By LIA SPENCER
A CASEY councillor is undergoing a unique experience to learn more about specific war-sites as well as the Greek connection with Anzac Day.
Cr Wayne Smith is on a self-funded trip to Greece and Turkey with numerous other members of local, state and Federal Government.
He was asked by Dandenong MP John Pandazopoulos to join the tour, which will stop at significant Australian WWI and WWII war-sites.
Cr Smith said he grasped the opportunity to attend the tour after having learned about his late grandfather’s own military history.
“(My grandfather) served in the British Army in WWI and then in the Australian Army in WWII. He served in Europe in WWI and was in the legendary Notts and Derby Regiment,” Cr Smith said.
“He was wounded (shot) twice and was recognised as a battle hero for saving fellow soldiers under fire – he was ’Mentioned In Dispatches’ for this and awarded a special ’leaf’ on his medals.
“He never spoke of his war history, and my father only learned of the gun wounds after his father’s death. He called once he found out that he had noticed some scars on his father’s body, but never knew what they were from. Too old for combat duty in WWII, he served as a POW Camp guard in NSW in the Australian Army.”
On the weekend, Cr Smith said he was at the island of Lemnos learning about the Greek connection to the Anzacs.
“All Anzacs headed to Gallipoli from here and were evacuated back to home via here,” Cr Smith said.
“It was also the site of all the allied hospitals, mostly serviced by Aussie doctors and nurses. About 50,000 troops were stationed here in WWI and it was also used in WWII.”
Cr Smith will finish the tour by attending nine ceremonies on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 24 and 25 April, including participation as a VIP at the Gallipoli Dawn Service on Anzac Day.
