Australia's Federation Guard
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Battle of Greece and Crete
On May 15, a contingent from Australia’s Federation Guard (AFG) will travel to Greece and Crete to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle for Greece and Crete. The tri-Service contingent will support up to 16 ceremonial activities during their deployment to mainland Greece and Crete at Australian, Allied and Axis memorials.
The contingent will support a Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) mission comprised of Australian WW2 veterans who served in the region in 1941. AFG also supported the last DVA mission to Greece and Crete in 2001 to commemorate the battle’s 60th anniversary.
The contingent commander for the AFG contingent is a Greek-Australian officer, Lieutenant Luke Haitas, the current Operations Officer and Gun Position Officer (GPO) at AFG.
“We are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of these commemorations in Greece and Crete,” said Lieutenant Haitas.
“Several of our contingent have relatives who served for Australian and even German forces during the war; so this will be a rare chance to walk in their footsteps and even visit some of their grave sites,” he said.
Lieutenant Haitas feels a particularly strong family connection to these commemorations.
“It’s quite a coincidence that I recently discovered that one of my Greek ancestors travelled to serve in the Greek War of independence in 1821. So this activity has great significance to me both as an Australian and a Greek,” said Lieutenant Haitas.
