A Campbelltown student is among 18 awarded a 2026 Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarship (PAMS).
Harshpreet Sidhu, who attends St Patrick’s College for Girls in east Campbelltown, and the other 17 scholarship recipients will jet off to Greece and Crete during the term 3 school holidays from September 26 to October 8.
The annual scholarship gives NSW Year 10 History and Year 11 Modern History students the opportunity to travel on a study tour to develop their knowledge and understanding of the history of Australians at war.
This year the successful students will deepen their understanding of Australia’s role in the Second World War on the 85th anniversary of the Greek and Crete campaigns of 1941.
More than 58,000 Allied troops, including significant numbers of Australians from the 6th Division, were deployed to Greece in 1941 to support Greek forces against the Axis invasion.
Following the withdrawal from mainland Greece, more than 26,000 Allied troops evacuated to Crete, including thousands of Australians who would take part in the island’s defence.
The campaign came at a heavy cost, with 274 Australians killed, 507 wounded and more than 3,000 taken prisoner during the fighting.
The Battle of Crete and the wider Greek campaign remain defining chapters in Australia’s wartime history, marked by courage in the face of overwhelming odds and the enduring bond between Australian and Greek communities.
The PAMS tour 85 years on preserves these stories of service, resistance and sacrifice for future generations.
Accompanied by a military historian, the tour will include visits to significant battlefields, war memorials, war cemeteries, museums, and historic sites to learn about and commemorate the service of Australian men and women in the World Wars and other conflicts.
The students will also participate in commemorations, visits to museums, war memorials and significant historical and cultural sites.
These include the battlefields at the gorges of Tempe and Pinios, the Commonwealth War Graves at Suda Bay and the 6th Australian Division Memorial in Stavromenos.
NSW minister for veterans David Harris formally welcomed the students at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park last week, along with Georgios Skemperis, the Consul-General of Greece in Sydney.
The students also received their research tasks, met with the tour historian and accompanying teachers and attended a commemorative service in the Hall of Memory (pictured above).
More information about the 2026 Scholarship is available here: https://www.veterans.nsw.gov.au/education/premiers-anzac-memorial-scholarship/
