Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 20, 2015 0:03:27 GMT 12
An account from a veteran of the Greece and Crete campaign of 1941, from the Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 44, 21 February 1945, Page 7
GLORY IN RETREAT
GREECE AND CRETE
THE WELLINGTON BATTALION
Sidelights on some of the actions in which the Wellington Battalion took part in Greece and Crete were described to the Rotary Club at a luncheon recently by Major E. D. Blundell.
After spending some days digging defences in the beautiful oak forest country north of Olympus and on the sides of Olympus itself, he said, the Battalion was directed at short notice to the other side of Greece, taking up a position covering the entrance to Servia Pass and overlooking the Aliakmon River.
While waiting there for the Germans to arrive they had the pitiful sight of civilian refugees streaming back through the lines carrying their small possessions. They had a better idea now of what the war m European countries meant to civilians.
The major German attack was launched approximately half an hour before first light and against the positions held by the Wellington Company.
A GERMAN RUSE.
"The Germans certainly have plenty of ingenuity and they are by no means stereotyped," said Major Blundell. In this case they had some of their troops dressed as refugees, and by this means, and with the aid of either a Greek or a Greek-speaking German, approximately 60 of them managed to walk through our lines and from there delivered an attack upon two of the platoons from the rear.
The balance of the German force attacked from the front and a bitter fight ensued. When light came the balance of the New Zealanders stretched along the hill found the Germans without cover. The effect of small arms fire, plus the damaging work of mortars, soon finished the fight and almost all the Germans surrendered.
This was probably the first 'action fought by New Zealand infantry. Our losses were seven, of whom four were killed, while approximately 50 to 60 Germans were killed and 140 captured.
"The next attempt to force the Pass was made in daylight under cover of a dive-bombing attack lasting over an hour. This was definitely unpleasant, for we had no air cover and the only ack-ack came from rifles. For all that, the company did not have a single casualty and the German infantry attack across the river was easily dispelled.
RETREAT FROM LARISSA.
"After eight days in that area, constantly on guard by day and night, the Battalion was ordered to withdraw. It was a long and weary march back to our transport and over parts of the road the troops were being shelled. Few of the troops had had more than about four hours' sleep in the 24, and most of them were nearly worn out.
Nowadays we bring our transport much closer to the marching troops. That retreat back from Larissa was one of the worst days of the war. An orderly convoy of vehicles maintaining 100-yard intervals - their only protection against air attack — soon became a shambles as vehicles from all types of units, Australians and British, joined in, so that the procession became almost nose to tail. German bombers were up and down the column all day. It was a great relief when night came.
"The next move of the battalion was across towards the Albanian frontier, where it was given the optimistic task of holding the pass while the Greek army passed through. But the Greeks surrendered on the far side. The battalion had only its own transport, and most of the troops had a long walk back all that night. Some of them marched up to 20 miles. Finally they picked up their own transport, and the next stop was at Thermopylae, when the rest of the division passed through the Fourth Brigade. The retreat across the Corinth Canala was off, as it was captured by parachutists, the battalion losing an entire company, which had been sent down there to assist in protecting the crossings. A new route was hastily arranged, and when the battalion retired it was through Athens and to a beach on the east coast."
A HARROWING DAY.
That day before the evacuation was a very harrowing one, said Major Blundell. On the march down towards the beach German planes were continually strafing and there were a lot of casualties in the brigade. They then had to hold the approach to the beach for several hours until dark. No ships could approach the coast until well after dark owing to the bombers. The Germans arrived in a village about three miles away at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and it was expected they would attack at any time. Had they done so in force very few of the brigade would have got off. For some reason they did not.
The speaker recounted how his platoon was amongst the last to leave the beach in the early hours of the morning. On approaching the beach they saw the last of the landing craft disappearing towards a warship. They were then directed to a scow manned by two Greeks. Time was becoming important, because everybody realised that the ships had to be a good 40 miles away before daylight. The scow grounded and everybody had to get off and the scow pushed further out to sea. Even then it took three separate attempts to reach the waiting destroyer.
From Greece they went to Crete, where they were told the Germans were planning an attack. On May 20 they saw the first great airborne attack of the war. It was an incredible sight to see the Jerries flying just above them. Each plane dropped approximately half a dozen men and the sky was full of parachutes of different colours so that equipment could be more easily recognised on the ground. A large number landed in the Battalion area and most of them were killed. The Battalion's only artillery support consisted of three ancient 75 mm. guns — two made in Italy in 1907 and one in France in 1911 and with only one sight among them. There were no machine-guns other than a few Brens, and mortar ammunition was short, but the German casualties were very much higher than the New Zealanders.
GLORY IN RETREAT
GREECE AND CRETE
THE WELLINGTON BATTALION
Sidelights on some of the actions in which the Wellington Battalion took part in Greece and Crete were described to the Rotary Club at a luncheon recently by Major E. D. Blundell.
After spending some days digging defences in the beautiful oak forest country north of Olympus and on the sides of Olympus itself, he said, the Battalion was directed at short notice to the other side of Greece, taking up a position covering the entrance to Servia Pass and overlooking the Aliakmon River.
While waiting there for the Germans to arrive they had the pitiful sight of civilian refugees streaming back through the lines carrying their small possessions. They had a better idea now of what the war m European countries meant to civilians.
The major German attack was launched approximately half an hour before first light and against the positions held by the Wellington Company.
A GERMAN RUSE.
"The Germans certainly have plenty of ingenuity and they are by no means stereotyped," said Major Blundell. In this case they had some of their troops dressed as refugees, and by this means, and with the aid of either a Greek or a Greek-speaking German, approximately 60 of them managed to walk through our lines and from there delivered an attack upon two of the platoons from the rear.
The balance of the German force attacked from the front and a bitter fight ensued. When light came the balance of the New Zealanders stretched along the hill found the Germans without cover. The effect of small arms fire, plus the damaging work of mortars, soon finished the fight and almost all the Germans surrendered.
This was probably the first 'action fought by New Zealand infantry. Our losses were seven, of whom four were killed, while approximately 50 to 60 Germans were killed and 140 captured.
"The next attempt to force the Pass was made in daylight under cover of a dive-bombing attack lasting over an hour. This was definitely unpleasant, for we had no air cover and the only ack-ack came from rifles. For all that, the company did not have a single casualty and the German infantry attack across the river was easily dispelled.
RETREAT FROM LARISSA.
"After eight days in that area, constantly on guard by day and night, the Battalion was ordered to withdraw. It was a long and weary march back to our transport and over parts of the road the troops were being shelled. Few of the troops had had more than about four hours' sleep in the 24, and most of them were nearly worn out.
Nowadays we bring our transport much closer to the marching troops. That retreat back from Larissa was one of the worst days of the war. An orderly convoy of vehicles maintaining 100-yard intervals - their only protection against air attack — soon became a shambles as vehicles from all types of units, Australians and British, joined in, so that the procession became almost nose to tail. German bombers were up and down the column all day. It was a great relief when night came.
"The next move of the battalion was across towards the Albanian frontier, where it was given the optimistic task of holding the pass while the Greek army passed through. But the Greeks surrendered on the far side. The battalion had only its own transport, and most of the troops had a long walk back all that night. Some of them marched up to 20 miles. Finally they picked up their own transport, and the next stop was at Thermopylae, when the rest of the division passed through the Fourth Brigade. The retreat across the Corinth Canala was off, as it was captured by parachutists, the battalion losing an entire company, which had been sent down there to assist in protecting the crossings. A new route was hastily arranged, and when the battalion retired it was through Athens and to a beach on the east coast."
A HARROWING DAY.
That day before the evacuation was a very harrowing one, said Major Blundell. On the march down towards the beach German planes were continually strafing and there were a lot of casualties in the brigade. They then had to hold the approach to the beach for several hours until dark. No ships could approach the coast until well after dark owing to the bombers. The Germans arrived in a village about three miles away at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and it was expected they would attack at any time. Had they done so in force very few of the brigade would have got off. For some reason they did not.
The speaker recounted how his platoon was amongst the last to leave the beach in the early hours of the morning. On approaching the beach they saw the last of the landing craft disappearing towards a warship. They were then directed to a scow manned by two Greeks. Time was becoming important, because everybody realised that the ships had to be a good 40 miles away before daylight. The scow grounded and everybody had to get off and the scow pushed further out to sea. Even then it took three separate attempts to reach the waiting destroyer.
From Greece they went to Crete, where they were told the Germans were planning an attack. On May 20 they saw the first great airborne attack of the war. It was an incredible sight to see the Jerries flying just above them. Each plane dropped approximately half a dozen men and the sky was full of parachutes of different colours so that equipment could be more easily recognised on the ground. A large number landed in the Battalion area and most of them were killed. The Battalion's only artillery support consisted of three ancient 75 mm. guns — two made in Italy in 1907 and one in France in 1911 and with only one sight among them. There were no machine-guns other than a few Brens, and mortar ammunition was short, but the German casualties were very much higher than the New Zealanders.
