Jim Claven: The Greek heart in the ANZAC story

For historiographer Jim Claven, the Anzac story is not lone astir the subject campaigns of the Great War of 1914–1918; for him, it is simply a profoundly quality story.

The Anzac story, much than immoderate other, has travel to specify modern Australia, a federation that had lone federated successful 1901. Over 50,000 Australians served connected the Gallipoli Peninsula, with total Australian casualties—including the wounded—exceeding 26,000.

Young Australian and New Zealand men became machine-gun fodder for Turkish forces positioned connected the cliffs, supplied with German instrumentality guns, cutting down Australia’s youth arsenic they landed, mostly unprotected connected Gallipoli’s beaches, oregon Καλλίπολις, shores that were erstwhile Greek. Gallipoli was Australia’s archetypal and very bloody sacrifice into modernity, and the forging of a nationalist identity.

A wounded Digger connected a donkey successful Lemnos, 1915. Photo: Lemnos Club NSW

A quality past beyond the battlefield

“I’ve ever been funny successful κοινωνικά history,” Claven says.

“Not conscionable the subject narrative, but the quality acquisition down it: letters, diaries, idiosyncratic accounts. That’s where past truly comes alive.”

The standard itself of the operation, documented by Claven, will guarantee that the lawsuit will ne'er beryllium forgotten, again.

Over 3000 nurses were stationed successful Lemnos, and 50,000 Anzacs passed done the land to, and from, the Gallipoli frontline; while 96,943 sick and wounded had arrived from the frontlines during the play of August 6 to November 11, 1915.

The Anzac story is woven by transportation and representation transferred crossed generations.

Yet, it is lone successful the past fewer years, mostly owed to Claven’s work, that we person begun to understand the Anzac links betwixt Australia and Greece.

Claven approached the Anzac story with “fresh eyes,” uncovering an untold communicative drawn from thousands of idiosyncratic accounts by soldiers and nurses. Photo: Supplied

Lemnos and the Greek connection

Claven has uncovered a lesser-known section of Australia’s Anzac history. While our dormant whitethorn person go Turkey’s sons successful Gallipoli’s formation graves, small was known astir the pivotal relation of Greece’s land of Lemnos successful the Gallipoli campaign.

The story of Gallipoli is embedded successful Australia’s modern nationalist consciousness, but Lemnos, a pivotal Allied base, was eclipsed by Gallipoli’s agelong shadow.

Australian nurses were stationed connected Lemnos to supply aesculapian attraction passim the campaign. The nurses and makeshift infirmary was overwhelmed by fig of wounded and sick soldiers streaming successful from Gallipoli.

It was the Australian nurses that achieved a singular betterment rate. Many of the diggers joined on with elder Australian subject aesculapian authorities praised the sacrifices and work of the nurses.

Claven approached the Anzac story with “fresh eyes.” He discovered and revealed an untold communicative built connected thousands of idiosyncratic accounts from soldiers and nurses. He sourced an archive of hardly ever seen photographs, each of which wove a caller and revealing communicative of heavy enactment betwixt Allied forces and Greek communities.

Jim Claven’s ‘Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed: A Pictorial History of the ANZACs successful the Aegean’, 1915–16. Photo: Supplied

Research, representation and rediscovery

Claven, a Scot by birth, carried a passionateness enabled by heavy probe and the stories told by his maternal grandfather, who served successful The Great War successful France. Greece, though, peculiarly Lemnos, snared his imagination.

Claven is present a starring voice exposing the Greek magnitude of the Anzac story. He has identified and documented neglected humanities sites, and uncovered idiosyncratic letters from soldiers and nurses.

A milestone successful his vocation was his relation arsenic advisor historiographer for the Australian Government’s multi-million-dollar Lemnos Remembrance Trail project. The inaugural aims to transform the land into a “living humanities experience,” helium said.

“Lemnos is unique due to the fact that it hasn’t been overdeveloped. You tin stand successful a spot and, with a photograph oregon a story, truly visualise what happened there successful 1915.”

The nexus betwixt the locations, archival worldly and stories creates an immersive travel for visitors.

Beyond Lemnos, his probe extends crossed Greece, from Thessaloniki and the Salonika Front of World War I to World War II sites and exile histories, revealing a broader and much analyzable transportation betwixt Greece and Australia.

Diggers resting successful Lemnos, implicit 50,000 went done the land to and from the bloody beaches of Gallipoli> photo: Lemnos Club NSW

Shared past is surviving past

Claven does not want these stories to beryllium “confined to archives”. Through memorial plaques, nationalist talks, publications and assemblage engagement, helium brings past into the present. He has besides reconnected families with stories erstwhile mislaid to time.

He harbours a content successful the powerfulness of “shared history, peculiarly for the Greek diaspora successful Australia.”

“The Greek transportation to Anzac offers something truly meaningful. For Australians of Greek heritage, it creates a bridge, showing that this is not conscionable an Australian story, but besides a Greek one.”

As involvement grows, Claven’s work stands arsenic a well-researched and immensely readable publication to our shared histories. It besides different span betwixt Australia and Greece. A nexus to a shared past that was astir forgotten until Claven came along.

The interaction of Claven’s work connected has been recognised by the Medal of the Order of Australia. The sacrifice—the slaughter of the young successful an imperial and accidental, war—cannot and should not beryllium neglected. Just arsenic the roles of Australia, Greece and Turkey, arsenic caller and emergent nations, bathed successful blood, should not be, if lone to assistance debar such slaughters. But, present we are again.

Jim Claven’s publication is; Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed: A Pictorial History of the ANZACs successful the Aegean, 1915–16 available astatine each bully bookstores and on-line.

* Effie Steriopoulos is simply a elder lecturer astatine William Angliss Institute, Melbourne, Australia and a contributor to Neos Kosmos.