"BURNING HELL"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 107, 8 May 1941, Page 11

"BURNING HELL"

GREEK BRIG ABLAZE

NEW ZEALANDERS ESCAPE

(From the Offlrial War Correspondent with the N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East.) CAIRO, May 6. When British, Australian and Xew Zealand troops were withdrawing from Greece, often embarking on whatever vessels that were available, small Greek fishing ships which came to their assistance did not escape the "attention of the Luftwaffe. Two Nazi aeroplanes bombed and machine-gunned a small brig, setting it afire from stem to stern and must have been convinced that they had accounted for tne men trying to escape in it, but they had not allowed for the fact that these were New Zealanders. A small party 01 New Zealand infantrymen abandoned their last motor truck, packed some food and clothing, and set out on foot down the Peloponesus. They were directed by Greeks to a small Greek brig lying at anchor in an inlet with German aircraft about. Difficulty was experienced in embarking, bul with a feeling of intense relief thev stepped aboard after having been i constantly harassed by the enemy for two weeks. " j Bombs and Bullets ' They were leaving Greece at last The airci-aft cry went up. Two Messerschmitts dropped from the blue and began a furious attack with bombs and incendiary bullets The New Zealanders scuttled below and crouched among the cargo of baled hay. There they found 30 other occupants in a rather frightened state. I The Nazis meant business and bombs fell all around the frail little craft. Some of the rigging ropes and chains crashed through the hatch. They heard the crackling of machine-guns, and bullets beating on the deck above their heads. j Panic overcame the men when an incendiary bomb ignited the hay and fire swept through the hatch, straw and dry timber making a roaring inferno. Like trapped rats, they had one desire, to leave the burning hell. "Here they come again—duck," yelled one of the party. The Messerschmitts, still with machineguns blazing, banked and dived at the doomed ship. An infantryman noticed a loose board in the ship's hull. This he smashed free and dived through the opening to strike the water. He glanced skywards and saw thick clouds of smoke above him, which would temporarily protect him from the Nazi bullets. : One Drowned and Three Injured i-Taking full advantage of this accidental smokescreen, he struck out for the shore. When he reached the beach he wondered whether his '•■ companions had been as fortunate. ! The sun was strong, so he stripped off his clothes to dry and stood naked ■ beneath a rock. In this cbnditioni he was found by another member of the party, who reported that one man had been drowned and three 1 others were casualties. They agreed | that it was the narrowest escape they would know. 1 The men slept on bare ground in' wet clothes and hid in the hills next day, where the Greeks gave them food and water. i The possibility of escaping in the night seemed very remote. However,' they were wakened by shouting and the tramping of feet on the rock, i They stumbled down to the bay,' where they were taken on board by, the navy.