EVACUATION COMPLETED

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23319, 3 May 1941, Page 9

EVACUATION COMPLETED

4iPPO Troops Taken W' 1 off SMALL CASUALTIES AT SEA (TOTED MESS ASSOCIATION—COPTHIOHT.) (Received May 2,11 p.m.) LONDON, ]V|ay 2. The evacuation of the Empire forces from Greece ]i now complete, and the total number of troops who were taken off was 43,000. Casualties a( sea are not likely to exceed 500. This information was given by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Blarney, deputy commander-in-chief of the forces in the Middle East, in a message to the Australian Minister for the Army (Mr P. C. Spender). Sir Thomas Blarney said 3000 to 4000, troops, of whom only a few were Australians, were left behind because they were cut off by the German Army. He was unable to estimate the number of sick and wounded left, or the casualties before the evacuation. There was no doubt of the superiority of the Empire forces-over their opponents, nor of the heavy losses inflicted on the Germans. Mr Spender said the evacuation was a tribute to of the British forces, and it must bet matter for congratulation that the casualties at sea were jo small. Rome radio said Mr Churchill was probafcly right in his estimation of the casualties, which he placed at 3000 in killed and wounded, but the German Official News Agency says that the number of British dead is inestimable. f ,* -'The Cairo correspondent of the Associated Press of Africa says the evacuation of the Imperial forces with astonishing smoothness. Some reached iHtthin the Egripo Channel, south of Chalcis, where they we picked up by small boats. Others were offatp laces along the Aegean coast, but the bulk of the army cut across to the Megara region. ■ MMmy bombing indicated that the Germans suspwtld the British were there, so instead of embarking, moved by night across the Corinth isthmus tp the shores of the Aegean coast of Peloponnesus, matoly bn the Gulf of Argos (the Gulf of NaupHa), The biggest embarkation was carried out there on the nights between April 24 and April 27.

■lt.'ls revealed in. Cairo that thd ■mpire forces in Greece comprised 31 BMgMDtt- British and 49 per cent, BmCft '■ The Anzac corps totalled Kingdom provided prac* ■&fir»U‘the expedition’s gunners in Ipdindn.ta an armoured brigade and MffPQft groups. ■Although-:no figures are given, it Is Hkved wit' all the Greeks who ■Mined to-leave were also evacuated. Kmter*s , special correspondent in ■hm - 100 ' Arjzac• hurseS%om*a ■jnp.v hospital on the outskirts of ■Mf were machine-gUnhed along the jKanii route of their withdrawal to mfnint of: .embarkation. Their grey, ■rn|ii'trhnmed;Wilh"scarlet made ■wplrgetff for this dive-bombers. J.**e Hratt were! Cohtfijuailyforcedto'iJhelBj#cornfields and under trees, and ■plwehtually found comparative Kiiaboard an> Australian destroyer. BBfgaiknt hand made light of , their ■ptttocea. but they deeply regfet■P«wt they - were forced to leave ■pMwounded who' were- unable to Msmi Anibtilanfcesdrove on to. the ■iiaffi. wHere they wer*. blown up lather vehicles immediately the ■nlllcd bad . been transferred ,to - ; in Cairo re■pK:that .the Imperial forces which ■mM&tW; against overwhelming odds mQWehe,', remained almost intact in ■iraMttheiif hard fighting, until they to* Thermopylae Pass. ■s;The imo|esman emphasised that the not another Dunkirk, were the majority of Bfhe ttowifevacuated. but most of tbe ■gblMßSment was saved and not a ■podffißPutem of equipment was left wise fine, feat for ■»idiiMimM. i ’the Germans, at the wmWmmma.. ftarf aeroplanes. The aerodromes as they ■HS'Then the HlMinis&lheS 'On the ground, «n- ---. Athens aerodrome ■■■MlteaMnutefc;-.*.;>*»- - ■TaKymklrawai i to Thermopylae was l^pipAcsomplaied-by. April 20. to the New. Zealanders, ■Pcheld their ground in spite of very ■SSMmoksby * German armoured BBWifcmttfr Iv-Was obvious that withMfeOteek assistance we could not hold ■Kfiiie.with only two divisions ■gjWtittepenemy’s five; , gr-jy. Mftiljwiekeaman added that the .final ■Pjaalwa wSs carried out under cover K|w Zealand brigade and an Kwjrtkin brigade; . ■jwWhltiObservers from Greece esBHW.f?the. German losses between »®.«idf:80,000. German parachutists ■NfrEiiahe' last days of the wlthBfo*qlißLblew up the Corinth Canal E&fflnittififi' to the naval base ■yßMwtt Athens;. In an effort to. B^ ; covering the Ansacs, /, 2 1 ; failed, to open as KjMlHliT'dropped. hundreds at a ffiliiWMnjr wMe^Ueda :; si:::::'':' Commander told,». corresW®Htstearrival at his destination was attacked five times ■giKSS&ers. The troops enjoyed ■Hb#,.'With Bren funs, with HHPffiQSfsfended themselves. There on the ship, butt BBWWimps dropped near to it. ■ Bwccnnespondent of the British B®e*:Pbta» (Mr Richard McMillan) l|K^ft»tt' , ,we hre back 'in Egypt, BilPtfyfrtUha: fiaht in Greece-and: m the face of, overBlrPng German odds can be - told. ■SJjKijW: story of Anzac forces, with MBBgjl<unners after them, holding up WMmmm - forces .day; aftbr day unB29mi|Enumberß and mechanical MWjSttrorced them to retreat. It is of German infantry being KKJute' cattle to the slaughter, of BgHUfttlng to the last in the pass. ■BKpbyiab. of. troops-hidine BSHmkme day in wheat fields: to German bombers as they KEHpi smash the British transports KSnKli-is a story of English troops ■SBMMf. under fire singing "Tipper* Soots comrades marchMWeir aide to the lilt Of "Yon y :: , ■ K story blgins ion .Jdount

dezvous on the coast from which they were evacuated.

. "I embarked on a convoy with 11,500 troops, among Which were scores of Dunkirk veterans. They said that the bombing of Dunkirk was nothing compared with that in Greece. In some ways it was Dunkirk all over again. Transports and warships worked inshore to the beaches in spite, of the German' dive-bombers, and brought off thousands night after night.

‘‘While thd evacuation .was,.going firffthe reargtfara action Was proceed* ing. The New Zealanders held the Pass of Thermopylae and the Australian uhits, backed by British artillery, held -the Brallo Pass in the mountains south of Lamia and the left flank of the British Army was spread out right over the Brallo Pass to the Gulf of Corinth. "With the surrender of the Greek Army of the Epirus, the British High Command had to make a rapid decision to form a,shorter line with the object of covering the retreat. A big German assault came into two prongs against the British line, one directed at the Pass of Thermopylae, and the other at the Brallo- Pass. , Germans* Superior Numbers

- “A New Zealander who fought at Thermopylae said: ‘Sheer* weight of mitabers combined with the overwhelming air superiority won the battle lot* the enemy. Our platoons were sometimes separated by one-third of a mile while, when we sent out patrols of five or six .men they encountered enemy patroW as strong as 400. We smashed plenty of tanks, but still they came on. The infantry were entirely Austrian of poor quality. They were, just cannon fodder. We had not the men to, relieve our troops.' "A colonel of a Maori regiment was the'hero Of the Thermopylae Pass. Exhausted, he ordered his men to leave him behind. They protested, but he made them obey. Nether than* endanger his men he remained behind to be either killed or taken prisoner. "An Australian said that the Germans got through the Secvla Pass by close Infiltration, climbing over the rocks up to and around the British positions. “For two days and nights starting on St.’George’s DOy, the New Zealanders fought a terrible-battle 5n the pass, but their ordeal had not yet come to an end. They were called on for a supreme effort to hold the Corinth Canal bridge to enable the withdrawal of the "British forces to Peloponnesus. After they had destroyed the bridge they held off the German hordes and enabled evacuation to go on in an orderly fashion at three different ports. The troops hid throughout the day in wheatfleids: and among rocks, while German bombers tried to blast the harbour Into a’flaming ruin. , - "Our convoy consisted of large merchantmen, cruisers, and destroyers, all loaded almost to the rigging* .The Royal Air Force arid nurses were there too,. and a number of Australian nurses, ' "As the British ExpeditionaryJForce moved to the beaches, the British wounded who had been in Greekhospitajs hobbled to join them, singing “Tipperary” and “Pack , up Your Troubles." The embarkation went on throughout the day; and night while the 'ships zig-zagged -to avoid dive-bombers. Ashore one Royal Air Force surgeon' operated for ;-86 ‘ hours in a church with an operating table consisting of a stretcher placed ott two chairs, while waves ef German aeroplanes rained bombs on the town. • , , , . “The Germans dropped mines into the harbour, * bombed the docks, set fire to a Greek munition ship, and strafed every inch of the road and every acre of the adjoining: fields by the ‘ flickering light of the burning munition ship.. ' ’ , vfoA of Navy "The Navy handled the embarkation With its usual efficiency. We poured into ships surrounded by warcraft of ail Siaea. Fighters and fighter-bombers guardcd the akies and drove off divebombers indogflghts. The armada drew off the shores of Greece a couple of hours before dawn. “The nurses had Shared i withJfce troops the' terrors Of front-line bombing, and they bore their ordeal with the»same heroism.as the womenfolk ci the blitted areas'of Britam. Imagine 5000 officers ahd men jammed into a cargo steamer and you can get an idea Of our overloaded amp. • - 1 ' “A “brigadier told, how Australian gunners to the southward of Blbasan found a dump of 10,000. rounds of 25pounder ammunition;* and ' fired ; every tOuisd, causing a hOiocausti'among the f* ' rr ’V > 1 „ -s

up bridges and delaying the German advance. The heroism of the rearguard was matched by that of the Royal Navy, which carried out the reembarkation at many points under the heaviest bombing. The cruisers and destroyers fought off the dive-bombing attacks before the convoy reached its destination.'* - Mr McMillan adds: "There are several causes for the failure of the Balkan campaign: ' ' . “(1) The curtailments our effort due to the German diversion in Libya. “(2) The Greeks could not stand the strain of mechanised and air warfare against an enemy vastly superior to the Italians. . , "(3) The numerical superiority of the Germans, both on the land and in the air, was too great. Hitler threw in masses of Austrians to be killed while Goering used vast numbers of aeroplanes ',as artillery front-line strafers. Behind the lines, also, the Germans checked the Royal Air Force’s counter offensive by bombing SVCjy airfield we used.” ... , Arrival of Troops The 8.8.C. observer in the Middle East, Mr Richard Dlmbleby, watched the arrival of some of the evacuated men at their destination. The most remarkable thing about them was that they were not disorganised and ragged, but disciplined and cheerful, and carrying full battle equipment. Everything that they could not bring away with them was destroyed. There must have been at least 15,000 men in the convoy which he saw arrive, said Mr Dlmbleby. The -ships came right alongside the quay, a crack liner berthing next to a naval vessel, and there was a steady trickle of men down the gangways. Within an hour or two the quays were jammed with contingent after contingent of men, who were quickly taken away in ' trains, columns. oi motor-lorries, and buses packed to the roof. ‘ Most of the members of the community were unaware that the members of the force had passed through their town.

The majority of these men were, taken off at a small port south of Athens. One Air Force officer told Mr Dimbleby an amazing story of the withdrawal. The march to the port was one long succession of enemy bombings which were worse than Dunkirk.

When they reached the port there were no transports there. A party of officers commandeered a small fishing boat, went out to a Greek steamer, and usedv its ancient radio to send an SOS to the Navy. % After a ‘ short time a Sunderland flying-boat arrived in the bay and took off 30 of‘the men. When naval and merchant ships arrived at night, three destroyers went alongside the quay, and shone their searchlights up the streets to guide the soldiers. With daylight, German dive-bombers came over again. Bombs fell all round the ships, but all missed, although one took paint off the side of one vessel. Then the men on board brought into action 80 machine-guns and’automatic' rifles. The next German attack was met with a blaze of lire, and altogether six dive-bombers were shot down. ’ 1 Bridges Destroyed , , Another British officer said that the withdrawing British forces were always in close contact with the Germans, who were doing their utmost, with everything they had, to prevent a single British soldier from getting back to the coast. ... ■Much of the success of the withdrawal waS due to the stubborn and bravely-fought rearguard actions. They had to fight every inch of the way back through Greece. The Royal Engineers demolished bridges and roads, and one officer said he had blown up 104 perfectly good bridges before leaving. .When a party was demolishing one bridge over a narrow ravine, windows in the Village opposite opened, and Germans with tommy gqns poked through. An - armoured ■ lorry filled with Germans appeared, but the bridge was blown up, although there was only one man left to tell thejtaie. At one stage a spirited attack drove the Germans, who had been pressing up too close for comfort, back eight miles. 1 - Countless stories of the ruses adopted by the Germans to trick the. British forces were told. Qne of the favourite, methods of the Huns ; was to move about, in the woods at night ringing Greek: sheep bells to disguise their movements. They would' call out remarks; in perfect English, such as “How are you, Bill?” arid “Where are you* Bill?” If any man answered, the dive-bombers were over, the spot shortly after. Other German officers, disguised as Greek soldiers, moved, through the British lines. Tmere were Greek forces in the sector, and as the Germans'* disguise was perfect, and they spokeiood English.* they could not be, detected.' Evidence of the warm co-operation between the Greek civil population and the Empire forces was shown by. the fa«-that many of the men were wearing'flavours gtveu to them by .Greek Whflffn'-V . r '*i w V-V- >,<r •,-* j, \*