"NO ORDER WAS GIVEN BUT WE ALL CHARGED"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 169, 19 July 1941, Page 6

"NO ORDER WAS GIVEN BUT WE ALL CHARGED"

I "N° order was Siven, but we an i fixed bayonets and charged. The Aussies howled on our right, and the Maoris bellowed awful cries on our left and we all went headlong into it . . . We chased Jerry for about a mile and killed several hundred . . .It did us a world of good and Jerry did not venture too close again." Just a vignette from Crete, with a New Zealand engineer, who holds the rank of captain, telling the story of his own part in those days of fearful fighting in a letter to his parents. It is, in its way, an epic story, with the fearful strain of desperate hand-to-hand fighting, with limited equipment, without sufficient food and hardly any sleep expressed simply . . . "It was hell . . . and little things like the obtaining of a cup of hot tea so magnified by want that "It was Heaven." And then the courage and fighting spirit showing triumphant at the end. "Our men did well and have proved that no troops on this earth are superior to, or nearly as good, as the New Zealanders. We can whack the Germans any time at all, provided we are given modern arms and equipment. "Our company," he records, "went to a place called Modion, about a mile and a half from the ill-fated Malmi (Malemi)) aerodrome, where all the trouble finally came. It must be understood that we were on foothills about 1000 yards back from a beautiful shingle beach with flats between the beach and the hills. The hills were covered in olive groves and vineyards and were broken into spurs running down to the sea with deep valleys and dry water courses in the bottom, making excellent cover.

"For some days we were camped in a valley at Modion—some 370 men in all. with about two miles front to cover—almost an impossible task, because of lack of stores and equipment of ail sorts. There was a great shortage of picks and shovels, and those which we had had to be kept working 24 hours a day to accomplish what we did in the way of weapon pits and so on. There were very few machine guns available and nothing in the way of mortars. Ammunition was short and at first the whole thing seemed quite hopeless. "About two days before the showi started four French 75's arrived, and as they had no disc sights or other sighting apparatus a spot was chosen for them well up on the side of the main high spur with an excellent view of the aerodrome and about four miles of beach, two miles either side of .the guns. Fortunately, this was in an olive grove, so was fairly easily concealed when not in action. "At first we had difficulty getting barbed wire, but eventually got about six tons. All this time continuous air raids were going on and we were expecting an attack at any time. We were 'standing-to' night and morning for very long periods, and what with pickets and patrols we were averaging about five hours sleep per nisht. "Well, to cut a long story short, 'stand-down' had just been called one morning and we were having breakfast when the air activity suddenly increased with the sky full of troop carriers, gliders, bombers and lighters. I have never seen such a sight in my life, and hope never to again. I don't think I exaggerate when I say that there were more than 1000 planes in my sight at once, the fighters machine-gunning the ground and the bombers dropping bombs in certain areas, preparing them for the parachute troops.

Paratroops Arrive

Then the sluggish and clumsy troop carriers came in, travelling at not more than 40 m.p.h. in close waves of five or six, to disgorge their troops at a height of 300 or 400 feet. The parachute troops emerged from the planes from a door near the tail on the left-hand side and jumped in rapid succession, their parachutes opening immediately with a small puff .of smoke as if opened by some explosion. The planes dropped all the troops in a very small area in a matter of perhaps one or two minutes, and each soldier was in the air from about 30 seconds to a minute.

i /• A ]? out 150 troops landed on our left flank amongst our chaps and a great many were shot in the air before they touched the ground while many more were shot as they actually landed. Not more than 50

or 60 succeeded in disengaging their harness before they were killed, and of these we killed all but about 20 or so before they had time to cry danger. The remainder took cover and we had to clean them up. This cost us the lives of several men and a few wounded.

- "I could see lots of other 'chutes landing down by the aerodrome and > away back near Canea and the prison near Galatos. The ones that L landed near the 'drome were tackled . by the battalion stationed there, the ' latter having suffered heavy casual- : ties through the previous bombing i and machine-gunning from the air. ; Two other battalions in the vicinity , were also engaged and unable to ; lend assistance, and the aerodrome defenders had to fall back off the ; 'drome by lunchtime. An English - battery of Bofors guns and a 3in 1 naval gun were captured, and these were turned with excellent effect by the enemy upon our 75's as soon as guns started firing. Communications Broke Down "We had two 25-ton infantry tanks near the 'drome but these were soon disabled by the enemy bombing. Things weren't so good. Fortunately our telephone line was not badly damaged and our commander was able to give a running commentary to headquarters on all happenings on j the 'drome and its vicinity. Ouri phone remained in commission for four days and proved of immense value during the battle, as it was the only phone that remained working and was the nearest one to the front. All communications to the other forward positions broke down. "On the afternoon of the first day the enemy troop carriers started landing on the beach and our guns started firing on them with excellent effect, but very soon the Bofors guns, the 3in gun and the planes got to know where we were and started giving us hell. I have really lost track of days, but the next day 600 troop carrying planes landed on the 'drome and several on the beach. We fired with the 75's a great deal with good effect on aircraft and in support of the infantry, who were starting to infilter the hills behind us. "I think it was that afternoon when the uni'; beside us had their turn and about 200 parachute troops were dropped on them. They, too, fought well and killed all but about 50 or 60 whom they took prisoner. Dr. Grey, a young chap who was at Auckland Hospital, did excellent work for us and looked after our wounded. "We fought in that position for five days without sleep and with very little to eat. We were very tired. The Maoris did a magnificent, counter-attack one morning and pushed right through to the 'drome but couldn't hold it because of lack of support. We were awfully outnumbered and without any let up or rest. Enemy Equipment Captured "The enemy dropped many containers from planes by parachutes, containing all sorts of supplies— guns, ammunition, mortars, food, drink, medical supplies, wireless sets—everything you can imagine. We captured all this and turned his equipment to good use, as by this time we had practically none of our own. His machine-guns are good and we became expert in their use as we did also with their mortars. "We retired on the fifth night and took up a position east of the Platinius River. We were in reserve in the rear, but the enemy had infiltered .here before us and we had to fight our way into our reserve position 1 ".cost us 14 wounded and four killed, but we pushed him back In ; getting out that night the force lost ?„l 1 , urnber casualties and six guns 1 s)-,.. We had only eight to begin : with. We also lost much in the way ; of machine-guns and mortars, and lots of ammunition. <

' night we had to retire again —oh I was so tired. I had not had four hours' sleep in six days. We marched back behind Galatos, about eight miles, that night. I fell asleep as we marched four or five times, and each time I woke just in time to find myself gmng off the road. The last time I did go off the road and fell into a ditch. My ankle gave a snapping sound and I thought I had broken it. I couldn't stand, but fortunately some people picked me up and put me in a passing truck. We slept that night under some trees getting about five hours' blessed sleep. It was wonderful.

When daylight came so did the planes. We were bombed and machine-gunned all day, but lost onlv three men. That night we again went up to the front near Galatos. We got about four hours' sleep before we had to dig in—with bayonets and tin hats as tools—as

dawn was breaking. That day was comparatively quiet, and I got the first decent feed I had had since the show started, also some tea. It was wonderful. "That night the enemy broke through near Galatos and we coun-ter-attacked and pushed him back. About midnight we again retired a mile. About 133 troops were left out of our ISO odd. Day of Fiercc Fighting "The ridge we were given to defend 011 the right flank was awful. Absolutely no cover, no tools to dig with and the ground as hard as granite. On our left was the sea ami on our right the main road. That day does not bear talking about. We started with two officers and another attached and 133 troops. We retired that night with two officers wounded and 57 troops. It was hell! "We retired 12 miles, approximately, to Souda Bay, and took up a defence position in support of an infantry battalion, who numbered by that time about SO strong (all that was left of 790 men who had gone to Greece). "About 11 o'clock the Germans were attacking strongly when an involuntary attack on our part took place. No order was given, but all fixed bayonets and charged. The Aussies howled on our right and the Maoris bellowed awful cries on our left, and we all went headlong into it. "We chased Jerry for about a mile' and killed several hundred. We captured numerous machine-guns and mortars. I had lost everything I possessed by then, so I took a Jerry water bottle and a Jerry pack and found some food he had, which I was glad to get. We lost only three men in the attack, and altogether we did not lose many. It did us the world of good and Jerry did not venture too close again. "That night again we retired about 12 miles. I cannot describe how tired we were, but at every tenminute halt I fell asleep. When we reached our destination we got about four hours' sleep, but Jerry was on us by 10 that morning. We retired about 11 o'clock. By Jove, our feet were sore! "Aussies" Cover Retreat "We marched till two that afternoon, rested till six o'clock, and then on again until two next morning, over the top of an exceedingly high pass in the mountains. The Aussies, who had not seen action up till now, held the top of the pass and we got a day's rest. But food was very scarce, and water was difficult to get. It was very hot, and we all felt weak, but our chaps stuck to it well.' "We had not many left, then, what with killed, wounded and dysentery. The sergeant-major was still there, the quartermaster-sergeant, only one lance-sergeant out of about seven, and no full sergeants. There were

also two corporals, one badly wounded, and about three lancecorporals. We carried verv little— rifle and ammunition, water bottle, and any food one could lay one's hands on, and in most cases nothing else. I found a blanket, which I carried because I wore shorts and a shirt only, and the nights in the mountains were cold. The snow was still there in places. "The next morning at four o'clock we moved nearer the beach and to some food and water. We had eaten and drunk practically nothing for two days. After we had some food I was one of 70 men sent up to the top of a high ridge. The climb was steep, high and difficult, and we had only 25 left when we reached the top. The others could not make the climb. We stayed the day there keeping guard, and came down at night to find some good soul had made tea. It was Heaven. There was some food, too—l never knew that food could be so good f "We moved to the beach 'at nightfall, and at one o'clock we embarked ® ur relief w as tool great for words. I

Navy was Marvellous "The navy was marvellous. Thev tea us I borrowed a razor and shaved and had my first wash for many days. It was all so wonderful that it is difficult to explain, because one does not think of simple acts inv, h a I tl , lcse , as such tremendous joys. And rest—unless one has not slept or eaten for some "lays one sleep " appreciate the bleising of