IN FISHING BOAT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 138, 13 June 1941, Page 5

IN FISHING BOAT

ESCAPE FROM GREECE GISBORNE OFFICER'S STORY I (0.C.) GISBORNE, this day.j A hazardous six-day voyage from! Greece to Crete by a party of 47j Australian and New Zealand troops. In a sail-rigged fishing boat which Was frequently becalmed and conitantly in danger of attacks by •warms of German planes is deicribed by Lieutenant George Slade. Of Gisborne, in a letter home. Unable to join up with their own men, the party worked along the coast, hoping to be picked up by a British destroyer No such chance came, however, and they remained In hiding during the day. That night they saw a small ship offshore, and Lieutenant Slade and a small party put off and found it to be a fishing •mack with a beautiful Diesel engine Which had been put out of commission, evidently by fifth columnists, disabled as it was, the ship offered * chance of escape and the New Zealanders took her over, embarking as many as possible. They set sail down the coast and next day anchored and went below in order not to attract attention trom Nazi airmen. A number or Aus-j tralians joined them during the day gnd met hard words from the New Zealanders for taking the risk of boarding the ship in daylight. With a complement of 47 nien, the iittle ship worked out of the bay m Which she lay. "You can imagine how We felt when the wind would not, take us away from the land, writes Lieutenant Siade. "That night and the second night we lay practically becalmed and by the third morning We were in need of water. Helped By Peasants . "Five of us went ashore and, located a supply and we rowed back to the ship and brought in all containers we had. Two men went on a foraging expedition inland ana re-

turned with bread and cheese —gifts from Greek peasants. The Greek : people helped us in every way they (could and embraced us in French ;fashion before we went back aboard.

"A breeze had been getting up, and we wasted no time in getting under way. We rationed our water and food, and allowing half a tin of bully beef a day per man, we figured on a four days' journey to Crete That day and night we had a good wind, but next morning our sailing'; master, an Australian, said that we had been blown to westward and we swung east to counteract this effect.j By sailing east we came back to the point we started from and you can imagine our disappointment. However from the fourth morning we made good progress and we were half way to Crete by the following day. We pulled down the sail duringj the night to make sure we did not overrun our goal, and on the sixthj [morning we were off the island, We, became becalmed again oft a poitj 'which we had no means of recognis-, line We had to trust to luck, for we, did not know what part of Crete ouri 'troops were occupying. We could see) no movement ashore, but as a flight of German planes were overhead we figured the people would all be undei cover. "Later a small launch put out and towed us into harbour. There we got; on the telephone and were soon on, our way to rejoin the Ne\Vj Zealanders." ;