Government House
George has the pleasure of presenting the NSW Governor General David Hurley AC DSC. a painting of an unknown indigenous digger from the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt collection. The painting now hangs proudly at Government house.
Great Australian Ball
George was one of fifty guests recently honoured as a Great Australian at the 2016 Great Australian Ball held at the Hyatt Melbourne among the fifty were all five Cross of Valour recipients and their patron Ray Martin.
Keith Payne VC with our special guest Aurelio Catalano at the Box Hill RSL presentation.
Digger Day 2016
Reflections of the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt – Sydney
Allan Sparkes, George Petrou & Ross Coulthart
Reflections of the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt – Brisbane
Anthony Field (The Blue Wiggle)
George congratulates Anthony Field (The Blue Wiggle) who was the successful bidder of the Joe Maxwell VC live auction painting at the recent Soldier On Black Tie function in Canberra.
Johnson Beharry VC Visits Our Exhibition
On Saturday 25 July we were honoured to present our ‘Reflection of the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt’ exhibition to a very interested and special visitor to Australia.
Johnson Beharry, British VC recipient who has a special passion for all things WWI was very excited about viewing the WWI exhibition. He told us this is the reason he fought for his country, because of what these young diggers did 100 years’ ago.
Johnson was presented with a signed ‘Lost Diggers’ book presented by chairman Terry Paule from the Findex Group.
Reflections of the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt – Melbourne
To mark the Centenary of WWI, 100 Melbourne clients of financial group Crowe Horwath and Findex attended a special viewing of Melbourne artist George Petrou’s ‘Reflections of the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt’ in Melbourne.
The collection of 14 detailed portraits of diggers was a deeply moving personal experience for the artist who has a deep passion for WWI history.
The guests were treated to a special presentation by Ross Coulthart who was instrumental in finding the original glass plates in the small town of Vignacourt when working for the Sunday Night program on Channel 7.
Dean Mighell was the second speaker who gave a moving detailed account of one of the featured soldiers, John Edward ‘Tiny’ Falloon.
All in all it was a magnificent night, a room filled with great emotion and interest surrounding this fascinating WWI story.
Above Photograph: Ross Coulthart, Lambis Englezos, Terry Paule, George Petrou & Dean Mighells
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Reflections of the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt – Ballarat
The second private viewing of ‘Reflections of the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt’ presented by Crowe Horwath and Findex, and once again was attended by 100 guest, the presentation was held at The George Hotel in Ballarat.
John Ives from Financial Index was the night’s master of ceremonies and said it was an exciting opportunity for locals to view this unique exhibition.
Speakers on the night included local Anzac author Gary Snowden and Lambis Englezos AM, well known for his work on the subject of the Battle of Fromelles.
George Petrou also spoke about his paintings, which were based on the trove of photographs of Australian soldiers taken during WWI in Vignacourt by local photographer of the day Louis Thuillier.
The White Cloud and Heart Foundation Event
George recently donated his portrait of Ben Roberts-Smith to the White Cloud and Heart Foundation inaugural Cross Your Heart charity event held in Canberra on December 1st 2012.
The event raised over $100,000 in the presence of the Governor General Quentin Bryce, The Prime Minister Julia Gillard together with Victoria Cross recipients Keith Payne VC OAM, Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG and Daniel Keighran VC and Australia’s only living George Cross recipient Michael Pratt GC.
