In 2005, Steve Kyritsis began reading the Nominal Roll of the Australian men and women who served in the Vietnam War. Among the 60,000 names, he found many Greek-Australian surnames. Himself a Vietnam veteran, Steve decided to try and contact as many as he could to ask them to share their experiences.vietnam, greek-australians

Several items were given by a seafarer, Mr Nicholas Garlick (1926-2009) into the care of Father Brady who retired from St Pauls Cathedral, Melbourne in 2018. Father Brady later donated the collection of; objects, documents and an extensive collection of cruise ship menus (1937-end of 20thC) to the Mission via the intermediary William Hastie, volunteer at the Mission for Seafarers. This particular item provides an example of a ticket for a Greek ferry the 'Apostolis' boarded on the 13th August 1949 by Mr Garlick's sister.This ferry pass for the Greek ferry 'Apostolis' is made of thin, cream-coloured paper. On the front of the ticket the official details are printed in Greek. The passenger details are hand-written in Greek. On the back is a note written by Mr Garlick. Front; see image for details. Back; 'A Greek Ferry Boat/pass. After W.W.II Greece/had a Civil War./ In '49 passenger had to obtain/permission to board a ferry, when/permission given a pass was issued./Name of boat 'Apostolis'./My sister visited Greece at the time - stayed 3 yrs./ Her name is on the pass, her number and alien are written in.'nicholas garlick, greek ferry ticket, 1949, 'apostolis'

On the 28th of May 1989, the Greek Fund for Arthritis held an educational seminar for the Greek community. The seminar was held at the Merlyn Myer Hall at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. A raffle was held during the event to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation of Victoria (AFV). In this photo, Patricia Papadopoulos is on the stage with one of the presenters.COL photo of a man and a woman standing on a wood-panelled stage, with an audience partially visible in the foreground. The man is speaking at a lectern while the woman stands beside him. Beside them is a table with a slide projector on it, behind which is a large screen. There is some ink contamination on the image surface from a purple ink stamp that was stamped on the verso of another photo.[Stamped in purple ink] GREEK FUND FOR ARTHRITIS RESEARCH ROYAL MELBOURNE HOSPITALarthritis foundation of victoria, afv, culturally and linguistically diverse, cald, languages other than english, lote, migrant communities, greek, greek fund for arthritis research, seminar, fundraising, merlyn myer hall, royal melbourne hospital, rmh, patricia papadopoulos, 1989

On the 28th of May 1989, the Greek Fund for Arthritis held an educational seminar for the Greek community. The seminar was held at the Merlyn Myer Hall at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. A raffle was held during the event to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation of Victoria (AFV). In this photo, Patricia Papadopoulos is on the stage with one of the presenters.COL photo of two women standing on a wood-panelled stage, presenting to an audience. One woman is speaking at a lectern while the other woman stands beside her. Beside them is a table with a slide projector on it, behind which is a large screen. There is a small degree of ink contamination on the image surface from a purple ink stamp that was stamped on the verso of another photo.[Stamped in purple ink] GREEK FUND FOR ARTHRITIS RESEARCH ROYAL MELBOURNE HOSPITALarthritis foundation of victoria, afv, culturally and linguistically diverse, cald, languages other than english, lote, migrant communities, greek, greek fund for arthritis research, seminar, fundraising, merlyn myer hall, royal melbourne hospital, rmh, patricia papadopoulos, 1989

On the 28th of May 1989, the Greek Fund for Arthritis held an educational seminar for the Greek community. The seminar was held at the Merlyn Myer Hall at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. A raffle was held during the event to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation of Victoria (AFV). This photo depicts one of the presenters on the stage during his presentation.COL photo of a man, standing on a wood-panelled stage. He is facing sideways as he leans into a lectern while presenting to an audience. On a table beside him is a slide projector, and there is a large screen behind him. There is some ink contamination on the image surface from a purple ink stamp that was stamped on the verso of another photo.[Stamped in purple ink] GREEK FUND FOR ARTHRITIS RESEARCH ROYAL MELBOURNE HOSPITALarthritis foundation of victoria, afv, culturally and linguistically diverse, cald, languages other than english, lote, migrant communities, greek, greek fund for arthritis research, seminar, fundraising, merlyn myer hall, royal melbourne hospital, rmh, 1989

The two men, Spiros Raftopoulos and Ioannis Metaxas, joined the army to fight in the Balkan Wars which involved two conflicts that took place in the Balkan Peninsula between 1912 and 1913. In the first conflict Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia defeated the Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War; in the second conflict Bulgaria unsuccessfully contested the distribution by its former allies of territory taken from the Turks during the First Balkan War. A number of Greeks who had emigrated to Australia and other parts of the world returned to Greece to fight in those wars.The men returning to fight for the country of their birth were motivated by their patriotism. Even though they had sought a new life in another country they felt strongly the need to return to their homeland to join the struggle. A black and white photograph of two soldiers dressed in Greek army uniform which was worn in the early years of the twentieth century. The two men are holding rifles and have a load of bullets strapped across their shoulders. The original photograph was mounted on fawn and dark green board.A strip of paper has been stuck across the bottom of the photograph with the names of the two men written in Greek and English. S.RAFTOPOULOS AND K. METAXIS IN THE ARMY 1913.

Newspaper with commentative covernon-fictionFor a century, The Greek Herald has been far more than a newspaper. It has been a voice, memory and heartbeat of the Hellenic Australian community. Since 1926, its pages have carried stories of migrants arriving on distant shores, families building new lives, communities finding their identity, and generations striving to remain connected to their language, faith and heritage.greece, greek, migrant, immigration

The photograph is of members of the Governing Council of Greek Women in Melbourne in 1917. A number of the women were from Ithaca. The organisation was created to offer social interaction for Greek women who had settled in Australia in the early years of the twentieth century and was part of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria. Back row L-R: Mrs. A Raftopoulou, Miss Sigala, Mrs. E. Peppa. Middle row L-R: Miss E. Nomikou, Mrs. K. Kyriazopoulou, (President), Mrs. K Mavrokefalou (Vice-president), Mrs. N. Mari. Front: Mrs. B. Zografou. A black and white portrait style photograph of eight young women. The translated caption is printed below the photograph in Greek: THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF GREEK WOMEN, MELBOURNE 1917 gocv, committee, auxilliary

The photograph was taken at arrival of the champion Greek wrestler, Jim Londros at Moorabin Airport on 26 November 1946. He was welcomed by members of the Greek community in Melbourne which included Stathi Raftopoulos, B. Dervenis, Spiro Raftopoulo -President of Greek Returned Soldierss, Mr Hatzis, Dr. Haralambos Paroulakis and Ioannis Panagiotopoulos. Jim Londros visited Australia after his retirement from wrestling in 1946. In retirement he worked for various charitable organizations especially for the Greek orphans of World War II. The photograph was published in the Greek newspaper 'Fos'.Greeks have enjoyed the sport of wrestling since ancient times. So the visit to Australia of a former Greek wrestling champion, and one who also devoted his time to helping others, would have been an important event for members of Melbourne's Greek community in 1946. Mr Ioannis Panagiotopoulos was publisher of the 'Fos' newspaper, the only Greek newspaper at the time. Dr Paroulakis arrived in Australia late 1930s and practised 55 Collins Street till 1987. He was Head of Outpatients and Physician at St, Vincent's Hospital for 22 years. Born in Crete he also served as President of Melbourne's Cretan Brotherhood, A black and white photograph of six men standing outdoors. All the men are dressed in suits. One is also wearing a tweed coat and four are wearing hats. Written under the photograph in Greek: MEMBERS OF THE GREEK COMMUNITY AWAITING THE ARRIVAL OF JIM LONDROS/ WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPION/ AT MOORABIN AIRPORT IN 1946. (PH. BY THE AUTHOR)wrestling, jim londros

The picture is of a Greek dance group, possible organised by the Olympic Club. Nina Black pictured in the middle row was an Australian born Ithacan who was very active in a variety of Greek community activities, including the performing arts and education. She was passionate about fostering Greek culture and language within the Ithacan, Greek and wider Australian community in Melbourne. She went on to establish her Greek dancing classes which were popular with both the Greek and broader Australian community. Her Greek dance group performed Greek dances at many social functions and dressed in traditional Greek costumes, the performances added colour to the events and were widely appreciated. Pictured, back row L-R: . . ? . ., Olympia Cecil, . . ? . . , ...... Green. Middle row L-R: ...... Green, . . . ? . . . , Michael Black, Nina Black, Marguerita Black. Front row L-R: Spiro Polites, Eleni Vrachna, Effie Cecil, Ellie Black, Harry NicholadesThe teaching of Greek dancing to the children of Greek immigrants ensured the maintenance of Greek cultural traditions in their adopted country. A black and white photograph of ten ladies and three men dressed in Greek national costume and posing on a staircase.

Nina Black , standing at the back in the middle of the group, taught Greek dancing to many young Australian-born Ithacans. She also taught Greek language and English to adult migrants. Nina worked tirelessly with migrant community in the post mass migration period. Learning traditional Greek dancing has been one way that Ithacans who settled here were able to maintain their culture. Traditional Greek dancing is always popular at Ithacan social events. A black and white photograph of six ladies and four men dressed in Greek national costume.

As is usual in contemporary society, Greek ladies are keen on traditional dancing while the men like to play cards. This photograph was taken in the courtyard room at the Civic Centre in 1994Black and white photograph of Greek elderly citizens performing a traditional Greek dance. A lady in centre of photograph has a white pattern on her jumper. 1994greek elderly citizens club, nunawading

Picture of a 70 year old (dating back to WW2) high school text book in the Ancient Greek language which belonged to Effie Palmer-Detsimas. A school text book with a pink roneo printed cover with ancient Greek figures on the front and a geometric design on the back. There are 174 pages and the text is written in Ancient Greek.

A soldier in the type of traditional uniform worn during the period of the Greek Revolution. The army that fought the Greek Revolution was composed primarily of irregulars, who followed their own military leaders or "captains", and had no uniform code of dress. A faded sepia photograph of a Greek soldier dressed in the traditional uniform. He has two rounds of bullets across his shoulders and is also holding a gun in one had and saluting with the other. There is a pencilled faded message written in Greek on the back of the photograph. unknown

The Greek Orthodox Community with the support of the Ithacan Community in Melbourne established a Greek Language School in the early 1930s. The teaching of the Greek language to the Australian born children of Greek parents ensured that the language and culture was maintained within the Greek community. A sepia photograph mounted on grey board of the children and teachers at the Greek language school. The people are standing and seated in five rows in front of a stage.

The leaflet encouraging members to re-elect Ithacan Konstantinos Raftopoulos (Ravinos) to the committee of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria, describing him as a proven and experienced committee member. The Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne was established in 1897 by some of the first Greek residents of Melbourne, including a number of Ithacans. It is the oldest Greek organisation in Australia and the second oldest Greek organisation of the diaspora after the Greek Community of Alexandria-Egypt. It has supported the Greeks who had settled in Melbourne and established many programs such as a Greek Language School and dance classes which has helped maintain Greek culture amongst Australians of Greek descent. A photograph of a leaflet for a candidate seeking election onto the committee of the Greek Community in Melbourne.

Ill, p.257.non-fictionThe purpose of this book is .... to let those Greek-Australians who served [in the Vietnam War] - whether as National Service conscripts or as regular soldiers - tell their own storiesvietnam conflict - australian involvement, vietnam war 1961-1975 - biography

The photograph was taken at a gathering held at the Victoria Theatre in Victoria Street Richmond in 1961. The function was held to celebrate 25th March Greek National Day. Seated in the front row second from the left with other dignitaries is Stathi Vlass who was Secretary of Melbourne's Greek Community during the 60s. He was also president of the Ithacan Philanthropic Society 1957 - 1959. Fifth from the left is Stathi's uncle, Spiros Raftopoulos who was the President of the Greek Returned Soldiers. Important national days for the Greek community are the 25 March and 28 October. 25 March commemorates the start of the Greek Revolution of 1821; it honors the Greeks' fight for freedom after being occupied by the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years. The 28th of October, known as OXI day (NO day) commemorates the rejection by Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 October 1940 with a resounding NO. Subsequently Italy invaded Greece but were successfully repelled by the Greeks, delivering one of the first allied victories. However, this was met with a forceful and immediate response when In April 1941 Germany invaded Greece. Greek resistance fighters — a combination of right and left wing partisan groups — mounted a sustained guerrilla war throughout the 4 year occupation. Greece suffered 400,000 casualties during the occupation.A copied black and white photograph of a group of people seated in a large auditorium. CELEBRATION OF THE GREEK NATIONAL DAY HELD IN THE VICTORIA THEATRE/ VICTORIA ST. RICHMOND IN 1661(incorrect date) vlassopoulos

The three Lucas (Lekatsas) siblings, Peter, Nina and Andrew are photographed wearing Greek traditional costumes. The boys are wearing the uniform of the Greek Evzone soldiers, and the girl the traditional dress. They are children of Gerasimos and Kaliope (nee Zavistanos) Lekatsas.Children often wore national costumes at special Greek national day events which were usually organised by the Greek Community in conjunction with the Greek language schools. Most children of Greek background attended Greek school after hours to learn Greek language, history and culture. The national day events were an important way for Australian born children of Greek background to develop a deeper understanding of Greek history and an appreciation of their cultural heritage.A black and white studio photograph of a girl and two boys dressed in traditional Greek costumes. The girl is seated on a chair and the two boys are standing on either side of her.

The two women photographed in traditional Greek dress are Katerini Lucas (nee Paxinos) and ? Lekatsas. The women may have been dressed as part of Greek national day celebration or concert. A sepia photograph of two women standing and dressed in identical Greek national costumes. The photograph is in post card format with an undivided back although headings indicate the message and address sides.Stamped on the back is a blue oval stamp with the photographer's details. Printed across the top: POST CARD/ BRITISH MADE.

Angelika Raftopoulos is the young woman wearing a traditional Greek costume. The costume is very much in the style of the Ithacan traditional dress, with apron and headscarf. A black and white studio photograph of a young woman seated on a settee in front of a curtain. She is dressed in a traditional Greek costume from the Ionian Islands.

The photograph is taken on board an ocean liner heading for Greece. Those in Greek costumes are paseengers; the two men in civilian clothes crew members. Fourth and fifth from the left respectively are cousins Penelope Billiter (nee Kallinikos) and Athena Sikiotis. Penelope 's father Spiro Kallinikos and Athena's mother Chrisoula were siblings.Many Australian born people of Greek heritage have made trips back to their parents' homeland in a bid to learn more about their heritage and to meet family. A black and white photograph of a group some of whom are dressed in Greek national dress. The 10 women in the photograph are all in national costume; of the five men three are wearing traditional dress.

The photo was taken at a Grecian Ball at which the Olympic Club Dancing Group dressed in national costumes performed Greek traditional dances. The couple on the left is Madelaine Cosmas and Spiro Paizis; the on right in the foreground are Irini Pappas and Nick Lappas.The maintenance of traditional Greek dancing has been an important in retaining traditional culture within expatriate Greek communities.A print of a black and white photograph of two ladies and two menders in Greek traditional costume and dancing. Two musicians, a violinist and a piano accordion player are providing the music for the dancers.

Text on rear, “Mainland Albania, Macedonia, Thraki - Crete - Greek democracy - Expedition memorable medal 1940 - 41 - We award - The participant of 1940 - 41 expedition - defend your Country, Athens 12.2.80, Minister for Defence Eyagelos - Averooh Jusitcha” Certificate awarded to John Eric Wiles VX16067, refer Cat No 5410P for his service details.Certificate, paper light yellow colour background, each side a column with top section over, under is a green leaf arrangement followed by Greek print, a centre name hand written in “Mr J. E. Wiles”, bottom stamped on LH side, RH side is dated. On rear a typed out and stuck is the English wording of the front also a typed piece re the recipient.On rear taped, “J. E. Wiles 2/7th INF”certificates, greece crete, wiles

Greek Cypriot Wooden Sculpture

Pictured are a group enjoying coffee somewhere in Greece. Standing are Maria and Zaharia Moraitis (Morris); seated: unknown, unknown, Erasmia Brown (nee Benias). Zaharia and Maria returned to Ithaca from Melbourne in the 1970s. Erasmia lived in Newcastle and returned annually to Ithaca to visit family. Greek coffee is served in small cups accompanied with a glass of water. A faded coloured photograph of five people around a table enjoying coffee. Three are seated at the table and two are standing behind them. A large window is behind the group who are drinking Greek coffee from small cups. There are glasses of water on the table.

Cotton Greek flag, cotton with rope fittings