Eighty-four years after the Battle of Crete, a group of Greek Australians is set to retrace the retreat of ANZAC forces during the legendary 1941 battle.
The journey will cover 100 kilometres from Maleme to Hora Sfakion, following the same path taken by Australian and New Zealand soldiers as they retreated from German forces.
This trek honours the soldiers who fought and sacrificed far from home, and it is also a mission to support a charitable cause.
The group, members of the “Wish You Were Here” organisation, is raising funds for Pankind, the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, to support research on early detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Among the participants are cancer survivors and relatives of those who have battled the disease. The group previously raised over 200,000 euros during a 2017 trek in Papua New Guinea to honour those lost to cancer.
Con Kanellis, a member of the organisation, has a personal connection to both the history of Crete and cancer.
Born in Greece with roots in Crete, he became passionate about honouring the sacrifices of ANZAC soldiers after learning about their military campaigns in both Crete and Papua New Guinea.
“The more I read about these incredible human beings, the more I felt compelled to honour their sacrifice,” he said.
Kanellis also shares that the creation of “Wish You Were Here” was inspired by his own cancer battle.
After surviving stage 4 metastatic laryngeal cancer, Kanellis began organising charity events to raise awareness for cancer, particularly pancreatic cancer.
The death of his best friend, Nick Stamatakis, from pancreatic cancer deepened his commitment to the cause.
“Our goal is to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer, which is often diagnosed too late, leading to low survival rates,” Kanellis explained.
While their fundraising efforts support Pankind in Australia, Kanellis expressed interest in collaborating with Greek cancer charities, hoping that Cretans and Greeks would join them on their trek in solidarity.
Source: To Vima
