A little bit of Australia war history pertaining to Lemnos, Greece
⚘A lot of people travel to Turkey to remember the fallen from the battle of Gallipoli but it was the island of Limnos/Lemnos and Moudros harbour, which is close to the Turkish coastline and Gallipoli, that played a truly pivotal role in the Anzacs landing on Turkish soil to do battle…
On March 4, 1915, about 3200 Australian soldiers landed on Lemnos. By April 21, about 200 ships had gathered at Mudros Harbour, the main port, and then left the island on the evening of April 24 for the dawn Gallipoli landings.
Training for Gallipoli landings and treatment of those injured was provided by locals from Lemnos and by Australian nurses and medics.
Simpson’s donkey 🐎 was supposed to be from Lemnos…!
Over 50,000 Anzacs passed through Lemnos to Gallipoli and the wonderful people of Lemnos are truly proud to have been a part of our history…
On October 30, 1918, Lemnos was again on the frontline of history when it was the location for the signing of the armistice between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies.
There are 224 Anzacs buried on Lemnos at 2 different cemeteries…144 Aussies and 76 Kiwis…
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆’Lest we forget’☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Click here to read more
We anchored in 6 metres of cloudy water in the harbour of Myrina which did not have a very friendly bottom. It took 3 attempts to get the anchor set and then John had to dive down to check it. It looked fine but we were expecting a blow the following night so set an anchor alarm just to be able to check for drag – there was a rocky outcrop some 70 metres behind us.We could have med-moored on the town quay but prefer to be able to swim off the boat and not have the world walking by looking straight into the cockpit of our boat which invariably is what happens on town quays where it is fashionable to go for a stroll after dinner (>11 pm) to eat gelato and check out the boats.
Click on the photos to enlarge
Photos courtesy Debi Thornley, Taka’Oa who is a great photographer
We explored the town and Castle the next day. The old part is beautiful and very well cared for, tidy and has most services available. It is built under the shadow of the Castle which had a lot of interesting ruins within it’s walls and even a herd of wild deer. The views and the sunsets from the top were spectacular. We climbed during the day and again the following evening at 8pm and watched the sun set.
As predicted a storm blew in on our second night with wind gusts up to 40 kts and just blowing dogs off chains all night. We stayed awake in the saloon keeping an eye on the anchor watch app and checking around the anchorage for other boats dragging. At 3 am Taka’Oa dragged so had to lift their anchor and after half an hour in the pitch black night with the wind howling they finally re-set. They noticed us drag too – about 8 metres – but luckily our anchor re-set successfully and was fine until we left a couple of days later.
Taka’Oa and Macsea 
Myrina harbour 
Climbing up to the castle
Despite the dramas, Lemnos and the harbour of Myrina, was one of our favourite places on the Eastern Mediterranean so far. It has all the things we need – free fresh water, good anchorage, quaint harbour town lined with Tavernas, a sandy beach for swimming, great Gelato and a couple of good supermarkets – all overlooked by a magnificent medieval castle.
Main gate to Castle 
Castle 
Looking down to the anchorage
We did not dally here too long as we needed to meet the family on the next island, Lesvos.
4 comments