Retired art teacher and amateur historian Lambis Englezos shot to fame for his work to recover and celebrate Australia’s forgotten war heroes.
As a child growing up in Melbourne, Englezos met many troops that had returned to Australia, and developed an interest in history, particularly the First World War. He started to research and write about the missing troops from the Battle of Fromelles, and started on a mission to recover and honour as many of the missing troops as he could. He developed a theory that many of them were buried in mass graves, and set out to excavate sites to prove his theory. He was met with huge resistance, both from the authorities and other history experts, but his determination paid off and he was eventually proved right. Englezos and his team of amateur historians had discovered a site which had never previously been known of, and in doing so were able to honour hundreds of lives which were sacrificed for the safety of the Australian people. He received the Order of Australia in 2008 for his work on Fromelles, and has been featured in news and media reports about his amazing discovery.
Englezos is the co-founder of Friends of the 15th Brigade, an organisation set up to put on events for the relatives of the soldiers who served in the brigade, and commemorate the soldiers’ service. He is now widely acknowledged as one of the leading expert on Australia’s role in the First World War, and is a highly sought after speaker and writer.
