He was known as a courageous soldier, a controversial politician and a straight talker. But for the descendants of refugees helped by George Devine Treloar – who will be commemorated in a new Sturt Street statue – it is simple. He was a hero whose work saved their lives.
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His early years were unremarkable. The son of the owners of the first pharmacy in Ballarat, he was born in 1884 and educated at St Patrick’s College. He worked initially as a bank clerk in town, then after a stint as a jackaroo in the Outback he eventually segued into London’s acting world. Having served as a lieutenant in the 3rd Victorian Rifles, he signed up to fight in the First World War almost immediately after it was declared, and served in the British Coldstream Guards. During his time there he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross.
After that conflict, he fought with the pro-Tsar White Russians, and was then appointed as a Commissioner for Refugees of the League of Nations in north-eastern Hellas in 1922. As a humanitarian disaster unfolded, displacing huge numbers of people, Treloar began the work that would win him the undying gratitude of a people in need. He organised food, shelter, medical care and resettlement for the refugees – often in the face of bureaucratic opposition or indifference.
If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here talking to you today
- Litsa Athanasiadis, chair of the George Devine Treloar Memorial Committee
The Australian Institute of International Affairs estimates the number of refugees he helped at 108,000.
Ballarat’s Litsa Athanasiadis is a descendant of one of those and chair of the George Devine Treloar Memorial Committee that campaigned for the statue. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here talking to you today,” she told The Courier.
“It means a lot to us, erecting a statue here. We’re talking about a humanitarian and refugees who needed his help.
“This is a humanitarian project. This is a project about pain for us as well, because our people lived along the shores of the Black Sea for 3,000 years and there was a genocide committed, and some survived [and headed] into mainland Greece, and set up there. And who helped them set up? George Devine Treloar.”
Such was the affection in which he was held, a refugee village Thrilorion was named after him, a fact that struck another George Treloar Memorial Committe Member, local historian Jim Claven.
“I’ve been to the village [in Thrace in Northern Greece] and they have a museum to him. They honour him. He’s loved there, even to this day,” he said.
“In terms of his commitment to humanitarianism and caring for people, [Schindler] is a good comparison. The people that he was looking after were in distress, they were fleeing war, a lot of them didn’t have any goods, they had lost a lot of relatives. Then here’s this guy from Ballarat who’s got great organisational skills - he could have done lots of other things, but he decided to become the League of Nations representative. He ended up putting a lot of money into it when the funds ran out.
“I think the reason why he’s been forgotten is that he was in the British Army for a start - he wasn’t in the Australian Army. He was in England, he volunteered. Lots of other famous Australian soldiers were in England when they volunteered then they transferred, but he stayed in the British Army in the Coldstream Guards, one of the most elite regiments in the British Army.”
Later life
Later, Treloar made forays into politics, including the controversial New Guard in Sydney, which would become known for its far-right leanings (Treloar was appointed second in command in 1930 but stepped down in 1931, accusing its leader Eric Campbell of fascism).
“People are colourful,” Mr Claven said. “He was actively involved in community affairs, and with politics, he fell in and out with people but you can’t take away from what he did there [in Northern Greece].
“It would be tragic if you said, ‘Well, we’re not going to honour his humanitarian work because of something he did later on.’”
“For me, he’s a great humanitarian and deserves to be remembered in Ballarat.”
Treloar eventually settled in Perth where he became a radio personality known for his trenchant views. He died in 1980, with his wife and two sons surviving him.
There are an estimated two million people descended from those he helped.