books in my library that are about Greece and British and Anzac soldiers during WWII. One of the best is Ill Met by Moonlight. A really good book.

John.

Do you have any pictures of this. I would love to see them.
Where I am in Toronto, never seen this ever, "our leaders"
can't even explain our history to the cameras, and during
the October Parade this is also an insult to all the Anglo's
who fought for us. "OXI DAY" means nothing to the media.
And the media mocks us every chance they get.
Never cover the event properly, we are to blame for this.
As a group.

[johnalexis]

Originally Posted by makedon

Do you have any pictures of this. I would love to see them.
Where I am in Toronto, never seen this ever, "our leaders"
can't even explain our history to the cameras, and during
the October Parade this is also an insult to all the Anglo's
who fought for us. "OXI DAY" means nothing to the media.
And the media mocks us every chance they get.
Never cover the event properly, we are to blame for this.
As a group.

Makedon, we, the children of Greek immigrants, are in a difficult position. I know that before I came to Greece I had little knowledge of my country and it's history. So, things like the fact that we were the first country to defeat the Axis in Europe, the fact that we fought bravely and we paid a heavy price in men killed if you take into consideration our population, did not really register with me - in fact I didn't even know these things.

I imagine it is the same in countries like Canada.

We need a combination of Greek intellectuals, those who feel strongly about their country and know it's history, not those psudo-intellectuals who have mushroomed all over the place in the last few years and who, everytime they open their mouths, try to belittle another Greek achievement. We need real Greeks in combination with Greeks whose first language is English, to stand up and tell the world about Greece. We are not just Mykonos, dancing on tables and drinking. The impression we have given is that this is all we are and we have the wonderful results of watching English hooligans getting drunk, pulling down their pants and exposing their pimply bottoms in full view of Greek women and children.

Greeks are overly polite. Such behaviour from Greeks in England would not be permitted even for one moment.
We are living in a world where television dominates and most people read only action novels or romance novels. They have no knowledge of the wonder of Greek history as men in power had in the past. At one stage if you hadn't studied Greek history and the Ancient Greek language you were not considered "educated". This has now all changed, especially since, in our own country, Ancient Greek is no longer a required subject in school. Whatever idiot in the government was responsible for that decision should be kicked out of the country.....................

One of the wonders of Greece is that it is full of highly intelligent people who read and know what they are talking about. Unfortunately we all want to be leaders and not followers and this is the root cause of all our troubles.

Be proud that you are Greek and find organizations in your country that will support you and teach all Greek Canadians the truth about our history and who we are.

You are made fun of? Who cares? Look at the people making fun of you. What do they have? Where do they come from? What do they know?

Be proud.

John

As for the Australians and New Zealanders who fought in our country, we honour them and do not forget.

The Canadians also paid a heavy price in the "rehearsal" for the Dunkirk landing. A whole brigade was wiped out I believe. A repeat performance of the Gallipoli massacre in WWI. We colonials are expendable, according to British logic.