Imbros & Gallipoli Revealed

The Imvrians' Society of Melbourne is a community group formed by people originating from the island of Imbros and their descendants. The Society was established in 1970 and has its community building located in Mentone.

The Society plans to present a photographic exhibition exploring Imbros' role in the Gallipoli campaign. The focus of the exhibition will be on the Anzacs stationed on the island; the key infrastructure located on the island which supported the campaign as well as the Anzac interactions with the local population.

The Anzac story has maintained a strong focus on the battlefields of the Gallipoli peninsula. An almost forgotten part of this story is the role of the islands of Lemnos, Imbros and Tenedos which were offered by Greece to support the Allied campaign as important advanced bases.

Historian Jim Claven and the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee have worked tirelessly for many years to bring just recognition to Lemnos’ place in this important story. Mr Claven has been researching the Hellenic link to Anzac across both world wars for many years and has published many historical articles on the subject, recently having published the book Lemnos and Gallipoli Revealed: A Pictorial History of the Anzacs in the Aegean 1915-16. His work draws on both his academic research as well as field studies across the regions of Greece concerned, including Imbros. For some information on the connection between Imbros and Gallipoli, read Mr Claven’s weblink: http://lemnosgallipolicc.blogspot.com/2016/01/imbros-and-tenedos-other-forgotten.html


Imbros and Gallipoli

The proposed project seeks to extend this work to recognise the important role of Imbros in the Gallipoli campaign with a photographic exhibition. Imbros was the location of Allied commander General Hamilton’s headquarters, the rendezvous point for ANZAC (and other Allied) troops as they sailed from Lemnos to Anzac Cove and where the Allied war correspondents were based. Imbros’ Kephalos Bay was a major naval base where Allied ships anchored as they sailed to and from Gallipoli, Lemnos and Egypt. With respect to the Australian connection to Imbros, there are many aspects to recognise and commemorate. Some of these are:

·         Imbros and its Kephalos Bay and the surrounding waters, as the closest harbour to Anzac Cove, was the rendezvous point for the Australian landings at Anzac Cove on 25th April.

·         Throughout the whole campaign Imbros was the transit point for Australian (and many other Allied troops) being shipped to and from the Peninsula.

·         It also served this purpose for many wounded and sick soldiers, some of whom were treated in the field medical units based there.

·         A number of Australian military units were based on Imbros, including the 1st Australian Field Bakery Unit that supplied fresh bread to the diggers at Gallipoli, transported by the wagons of the Australian Army Service Corps. The 25th Casualty Clearing Station commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie was based here, as was the 1st Australian Field Artillery Battery. Famous Australian formations such as the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train was also present on Imbros.

·         Those who came to Imbros were subjected to enemy attack, by enemy bombardment as well as the threat posed by naval attack as Allied ships came and went from the island’s anchorage.

·         The Australians also interacted with the local population, exploring the Island, appreciating its ancient history and enjoying its food and hospitality. In this respect, Imbros’ part in Australia’s Gallipoli story has a multicultural element, which continued with the immigration of many Imbros residents to Australia following the Second World War and after.

A number of these Australians who came to Imbros recorded their impressions of the island – and its role in the Gallipoli campaign – in letters and diaries as well as in photographs. Importantly, the Australian war correspondents Charles Bean and Philip Schuler walked on Imbros, wrote of their time there and photographed a number of locations, including its famous Byzantine-era fortress. These photographs are part of the Australian War Memorial’s photographic collection.

Following the end of the Gallipoli campaign, Imbros remained a base for Allied military operations in the region, its harbour and airbase playing roles in ensuring the containment of enemy naval forces within the Bosphorus. As the war drew to a close, the waters off Imbros saw the last great naval battle of the war in the Middle East - the naval battle of Imbros. The Allied victory here played a significant part in the final defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent Armistice of Mudros, signed at Lemnos in October 1918. Significantly, the Australian warships that took part in the naval occupation of the Ottoman Empire which followed, sailed in the waters surrounding Imbros.


The Exhibition

The exhibition will reveal the role of Imbros in Australia’s Gallipoli story through the reproduction of many of the key photographs taken by the Allies during their time on Imbros. These will vividly reinforce the role of the island and its people in the campaign.

As the most qualified subject matter expert, historian Jim Claven has agreed to curate and act as key note speaker in the presentation of the photographic exhibition.

It is anticipated that approximately 40 photographs will be selected for display from the Australian War Memorial. These are to be augmented by Jim's personal archive of modern photographs of Imbros’ Anzac sites and historical reflections on the period. The photographs are to be captioned and mounted for their presentation. Consideration will be given to, where possible, marrying these archival photographs with modern photographs of the same scenes taken by Mr Claven during his recent field research on Imbros.

The preferred format is on A0 or A1 board with photographs accompanied by maps, diary excerpts, quotations, etc. The intent is for each board to present a single significant location, event or individual associated with the ANZAC campaign on Imbros, and for approximately 20 boards to be produced.

The example board noted above focused on art work produced by Anzacs and Allied troops on Imbros. It is anticipated that individual boards could explore various themes such as the story of each of the principal Australian units based there (such as Australian Bakery and feeding the troops, the 25th Casualty Clearing Station and the wounded, the engineering work of the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train, the role of the naval transports and Kephalos Bay), the Australian war correspondents presence on Imbros, soldiers impressions of interacting with the local villagers as they enjoyed leave and wandered the islands villages and natural scenery, biographies of famous Australian service personnel who came to Imbros and war artists depictions of the island.

An exhibition booklet will also be produced as a memento of the exhibition.

The Society aims for the exhibition to take place at the City of Kingston gallery space located at 979 Nepean Highway, Moorabbin. It is to be displayed over a four-week period with a preference that the Exhibition coincides with Anzac Day in 2021. This will of course be subject to the availability of the space and the success of this campaign. The launch of the Exhibition will see Jim Claven also act as key note speaker.

While this campaign relates to this individual activity, it is anticipated that the material produced will see far broader interest with future exhibitions displaying the material potentially including central locations in all Australian States and Territories, New Zealand as well as in Greece and Turkey.


Aims and Benefits of the Project

The exhibition aims to commemorate Imbros’ connection to Australia’s Anzac story and encourage greater awareness of this little known Hellenic and multicultural aspect to Anzac. We will do so by:

·         Commemorating Anzac and other allied service personnel who served on Imbros during the Gallipoli campaign.

·         Raising awareness of the integral role Imbros had in supporting the campaign.

·         Developing and extending relationships with other interested individuals and organisations so that the material can be re-exhibited extensively.

·         Recognising the veterans who served on Imbros and their descendants as part of Australian’s Anzac heritage.

·         Introducing the story to second, third and fourth generation Imvrian, Greek and Turkish Australians as well as the wider community to highlight how the Imbros-Gallipoli story is part of our shared heritage.

·         Provide the materials to other organisations to exhibit both interstate and abroad.

 
Costs of the Project

There are extensive costs associated with producing the materials and exhibiting them. These include but are not limit to:

·         Purchase and licencing of photographs,

·         Venue hire,

·         Curation,

·         Artwork and publishing,

·         Printing, materials, mounting and framing,

·         Catering,

·         AV equipment hire and AV contractor costs,

·         Installation contractor costs,

·         Advertising.

 
The initial total budgeted cost to deliver the project was in excess of $18,000.

The Society were successful in its application to a State Government ' Victoria Remembers Grants Program' for a total of $5,020. We are therefore seeking to raise the remainder of the required funds through this campaign.

Significant donations will be recognised as sponsors with the name of the donor / donor organisation appearing on the board introducing the exhibition. Donations exceeding $1000 will be recognised as platinum sponsors, donations of between $500 and $999 will be recognised as gold sponsors, while donations of between $250 and $499 dollars will be recognised as silver sponsors.

The Society is determined to deliver the exhibition, and should we not reach the goal amount, a reduced scope in an alternative venue may be considered.

We thank you in advance for your support.