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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-07-01 Daily Xml
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Memories of Lemnos

The Hon. J.S. LEE (17:25): I move:

That this council—

1. Congratulates the Organisation of Hellene and Hellene-Cypriot Women of Australia (SA) for its efforts to commemorate the centenary of ANZAC with the Memories of Lemnos and the Australian Nurses and the ANZAC centenary ceremony on Sunday 19 April 2015, at Keswick Barracks;

2. Recognises the service given by Australian nurses on the Greek island of Lemnos during the Gallipoli landing;

3. Recognises Greece for supporting Australia’s war effort through its support for Australian nurses stationed at military hospitals based on Lemnos island during the Gallipoli campaign; and

4. Considers a permanent memorial specifically commemorating the Australian women who served as nurses on Lemnos island be incorporated in the soon to be constructed Anzac Walk.

I rise to congratulate the Organisation of Hellene and Hellene-Cypriot Women of Australia (SA) for their commitment in acknowledging and commemorating the ANZAC centenary. This motion serves to highlight the contributions of the Australian nurses based at Lemnos island during World War I. I place on record my special thanks to Helen Haltis, the President of the Organisation of Hellene and Hellene-Cypriot Women of Australia and her working committee for their dynamic contributions and dedication to serve the community.

Helen and her committee are extremely hardworking. They have created an organisation like no other to continuously pay tribute to the ANZACs and the Australian nurses who battled through appalling conditions whilst nursing wounded soldiers during World War I. Although I was not able to attend the organisation's event on 19 April 2015 due to other commitments, the Liberal Party was well represented by the member for Bragg, Vickie Chapman, along with the member for Unley, David Pisoni, for the wreath-laying ceremony to pay respect to those who had served and those who had fallen.

Despite the large crowds paying respect to the ANZACs on 25 April every year, many feel that the Australian nurses' sacrifice and hardship on Lemnos island has not been duly honoured on a national platform. These Australians are the forgotten ANZAC heroes, the nurses who worked in the most appalling conditions at the grand sounding tented nightmare which was the Australian General Hospital on Lemnos island. I thank the member for Unley, David Pisoni, who had moved a similar motion in the House of Assembly and that will allow this council, as well as the members in the other place, to contribute towards this significant piece of Australian history.

It was surprising to learn that one of the least publicised of all Army services is the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps which, since its inception as an army nursing service, has given more than 100 years of dedicated service in the care of Australian servicemen during times of war and peace. The history of Australian military nursing began in 1898 when a small army nursing service was formed in Sydney.

A total of 2,139 sisters served abroad between 1914 and 1918, while a further 423 served in Australia. These women worked in hospitals, on hospital ships and trains or in casualty clearing stations closer to the frontline. They served in locations from Britain to India, the Mediterranean to the Middle East. These nurses faced the dangers and demands of wartime nursing and took on additional responsibilities and practices. Therefore, by war's end these nurses had proved to be an essential necessity to the military medical services.

A total of 130 nurses served on Lemnos island, which became the location of the major allied medical hospitals supporting the Gallipoli campaign. These hospitals were staffed by British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian Army medical staff. Two Australian field hospitals were established on the island: the 3rd Australian General Hospital at West Mudros and the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital at East Mudros. These hospitals were staffed with Australian nurses of the Australian Army Nursing Service.

While male orderlies provided initial nursing to care for troops on Lemnos from March 1915, the main body of Australian nurses arrived at Mudros on 5 August 1915. However, tents and medical supplies were delayed by three weeks, leaving the nurses to work with little to no materials. This delay added extra pressure on the nurses, as the hospitals began operation on 9 August 1915 and, unfortunately, the conditions the nurses were working in were far from civilised.

Before breakfast on 9 August 1915 (the day of the operation), 200 wounded and sick had already been admitted to the new hospital. Four days later, the number of patients had risen to 800. Then, two months later, 57,000 sick and 37,000 wounded were evacuated from the beaches of Gallipoli to the allied hospitals on Lemnos. During this particular time, the nurses were working in appalling conditions, with short water supply and no sanitation. A glimpse of the conditions under which the nurses first worked come from the diaries of many sisters. I would like to highlight one of the quotes that resonated with me:

Things were in rather a state of chaos when the wounded began to arrive. Their dressings which had been applied on the hospital ships were saturated and covered with flies. Dysentery was a scourge on the island…many of the wounded fell prey to the disease…the cold weather brought frostbitten patients. It was pitiable to see gangrene feet.

Due to the horrendous conditions and the high volume of injured soldiers, the sickness on Lemnos island was rife. The nurses called it 'lemnositis' as typhoid and dysentery spread among the soldiers and nurses. Yet, despite the initial conditions of the Australian general hospitals on Lemnos island, these field hospitals were remarkably successful. Despite the fact that they dealt with the most serious injuries, the death rate was a mere 2.5 per cent. Records show that 148 Australians and 76 New Zealanders lie among the allied wounded in the two cemeteries on either side of the island's capital, Mudros.

By October 1915, out of 3,906 cases admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital, 30 per cent were Australian, 13 per cent New Zealand and 57 per cent British and Indian. The Australian-run hospitals on Lemnos island were well respected amongst the ANZAC memoirs, as the nurses tried to make the soldiers feel at home, even naming one of the main thoroughfares Macquarie Street.

The relationship Australians established with the Greek community during World War I was truly unique. On 12 May of every year, many Australians and other foreign nationalities gather at a windswept cemetery in the eastern Mediterranean to take part in what is arguably the world's most unusual and least known ANZAC ceremony.

Islanders from Lemnos will also contribute towards the dawn service to honour those who had fallen and those who served. This ceremony is held two weeks after ANZAC Day in order not to clash with the larger gatherings at nearby Gallipoli. Former Australian Ambassador to Greece, Mr Paul Tighe (2005-2008), attended the Lemnos ANZAC ceremony every year, and the very modesty of the ceremony on the island is known to be particularly moving and solemn. The legacy of Australians, regardless of sex, regardless of their role, remains on Lemnos. Mr Tighe, at the time of his service, stated:

Local people and their decedents still remember and respect the sacrifice and courage of Australians who travelled to such a faraway and remote place to help defend important shared principles.

This bond strengthened even further in the Second World War as escaped prisoners of the war from the 1947 Greece and Crete campaigns made their way across the Aegean to the freedom of neutral Turkey. Since the world war many Lemnians have migrated to Australia, yet in the words of the ambassador the links between Lemnos and Australia were born in a time of hardship. Two wars and over 90 years, yet we are not cemented in family ties.

The relationship between Australia and Greece was strengthened during this horrendous time, and therefore I pay tribute to the organisation of Hellene and Hellene-Cypriot Women of Australia for their continuous effort to acknowledge the ANZAC spirit, along with the sacrifice and bravery of Australian nurses. To have a permanent memorial site reflecting the sacrifice of Australian nurses during the world wars will be truly unique and well deserved. Formally recognising and incorporating the hardship of the brave Australian nurses into the proposed Anzac Walk from the North Terrace war memorial to the pathway honour would be extraordinary.

I also mention that, in conjunction with moving this motion today, there will be a morning tea tomorrow, Thursday 2 July, which will be co-hosted by the member for Unley, Mr Pisoni, and the member for Taylor, Ms Leesa Vlahos, to recognise the significance of this event. I recommend that, if possible, honourable members attend that morning tea. With those few words, I commend the motion to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of the Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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