Floating Museum Armoured Cruiser G. AVEROF
Permanent Exhibition of Uniform Reproductions of the Hellenic Royal Navy of the Balkan Wars Period 1912-1913
Friday, October 5, 2012, marked 100 years from the outbreak of the Balkan Wars.
The uniform exhibition requested by the Navy as part of nationwide celebrations to commemorate the event will be housed onboard the AC "Georgios Averof".
The President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias, inaugurated the exhibition on Thursday, October 4th and subsequently toured the restored rooms of the historic ship.
The exhibition numbered fourteen naval uniform reproductions that were reconstructed from scratch by Khaki Depot. The reproductions, the result of meticulous research lasting over twenty five years, were based on photographic and other sources of the early 20th century and the Balkan Wars era.
Originally requested in January by the History Dept of the Hellenic Navy and the Hellenic Naval Staff, we were faced with substantial difficulties that are commensurate with such a complex project. The objective was to present not simply dressed-up mannequins, but a realistic setting of the crew quarters in a ship of this era (1890-1915).
We worked with conviction, overcoming numerous obstacles, not least of which was the prevailing bureaucratic "negativeness" and the -at best- cautious optimism as to the fruition of the project.
In retrospect, it is such hard-wrought projects that provide added value to whatever is being attempted -and realized- during these difficult times in Greece. A reality that was shared and effectively acted upon by our sponsor, Mr. A. Haitoglou.
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