Ten Victorian high school students have won the chance to retrace the footsteps of Australia’s “forgotten ANZACs” who fought a valiant rearguard against on overwhelming German force in the defence of Greece in 1941.

The Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, today announced the winners of the 2008 Victorian Spirit of ANZAC Prize at a reception for the Year 10 students and their families.

Mr Brumby said the two week study tour would help the students understand the significance of the Greek campaign which, like the landing on Gallipoli 26 years before, called on all the reserves of courage and tenacity for ill-equipped troops beating a retreat against overwhelming odds.

"The Government set up the Victorian Spirit of ANZAC Prize to inspire young Victorians to learn more about the sacrifices made by our veterans and keep their memory alive in our communities," Mr Brumby said.

"The annual prize offers 10 Year 10 high school students the chance to undertake a guided study tour of significant sites sacred to the memory of our veterans.

"For the prize, Year 9 students in Government, Catholic and Independent schools were asked to reflect on how values such as courage and initiative displayed at Gallipoli and all the conflicts and since, are still relevant to us today, as communities continue to confront adversities such as drought, flood and fire."

The 2008 study tour, from 17 April to 2 May, will see students visit sites throughout Greece and Crete, including the Monastery at Prevali, where the monks displayed extraordinary heroism and paid a high price for helping Australians avoid capture.

Mr Brumby said Matt Viney MLC, the Government Whip in the Legislative Council, would accompany the students on the tour.

Students entering the prize were able to submit an essay, poem or multimedia presentation.

"We wanted to give all of Victoria's Year 9 students the best possible chance to show how the ANZAC values are part of our way of life today," Mr Brumby said.

"This year's entries included power-point presentations, videos, songs and artworks as well as more the conventional essays and poems."

A selection panel chaired by Major General Jim Barry, National President of the Defence Reserves Association, interviewed the 27 State finalists from the nine Victorian education regions, to select the prize winners.

The 10 recipients of the 2007 Victorian Spirit of Anzac Prize are:

• Logan Edwards, Lavalla Catholic College, Traralgon
• Norah Finn, Ballarat Grammar, Wendouree
• Penelope Hicks, Terang College, Terang
• Eliza Jackson, Firbank Grammar, Brighton
• Becky King, Camberwell Girls' Grammar, Canterbury
• Caitlin Latter, Catholic Regional College, Melton
• Jamalodin Mozafari, Lyndale Secondary College, Dandenong
• Madeline Revell, Catholic College, Wodonga
• Chloe Sinclair, Melbourne Girls' College, Richmond
• Isabel Tickle, Irymple Secondary College, Irymple

 Two Victorian teachers, Jane Ezard, Principal of Rushworth P-12 College, and Steven Pinner from Viewbank College Rosanna, have been selected to chaperone the 2008 Spirit of ANZAC students.

"The Spirit of Anzac Prize is a fantastic opportunity and a great responsibility for these young people," Mr Brumby said.

"I am sure they will come back from their study tour with a much deeper, more personal understanding of what our forces experienced and they will be able to re-tell those stories about what Australians endured in the defence of our country and the way of life we treasure."

Study tour highlights:

• Visiting the Athens Memorial and Phaleron War Cemetery where 580 Australians, who died in the defence of Greece and Crete in April and May 1941, are buried or commemorated.
• The ancient Greek sites at Delphi, Vergina and Thermopylae - the site of another significant battle by ANZAC troops in World War II. 
• Thessaloniki to attend a special ANZAC Day service at the Australian Memorial at Rethymnon.
• Conclusion of the tour in Singapore and Malaysia, with a visit to the memorial the massacre of Australians at Parit Sulong in Malaysia, as well as the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore where nearly 3000 Australians are remembered.