Same but different: Lemnos in Greater Shepparton is known for its Campbell's Soup giant can, a world away from the Greek island of the same name.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
Figuratively, and almost literally, the Lemnos in Greece and the Lemnos in Greater Shepparton are poles apart, but moves are afoot to bring them closer together than ever before.
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Greater Shepparton City Council has decided to investigate the cost of erecting a “memorial structure” in Lemnos, Victoria, to outline and acknowledge the “relevance of the Lemnos name and its historical link to the Gallipoli campaign” in World War I.
According to the www.victorianplaces.com.au website produced by Monash University, Lemnos in Victoria was “named after the island in the Aegean Sea to which Australian soldiers were evacuated after the Gallipoli campaign in World War I”.
“Major Ernest Hill, a soldier settler and later a Shepparton Shire councillor, proposed the name,” the website says.
Another councillor from Shepparton, Dinny Adem, who is sitting on the current council, has proposed a permanent memorial to honour ties between the two places.
“I believe we have an obligation to fulfil Major Hill’s legacy by completing the story he began over a hundred years ago,” Cr Adem told council’s monthly meeting on August 15.
“It is the very least we can do to tell the story in the one and only locality in Australia that was named in honour of and to honour that name and the life-changing experiences it represents.”
Memorial: Portianou Commonwealth War Cemetery on the Greek island of Lemnos. Greater Shepparton City Council is considering building a memorial in the local namesake Lemnos to honour shared links between the two places.
Cr Adem wants the memorial to focus on non-combat personnel, such as nurses and doctors, who witnessed and dealt with the carnage from the nearby battlefield at Gallipoli.
The motion passed unanimously by council instructs officers to prepare a report by October with estimated costs of designing and building a memorial locally in Lemnos and to engage the Lemnos community to establish a formal community group to advocate for the interests of that community.
“I’m certain our local Greek Australian community members would take pride in their ancestors’ humane actions who supported Australian doctors and nurses,” Cr Adem said.
“While there has been some recognition in recent years in Canberra and other places that you may not expect, I believe in Greater Shepparton we have a duty and a responsibility to honour the name we adopted about a hundred years ago.”
