Greece's Evzones raised the Greek flag at the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney on Sunday, marking the 86th anniversar...

Greece's Evzones raised the Greek flag at the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney on Sunday, marking the 86th anniversary of OXI Day, the day Greece refused Mussolini's ultimatum and entered World War II. The Hellenic Presidential Guard marched from Elizabeth Street to the memorial, joined by community members in traditional dress, in a ceremony hosted by the Kalymnian Association of NSW. Hellenic Club Sydney, celebrating its own 100th anniversary this year, hosted the Guard's Sydney visit with support from the NSW Government. Students from All Saints Grammar, St Euphemia College and St Spyridon College performed both the Australian and Greek national anthems before the Guard took its ceremonial position at the memorial. The ceremony honoured not only Greece's defiant stand on October 28, 1940, but also the Australians and Greeks who fought side by side in the campaigns of Greece and Crete in WWII. Greek Ambassador Stavros Venizelos, Presidential Guard Commander Michail Tzinieris and Con Apoifis of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW all addressed the crowd. Master of ceremonies George Karantonis, who thanked Greek President Konstantinos Tasoulas for approving the visit, invoked Winston Churchill's famous words: "Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks." He closed the ceremony with a simple statement on the day's meaning: "It is the commemoration of a principle." Archbishop Makarios of Australia was absent, leading 250 Australian pilgrims in Constantinople for the 35th anniversary of Patriarch Bartholomew's election. Father Dimitrios Papaoikonomou represented him at the ceremony. The Evzones travel to Canberra on October 28 for their first ever official visit to Australia's national capital. #OXIDay #Evzones #GreekAustralia