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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

LEMNOS and MUDROS Harbour , Greece


montbrehain

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Well Me and the family are back from Lemnos and a good time was had by all. But rather than bore you with Sun sea sand and Ouzo :blush: Give me a few days and I will put together a short guide for my real reason for visiting Lemnos (but dont tell the Mrs :ph34r: ).In the meantime I will start to send out the photos of the headstones I took for those who requested them . This of course is following from my post here . "MO"

 

 

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Hi Mo,

Many many thanks for the photo of Bruguier's headstone on Lemnos, hopefully I will make the visit one day. Glad you had a good time, cannot wait until you give the full feedback of your trip.

all the best, Steve

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Welcome back Mo

Im really jealous you know

Chris

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I'd be very interested to see photos of the harbour area. We have uncovered a significant number of pictures taken there by an LF officer or officers, during re-cataloging of the Fusilier Museum exhibits prior to the impending move.

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Ok this is going to take a while so I hope you will all keep popping back as I add stuff? Well what can I say, firstly what's to see on Lemnos that is of interest to a "Great war" buff or Pilgrim to the cemetery's. The honest answer is not much. Of course there are the 3 cemeteries and the Australian memorial plaque at Mudros and these would be the visitors main points . BUT if you go armed with a bit of knowledge and a armful of photographs taken at the time (as I did) things become much more interesting. So I hope to be able to show you a bit of what I found in the following pages. I must admit that the Australian plaque at Mudros was a great help and the map that I have drawn for the forum was taken from the info on the plaque. I thought that everything was centred around the village of Mudros, but that assumption is wrong. In fact across the Harbour near the village of Portianou is a small peninsula of land (Which I believe was known then as "Turks head" peninsula) . Although there is not a lot to see there now , at the time it was a hive of activity. Of course Portianou is the site of 1 of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemetery's too and there rests those who died in the nearby hospitals. I will try to add something each day and let you know when I have finished posting. Hope you enjoy this "MO"

1, map of Mudros Harbour. 2, Myself taken at Mudros harbour looking across towards "Turks head" peninsula (from now on refered to as TH). The harbour area has been much reclaimed over the years and now the area is much higher than it was. 3, Portianou CWGC cemetery.

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Great stuff MO - especially the map. I'll be looking forward to seeing future postings too.

Glad you enjoyed your holiday - and the ouzo!

Cheers, Frev

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Thanks for the comments. And for those still waiting on requested photos , I am working through them so please be patient. I will try to post as many pics as I think may be of interest. But they do look better full screen so if anybody would like a copy of all I took on a disc just let me know . I don't want payment for them but to cover the cost of a disc , envelope and postage about £1.50s worth of unused postage stamps would be appreciated and for anybody overseas I,m sure we can sort something out.

Have you ever seen this picture and wondered where abouts on the island it was taken ? post-13272-1190738716.jpg

Well it was taken about a mile and half south of Mudros town on the way to Fanaraki (now just a couple of beaches). But I was told that it was here that the French hospital was located. Here is picture looking up towards where the original was taken from.As it appears to be private property I did attempt to contact the farmer on the left to ask if I may walk up and take a photo from the same view. Unfortunately I could never catch him home and so had to be content with taking one from the road .

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My wife and son reading the Australian plaque at Mudros harbourpost-13272-1190739419.jpg

I have a photographic diary once owned by an officer in the RND. The photo I posted earlier showing troops starting construction on the pier and this one is from that diary too.

It is captioned Greek Girls singing along the east Mudros road. And the following is my self as the soldier , my wife as the school mistress and my 2 daughters as the leading girls (Oh the things I get them to do for me :lol: )

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Mudros East military cemetery post-13272-1190787070.jpgpost-13272-1190787140.jpg

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Hi Mo,

wonderful pictures from a very new perspective for me. Did you you see anything about a German wargrave for seamen of the Breslau/Midilli?

best regards

Klaus

Hi Mo,

wonderful pictures from a very new perspective for me. Did you you see anything about a German wargrave for seamen of the Breslau/Midilli?

best regards

Klaus

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Great photos Mo.

I love the way you've been able to position the view to reflect the early scenes.

Looking forward to seeing more of your trip.

Thanks!!

Kim

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Thanks for all your efforts here MO

One of the very few relics of my grandfather which I have

is his hymn sheet from the service of

'Consecration of British Cemetery, at Portianos, Lemnos

Monday 27th March 1916'

The hymns were "When our heads are bow'd with woe"

and "God of the living, in Whose eyes"

The sheet was run off quickly and although it has the royal arms embossed at the head

it was trimmed too short and one line of the first hymn is missing

Be that as it may, my grandfather kept it as a treasured memento

Thanks again

Michael

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Mo

Tried to PM you with my e-mail address got a reply your inbox is full.

Ray

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Klaus (EL SHAHIN) , I made a point of making enquires for you unfortunately its not good news. I spoke to a shop owner in the capital who also has an interest in the history of the island and he told me he believes there was a German cemetery in the Biggest town that's called Myrina. A couple of days before I arrived a presentation had been given in a local hall which I would have liked to have seen . I was told a local man had gained access to Some photographs from the German archives taken by a photographer attached to the German troops who arrived to garrison the island in the the Second world war . The shop owner I spoke to said he believed one of them showed a Cemetery which no longer exists and I think he said that a maritime weather center now occupies the site where the cemetery once was in Myrina and that it was very close to the Harbour. Have you access to German Archives ? If so you may be able to find something there. I do have the Email address of the man I spoke to should you wish to contact him. I found nothing else. "MO"

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Mo,

that's very interesting and thank you so much for your research. Yes, I would be very happy to get this contact because probably he has at least a photograph from this site. You can send it to my mail adress: klausw_wolf@hotmail.com

best regards

Klaus

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Klaus will do.

About a mile across the harbour from Mudros is a small peninsula of land . I believe it came to be known as the "Turks head". On the peninsula is a Muslim cemetery and the ruins of what I was told was an "English" hospital (pics to come later). Right at the end of the of the peninsula is a large cairn of stones that can been seen for miles around. I was told by an local Octopus fisherman (I kid you not ) that this was built by the British. On very very rough dirt road I managed to drive as close as possible and then walk the rest. The cairn is about 15 feet high and has steps made in to the side. It also has a massive hole in one side. I asked a neighbour where we were staying how this hole came about ? he told me it was bombed from the air by the Germans in Second world war. And yes I did sit on the top and take some pics :D (to come )"MO"

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Good morning MO,

that bombing and later occupation of the island was part of the German southeast campaign, when they pushed through the Balkans and captured Greece in 1941 and which ended with the invasion of Crete in May 1941 as operation "Merkur". My grandfather took part as a battailion commander of a RecceBn in the MtDiv 5 and wrote letters from back home during the whole way down the Balkans, through the Metaxa-Line and later about the flight to Crete and the attacks there - but this is another story...

Thanks again for your research

Klaus

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