AT LEAST 48,000 troops SAVED

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23318, 2 May 1941, Page 9

AT LEAST 48,000 troops SAVED

Access of Evacuation | From Greece IpTLE CASUALTIES SET AT 3000 [British Official Wireless and United Press Association.] (Received May 1, 11 p.m.) LONDON. May 1. At least 48,000 of the 60,000 British and Imperial tmeps who have been fighting in Greece have been saved* and the full results may show a greater figure. They have returned with their fighting equipment; tKty are entirely unperturbed by their struggle jjhinst such heavy odds; they are convinced of their superiority over the Germans, both as individuals and ai'units and formations; the heavy equipment and tfuaiport which they have lost will soon be replaced; it the actual fighting they have suffered about 3000 Ssdifdties in killed and wounded. These facts have been revealed by British General Headquarters in a communique from Cairo and by Mr Churchill in the House of Commons. Churchill’s statement, in which he gave the adipbtt saved as at least 46,000, was made before tplftiro communique putting the number at at least had been received. i|fo Churchill also announced that the Forces of , th#Smpire in Greece included one New Zealand and osiAustralian division. is pointed out in Cairo that although the have gained considerable advantages by their tdltece in Greece, the British operations have sueupsetting their time-table, and have probably )' : much. as two months. This is important s tilßritAin’s forces in the Middle East are receiving ‘ more equipment. . German communique on the operations lays:—“ Our forces have occupied all ports ‘ pMmern' Peloponnesus, thus preventing the remain;'|p||ilsh troops from escaping by sea.” ’ Iple Italian Stefani News Agency claims that troops transported by seaplane have occupied a port in the lonian island of Cephalonia. Thrtfialians also claim that the Greek garrison' on ; fh# island of Corfu has been overpowered.

IQUv text of Mr Churchill’s tils as follows;—“As I am most iogive the House, the nation, j, Empire Information at the possible moment,and also in sthe extravagant claims made aemy. Mhtnk it is right now to figures, so far as they .are 0 118, 01 the evacuation of our om Greece. a the time when evacuation n to be inevitable, we • had ibdut 60,000 ' men in Greece, {.one Hew ’ Zealand' and one madlvlsion. Of these, at least ivaibcen evacuated. (Cheers;) Bering that our Air Force was, a* superiority* ot the 'enemy, J leave those airfields from lone it could give effective the retreat of our troops and y a small proportion of it er the points, of embarkation, it: be considered remarkable, onduct of our troops,, and-es-that of our rearguard, 'light- !; Wa- Over many miles to the Its I me highest; praise. This is instance where air bombing 1 day after, day has failed to discipline and order of ; Columns. g/actual fighting, principally bunt Olympus* Qrevena, am? yl«e, abOut SOOO casualties in id wounded are reported to _ n suffered by our troops. g|■. German Loam • a very \ small part of the cted on the Germans,'who occasions, sometimes for me, were brought to. a troops sometimes one-fifth nber. Nor does that take the German losses in any ! on them by the Greek armies.’’ . till, after stating ‘that he y give the House a fuller e forthcoming debate, conoink I have, said enough i Hbuse that, painful as rf&wa have much to beJ and the Empire forces 1 o be proud, of," CWeiil asked; “When the that 46,000 men have been M*; he mean: they ( have reached their base without fill:: I believe that Is so. nk I am well within the .; further on equipment! 1 said: "Our heavy equiplot, of course, be removed tans are not short of heavy p^|tM^fect..ef.Greek Collapse issued by British IsfjPlfldMdquarters in=■■ the Middle hj W «alfl! ,‘"rh« withdrawal is consr. ’ e obvious that the 3reek Army to the ivas at an end; the eece requested that ;ent which had been tould be withdrawn is time, the Empire se contact with the ermopylae position, from more forward the employment of imbers, had obtain* jl and command of (peated attacks had I one available good Consequently, the 1 to take place from igainst continuous n. land and - heavy ka from the air. | istances.the withtiumbgr of our-troops ted at the cost of ehicles and equip- ■ rearguards.. Wnich iwal may have to s to secure the’ re- 1 era, tion ol the peifsonj = forces !■ In Greece ace in most difficult full results afenoi east BO per cent of • has already been > an area where it ther; active employ^ lias only, been , great skill and dee arms’of the. seriards who covered ve imposed on'the 1 cauflow advance, rtat in great courage-and ceof:sUßtained>«tr pbrta ry heavily ofi!W<mt' played^th^^pfrj

heavy fighting they have been through and the trying experience of re-em-barkaticn under such conditions, the troops who have returned from Greece are entirely unperturbed by their struggle against such odds, and are convinced of their superiority over the Germans, both as- individuals and as units and formations.

"The successful withdrawal of so large a proportion of these invaluable troops is a noteworthy achievement. The troops have all their fighting equipment, as well as their fighting spirit, and the heavy equipment and transport, which have been lost will soonJ» replaced” , An eye-witness account of the fighting in Greece during the withdrawal of the Anzacs from the Thermopylae region to shorter, lines near the Isthmus d£ Corinth is given by an agency, correspondent who has just arrived in Cairo from Greece. In spite Of Incessant German divebombing and machine-guh attacks on our troops in the plain of. The&aly, there were surprisingly few casualties, Jte said. Yet every 100 yards of so the roads were pock-marked with bomb At first, British artillery commanded the mountain passes through which the enemy were advancing, but as ammunition and even rations ran short through Incessant bombing of communications, the guns had to be withdrawn. There was very little transport available for the Anzacs In their withdrawal to the Corinth line, he said. As a result; the men had-to fight their way back on foot. He paid a tribute to the bravery of the Australians and. New Zealanders In terrible conditions. One motor-, cycle dispatch rider, he said, was buried with his machine in a storm of debris from a bomb burst. Within half an hoyr, the rider had been dug out and continued his Journey. Comment an Campaign The tendency in London Is to view the operations In Greece as guerrilla warfare, in which, in spite of his immensely superior strength, the enemy has been made to suffer severely. The : extent of this cannot entirely be measured by the number of casualties inflicted upon him, although the German methods of attack against strongly held positions inevitably resulted In Immense slaughter, and reports reaching official quarters in London Indicate that' Sofia has become in effect a vast hospital. • ■ " ' . . , Apart, however, from the extent of enemy casualties, the operation is known to have caused great dislocation behind the enemy’s lines, and throughout the Balkans the. whole machinery of occupation has been put out of gear. ■ . ■' w During their brief period of active cooperation the ’Jugoslavs contributed to this confusion, and even the German wireless did not disguise the fact that as a result of their blocking of .-the Danube at several points It s will be some months before this important channel is again-open. . On-political and moral grounds, the expediency of sending the expeditionary force to Greece is no longer seriously questioned, and it Is Increasingly felt that it may be found to have.justified 1 itwlf also'by the disturbance of German arrangements. Seasons For Evacuation - Giving the first official statement on events leading up to the evacuation; of Greece, the Foreign Secretary (Mr R. A. Eden), speaking in the House of Commons, said that on April 21 .the Greek Prime Minister handed a Note to the British Minister in l Athens m which his Government expressed thanks for the aid given by Britain, but" said that the Greek Army, after Six months’ victorious struggle, had reached a state of exhaustion and would not be able to continue. Further sacrifice of the British expeditionary forces, it was stated, would be in vain, and the Greek Government advised its withdrawal. The Note state Greek Government, while expressing to tee British Government and -tee gallant Imperial troops Its gratitude for the aid which they extended to Greece in her defence against unjust aggression, is obliged to -make the following statement; after having conducted for more, thin six- months a victorious struggle against strongly superior enemy forces, the Greek Army has now reached .a State' of exhaustion, and, moreover, -finds itself completely deprived, of certain resources indispensable for the pursuit of.the war, such as munitions, motorised ’ vehicles ■ and aeroplanes—resources ■With which -It was in - any case Inadequately supplied from the outbreak of hostilities. ' "This state of things makes it Impossible lor tee Greeks to continue the struggle' with any. chance of success, add deprives them of all hope ,of belng able te lend »om« assistance to teeir valiant Allies. ;-'"r Mi ■ iv j

“At the same time, In view of the Importance of preserving the British contingents, in view of the limited aviation at their disposal, and in view of the extent of the front heroically defended by them, the Imperial, forces have absolute need for the assistance of the Greek Army, without which they could not prolong their own resistance for more than a few days. “In these conditions, a continuation of the struggle, while incapable of producing any useful effect, would have no other result than to bring the collapse of the Greek Army and bloodshed useless to the Allied forces. Consequently, the Royal Government is obliged to fctate that the further sacrifice of the British Expeditionary Force would be in vain and that its withdrawal In time seems to be rendered necessary by the circumstances and by Interests common to the struggle.” Mr Eden, after reading the Greek Government’s Note, added: “From this document the House will see that the decision to withdraw the British forces from Greece was taken in full agreement with, and in conformity with the wishes of the Greek Government Mr P. J. Noel-Baker asked; “Will Mu Eden cortvey to the Greek Premier on behalf of the House and the nation our deep gratitude for the magnificent courage and . endurance which -the Greek Army has shown, and for their loyalty as allies.” ' , Mr Eden replied, amid cheers: I feel, and the whole House must feel, that no tribute can be too high.” ■. The Ofiicial German News Agency states that German troops, pursumg the British, have reached the southern harbours of Peloponnesus. Email parties of British troops from Greece have landed in Palestine m fishing boats. It is, claimed that the prisoners captufed in the Peloponnesus .action Include 5000 British, also four Serbian generals and. 300 Information reaching London give* a harrowing picture of Sofia, which has been converted into a hospital town, ' holding tens of thousands of wounded Germans from the Greek front.’ ■ „ The British Government announces that Greece, with their exception of Crete, will henceforth be- regarded as enemy-occupied territory for the purposes of trade.

Value of Ihe Dollar.— Mr Roosevelt bus asked Congress to extend to June 30, 1043. his power to fix the value of the dollar, which , expires on January 30; 1941.—Washington, April 30.