In 2023, the Australian Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, had one of my books translated into Serbian and published jointly with the Serbian Institute for the Newer History of Serbia. The book, “Australians with Serbs in World War One”, was launched in the Historical Museum of Serbia and attracted considerable media attention because the Serbian public had been unaware of the service of over 1500 Australians and New Zealanders in the Serbian Campaign of World War One.
Australians had been considered as British during the war and therefore Serbian histories had not mentioned the presence of Australians (and New Zealanders) who had served with the Serbs. Conversely, Australian histories did not mention the service of these Australians and hardly mentioned the Serbian Front of the war. So, there was a lack of knowledge in both countries about the war service of these Australians.
In order to educate the public about the service of these Anzacs, I proposed through the Australian Embassy in Belgrade that the Serbian Post Office consider publishing commemorative stamps about these Anzacs.
To my delight, the Serbian Post Office agreed to publish several stamps in November 2024 on the 110th anniversary of the arrival of Australian medical volunteers in Serbia in November 1914.
I believe that this issue of Serbian commemorative stamps is the first time that another country has featured Australians who had served in that country and alongside its own people, as allies in a war.
Design of the stamps
The Serbian Post Office examined my translated book in Serbian but also my book “Our Forgotten Volunteers -Australians and New Zealanders with Serbs in World War One” which describes in detail the involvement of Australians and New Zealanders with the Serbs in World War One. It decided to publish six stamps of six Australian individuals who would represent all those who had served with the Serbs throughout the war.
The Post Office chose the six individuals from lists of those described in my books. It decided to design portraits stamps of the six with themes in the background of each stamp.
In addition, the Post Office designed two First Day Cover envelopes with three franked stamps each of the Australians. The envelopes also featured photographs of associated themes and Serbian medals awarded to the Australians. At the back of the envelopes were short biographies of each featured Australian.
I supplied the required photographs and biographies and worked with the Post Office designers to finalise the designs and text during 2024.
Australian with Serbs Association delegation to Serbia for the stamps launch and Armistice Day 11 November 2024
A delegation from Australia travelled to Belgrade for the stamps launch and Armistice Day 2024 ceremonies. The delegation comprised Ruth Stephens and Cathy Bromilow ( granddaughters of Nursing Sister Ethel Gillingham, who had served in Serbian in 1915-1916), Kathy Hancock and Ava Hancock, great niece and great great niece of Dr Mary de Garis (who had served with a hospital of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in support of the Serbian Army in 1917-1918), Dr Robert Webster OAM, Victorian State president of the RSL, Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Michael Buckridge RFD, President of Military History and Heritage Victoria and my wife Robyn and myself.
Members of the delegation visited a memorial to the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in the town of Mladenovac and to the women medical staff in the town of Vrnjacka Banja where Ethel Gillingham had served. The guest housers which were used as hospitals in World War One were still there.
The stamps launch in Belgrade on 8 November 2024
The Serbian commemorative stamps of Australian medical volunteers were launched at the Serbian post Office Museum in Belgrade on 8 November 2024 in front a large media presence. The Serbian Government Minister George Milicevic spoke at the launch as did the Director of the Serbian Post Office, Mr Zoran Andjelkovic.
The Australian Ambassador to Serbia, HE Mr Daniel Emery spoke as did I and then Ruth Stephens and Kathy Hancock spoke on behalf of descendants of the Australians being commemorated on the Serbian stamps.
A video of the stamps launch can be found on this link:
Presentation of the Serbian commemorative stamps to the families of the six Australians at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne, on 23 November 2024
The Serbian stamps were presented to the Australian public at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne, on 23 November 2024. HE Mr Rade Stefanovic, Serbian Ambassador to Australia, presented a folder of the stamps and First Day Cover envelopes to a representative of each of the six families of the commemorated Australians.
Other speakers at the event included His Eminence, Archbishop Siluan of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Australia and New Zealand, Mr Robert Webster OAM, Victorian State President of the RSL and me. My presentation was about the service of each of the commemorated Australians in the context of the war in Serbia. After being presented with the stamps each family representative spoke about their ancestor. We were also treated to two tradional Serbian songs at the function by the Ensemble Anja and Zlatna. One of these songs “Tamo Daleko” (There, Fra Away) was composed during World War One as Serbian soldiers were forced to leave their own country in order to continue to fight.
Launch of trailer for the documentary film “By Far Kaymakchalan”
At the presentation at the Shrime on 23 November 2024, a trailer was premiered of the documentary film “By Far Kaymakchalan”: which tells the story of the service of Australians and New Zealanders in the Serbian Campaign of World War One. The documentary is planned to be launched in 2025 and we hope that it will be broadcast by one of the television or streaming services.
Launch of the booklet “Serving with the Serbs – Australian volunteers in the Great War”.
The booklet “Serving with the Serbs – Australian volunteers of the Great War” was launched at the event at the Shrine of Remembrance. The booklet describes the service of the six Australians featured on the Serbian stamps as well as two Australian soldiers who served in Serbia and are featured in the documentary “By Far Kaymakchalan.”
First copies of the booklet were presented by me to Margaret Brown (great niece of Australian soldier Niall Mullarkey) and Susan Regan (granddaughter of Australian soldier Edward Ramage).
A video of the presentation of the stamps, the premiere of the documentary trailer and the launch of the booklet “Serving with the Serbs – Australian volunteers in the Great War” is available on this link:
Honoured Australians on Serbian commemorative stamps
Short biographies based on those from the book Our Forgotten Volunteers – Australians and New Zealanders with Serbs in World War One (Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne, 2018).
Benbow, Thomas Alexander Palmer (1886-1971)
Medical Officer
British Red Cross
Awarded the Serbian Order of St Sava, Class IV
He very likely was awarded with the British World War One medals
War service
Thomas “Alec” Benbow served with the British Red Cross Number One Unit and was in Serbia from late October 1914 to June 1915. Alec served in the Serbian Fourth Reserve Hospital at Skoplje, treating wounded and typhus patients. He and his colleagues were overwhelmed by the number of wounded arriving day and night for urgent care. He contracted typhus and diphtheria whilst on service.
Curriculum vitae
Thomas Benbow was born in Victoria and graduated at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in June 1914 winning the prize of most worthy graduate.
After his WW1 service overseas, he returned to Australia, where he practiced in Potts Point, Sydney and took an interest in forensic science. Becoming something of an amateur detective, he proposed a solution to the ‘Pyjama girl’ case. He also worked on international cruise ships. Alec died in Sydney in 1971.
De Garis, Mary Clementina (1881 – 1963)
Medical Officer
Scottish Women’s Hospitals, French Red Cross
Order of St Sava, Class III
British First World War medals
War service
Mary travelled to England in 1916 and worked in London at the Manor Hospital for almost half a year, but following her fiancée’s death in France, Mary joined the Scottish Women’s Hospitals “America” Unit and went to Ostrovo, near the Front, supporting the Serbian Army. Mary first served as one of the medical officers of the unit, carrying out operations both at the base location and at advanced dressing stations. She was promoted to be the Chief Medical Officer in 1917, after the departure of Dr Agnes Bennett, the unit’s first commander. Mary led the unit from February 1917 to October 1918. She was described as a strong but strict leader, who was meticulous in looking after both patients and staff. The Serbian Government awarded her the Order of St Sava, Class III for her services in support of the Serbian Army.
Curriculum vitae
Mary was born in Charlton, Victoria and attended Methodist Ladies College in Melbourne, and in 1907, Mary became the second woman in Victoria to receive a Doctorate of Medicine. She worked briefly in Melbourne and spent over a year working in a hospital in Queensland before travelling to Europe and America to undertake postgraduate courses. She returned to Australia in 1910 and became Resident Surgeon at the Tibooburra Hospital in New South Wales. After the war, Mary became the first female medical practitioner in Geelong. She worked closely with mothers and babies and conducted medical research and kept records of thousands of deliveries. She published work in medical journals in Australia and internationally. Mary worked as a practitioner until her late seventies and died in Geelong in 1963.
Donaldson, James Blair (1888 – 1971)
Medical Officer
Wounded Allies Relief
British First World War medals
War service
James, “Blair” was living in London when World War One commenced. He joined the Allies War Relief organisation and was sent to Kragujevac in Serbia in 1915. There he was put in charge of an X-ray unit dealing with wounded and sick Serbian soldiers and civilians. At some point during 1915, Blair moved south to Gevgelija in then southern Serbia near the Greek border. There, between October and December 1915, he was attached to a French Army field hospital, Hospital d’Evacuation, No.2, Secteur 503. French and British forces had advanced into Serbia at that time in order to link up with the Serbian Army fighting invading Germans, Austro-Hungarians and Bulgarians. He performed some surgery whilst awaiting the arrival of his X-ray equipment. Later, Blair worked in France again using X-ray equipment.
Curriculum vitae
James was born in 1888 in Rokeby, Victoria, the son of Dr James Blair Donaldson. He studied medicine at the University of Melbourne but undertook further study and graduated from Edinburgh University in 1913. Upon his return to Australia in 1920 with his wife and child, he continued to practice as a doctor. James died in 1971 in Victoria and was cremated at Springvale Cemetery.
Gillingham, Ethel May (born 1884 – 1952)
Nursing Sister
British Red Cross Society, Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS)
Awarded the Serbian Cross of Mercy
British First World War medals
War service
Ethel enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the British Red Cross Society, October 1914 and served with the 3rd Southern General Auxiliary Hospital, Milton Hill, Steventon, Berkshire, in the period October 1914 – April 1915. She then joined the Second British Red Cross Serbian Mission at Vrnjačka Banja in Serbia and served with that unit in the period May 1915 – February 1916. In November 1915 Ethel became a prisoner of war following the invasion of Serbia by German, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces. Ethel’s departure from Serbia was facilitated by the American Red Cross. She was part of a group of medical volunteers who were repatriated to England via Zurich and France in February 1916. Ethel wrote descriptively in a long letter of her exit from Serbia “Poor little Serbia! How my heart aches for her and her brave people”. I really worked hard during those first weeks of the invasion and my eyes were seldom dry.” Aspects of her account were published in Australian newspapers. Ethel then served at a Red Cross Hospital in Egypt from June 1916 until December 1917 and finally at Millbay V.A.D. Hospital, Plymouth from July to October 1918.
Curriculum vitae
Ethel May Gillingham was born and raised in Geelong, Victoria. She completed three years of nursing training at the Colac Hospital plus an additional year at Wangaratta Hospital for “surgical experience.” Later, Ethel resumed nursing in Cairo Egypt, where on a blind date she met and became engaged in less than 24 hours to Australian Imperial Force Captain Theophilus Richard Evans in September 1917 (Theo, an officer in the Australian Army Pay Corps based in Cairo, spent time on the Salonika Front in August 1917). After the War, Ethel and Theo (known as Dick) Evans created a family with three children.
Franklin, Stella Maria Sarah Miles (1879–1954)
Orderly
Scottish Women’s Hospitals
King George V Jubilee Medal (1935)
Queen’s Coronation Medal (1953)
War service
In 1917, Miles volunteered to serve with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals “America” Unit at Lake Ostrovo in Macedonia. She enlisted as a camp cook and served under the Australian Chief Medical Officers, Dr Agnes Bennett and Dr Mary de Garis. Apart from cooking duties Miles was also involved in store keeping for the unit. Miles kept a diary and wrote about her war service experience: a memoir called “Ne Mari Ništa: Six Months with the Serbs” and a play “By Far Kaimacktchalan: A Play of the Balkan Front Today.” She suffered from various ailments and was looked after by Mary de Garis. She returned to London with poor health in early 1918.
Curriculum vitae
Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin was born in 1879 in country NSW, Australia. She was an author, feminist, advocate for workers’ rights and a great supporter of the arts in Australia. When she was a teenager, she wrote her semi-autobiographical story, My Brilliant Career and submitted it under the pen name Miles Franklin. It was published in London, 1901 and became an instant success. Miles moved to America in 1906 seeking to publish new works. She worked with the National Women’s Trade Union League of America and became a secretary to the president of that organisation. She then moved to London late in 1915 where she mixed in feminist circles and worked in a restaurant. After the war Miles stayed in London for a few years and worked for the National Housing and Town Planning Council. She returned to Australia in 1932 and devoted the rest of her life to Australian literature. She died in 1954 in NSW.
King, Olive May (Kelso) (1885 – 1958)
Ambulance Driver, Sergeant
Scottish Women’s Hospitals; Serbian Army
Awarded:
Order of St Sava, Class V
Serbian Bravery Medal, Silver
Serbian Medal for Zealous Service
Serbian Cross of Mercy
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935)
King George VI Coronation Medal (1937)
War service
In 1915 Olive first volunteered for war duty with her own ambulance and went briefly to Belgium with a private organisation trying to help the medical services. In May 1915 Olive joined the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service as an ambulance driver and was sent to France with the “Girton and Newnham” Unit. This unit was then sent to Serbia in late 1915 accompanying units of the French Army sent to link up with the Serbian Army then fighting an invasion from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The French and British troops as well as Olive’s unit were forced to withdraw to Salonika in late 1915. In 1916 Olive joined the Serbian Army as an ambulance driver for the headquarters of the Serbian Army Medical Service. She was decorated with the Medal for Zealous Service and with the Medal for Bravery, Silver, for her actions during the great fire in Salonika in 1917. Olive founded the Serbian Canteens in 1918 with funds raised in Australia and London by a committee established by her businessman father. Olive organised stores and staff for several canteens in newly-liberated Serbia and nearby places in the period 1918-1920. +She established a trust to fund research at the University in Belgrade. She was personally thanked by Crown Prince Aleksandar for her work and, after his coronation, was invited to his wedding in 1922. Olive was decorated with the Serbian Cross of Mercy for her ambulance work and with the Order of St Sava, Class V for her humanitarian service with the Serbian Canteens.
Curriculum vitae
Olive was born in Sydney in a wealthy family. As a young woman she was already a free spirit and, as some sources record, an “unconventional woman with a flair for languages and a desire to travel”. She was educated at home and later at Sydney Church of England Grammar School for Girls, as well as in in Germany. In 1910 she climbed Mount Popocatepetl in Mexico with a group of friends. She also developed an interest in motoring, including mechanics and rally-driving. She was in England when the war started and decided to volunteer as an ambulance driver. After the war, Olive returned to Australia and was very active in the Girl Guides’ Association for a long time. She later received the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935) and King George VI Coronation Medal (1937). During World War II Olive completed a course in inspection at a Commonwealth Government aircraft school and worked as an examiner at de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd from 1942 to 1944.
Bojan Pajic
President
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