Year 11 student Charlie Martin has earned a place on a study tour examining Australian service in Greece and Crete. Queenscliff is near NBSC Manly Campus in North Curl Curl, where Martin is currently enrolled.
Martin will join 17 other NSW students on the 2026 Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarship tour from 26 September to 8 October.
The group will visit battlefields, cemeteries, memorials, museums and cultural sites associated with the Second World War, focusing on the Greek and Crete campaigns of 1941.
His selection followed a statewide process involving more than 200 applicants from 148 government and non-government secondary schools. Recipients were selected for their academic strength, interest in history and commitment to community engagement.
Charlie Martin to Visit Campaign Sites
The scholars will be accompanied by three NSW history teachers and a military historian during the tour.
Their itinerary includes the battlefields of Thermopylae and Thebes, the 6th Australian Division Memorial at Stavromenos and the battlefields of Rethymno.
Visits are also scheduled for Phaleron War Cemetery and Souda Bay War Cemetery, along with the Acropolis and other historical and cultural locations.
The program will allow Martin to examine how the campaigns unfolded and how Australians who served during the fighting are commemorated.
The scholarship covers travel, accommodation, meals, uniforms and the learning and leisure activities included in the itinerary.
Australian Service During the 1941 Campaigns
More than 58,000 Allied troops were deployed to Greece in 1941 to support Greek forces against the Axis invasion.
The force included substantial numbers of Australians from the 6th Division. Following the withdrawal from mainland Greece, more than 26,000 Allied troops were evacuated to Crete.
Thousands of Australians later took part in the island’s defence.
The campaigns came at a heavy cost for Australian forces. A total of 274 Australians were killed, 507 were wounded and more than 3,000 became prisoners of war.
The tour marks 85 years since the campaigns and is intended to preserve knowledge of the service, resistance and losses associated with the fighting.
Preparing to Carry Out Research
Before departure, Martin attended a gathering for the scholarship recipients at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.
The students met their fellow scholars, accompanying teachers and tour historian before receiving the research tasks they will complete as part of the program.
They attended a commemorative service in the Hall of Memory, listened to a live reading of Beryl Crowdy’s wartime letters and viewed Second World War artefacts.
Martin’s research will continue in Greece and Crete as he visits the battlefields and memorials connected with the Australians who served there.
Published 17-July-2026
