“THE LAST ACT”

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 34, 19 November 1943, Page 3

“THE LAST ACT”

ATTEMPT TO SAVE LEROS,

LANDING OF REINFORCEMENTS

ACCOUNT BY EYE-WITNESS.

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (Rec. 11.25 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 18.

“Leros was worthwhile as t» diversionary operation alone,” said Genera! Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, according to a Cairo message. It is stated in Cairo that between 650 and 1000 Germans were drowned during the last 36 hours of the battle, when British naval units sank three enemy lighters and a ferry crammed with men.

The sole eye witness at Leros, who left the island in a destroyer four nights ago, gives a graphic account of “the last act of the drama, the last desperate attempt to save Leros. He said there was plenty of food but reinforcements of certain types of ammunition were urgently required. The commanding officer, who had his headquarters in a tunnel on the highest point of the southern part of the island, appealed for reinforcements and supplies. It seemed that upon the iesponse the issue might rest.” The correspondent describes how he with others made his way from the overcrowded tunnel, full of dust and smoke, to the battered quayside at Portolago, where the commanding ofcer informed them that a destroyer would try to enter. At 10 p.m. a motor minesweeper came alongside and discharged 50 troops, but there was still no news of the destroyer. Overhead at intervals came Dakotas dropping welcome supplies now that the air was clear of Messerschmitts and German bombers. It seemed crazy to expect a destroyer to enter an enclosed harbour like Portolago Bay, only 25 miles from German airfields on Kos and barely two miles from the German-occupied island of Kalinos, to say nothing of the fact that onethird of Leros itself -was in German hands. Hours dragged by.

Arrival of Destroyer

“Awakening abruptly at 4 a.m. 1 incredulously saw the silhouette of a destroyer creeping toward the quay,” said the correspondent. “She manoeuvred along and we saw the last act of the drama, the last desperate attempt to save Leros. Chutes and rope ladders were let down on the ' quayside and soldiers with heavy packs slid or climbed oft' while ammunition and supplies were dumped ashore. The men filed off in the shadows. The supplies were whisked away. It was all finished in 20 minutes. “We boarded the destroyer. It was nearly dawn and the question was, could we get way before the Stukas found us? Soon we were racing for the narrow entrance to the harbour. Our captain rang for full-speed ahead for the final sweep round the island. As we rounded a headland we sighted a large enemy landing craft packed with guns and vehicles. Our guns flamed and thundered. The shore batteries joined in and the enemy, caught between two murderous fires, took heavy punishment. We swerved wildly to avoid ‘overs’ from the shore. A hit aft and another in the stern was scored on an enemy craft, which was left stationary, burning.

“Five minutes later we raced, past three little ships in time to see a naval battle in miniature. One was a smaller German landing craft and the other two British motor torpedo boats. One motor torpedo boat engaged the enemy with machine-gun fire and the second swerved across his bows and dropped depth charges. The landing craft vanished in a great waterspout.

“In the morning the destroyer’s crew read on the notice board a. signal from the commander-in-chief, Levant, ‘Well done. The arrival of these troops should make all the difference.’ Then when the news of the convoy’s action reached him he signalled again, ‘Splendid work.’ Later in the morning, however, we received a signal that 10 German landing craft had been sighted near the island and it seems probable that they succeeded in discharging their troops, for later came another signal ‘Collect all landing craft; prepare to evacuate Leros.’ The iast gallant effort in a brave struggle had been in vain.” British Official Wireless.

Heavy Losses by Germans.

A substantial portion of the British garrison remained at Leros when it surrendered, said General Sir Hemy Maitland Wilson. The proportion which got out was not as large as might have been, in view of the complete exhaustion of our troops. The enemy casualties at Leros, including those drowned at sea, exceeded the total number of British forces employed. The German News Agency announced that German bombers and dive-bombers yesterday dropped bombs of all calibres on military targets on Samos Island. Goebbels is making the most of the capture of Leros, says Reuter s. His propaganda machine is attempting to dwarf the events on the eastern front by announcing the capture of the island as a major victory. “Leros is being talked of at every street corner in Berlin,” says the German News Agency. Reuter’s adds that the Germans are being told, as an antidote to the defeats on the Russian front, that “Leros has shown that German armed forces do not limit their activities to defensive operations.”