SPAKHIA STILL IN RUINS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26221, 19 September 1950, Page 6

SPAKHIA STILL IN RUINS

SCENE OF 2ND N.Z.E.F. EVACUATION

ACCOUNT GIVEN OF VISIT TO CRETE

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, Sept. 18. Nine years after New Zealand troops shelt red there during ‘heir e«cu,. lion of Crete, the village of SpßKhia is still in ruins: The German bombardment destroyed two-thirds of the buildings* none has been rebuilt. . the 200 families that lived there omy in an account of a vis.t by representatives of the New frisates w.th the Mediterranean Fleet terete and of their “most hospttaWe and moving welcome in Spakhia. The account is contained in a message which the Governor-General (Sj Ber nard Freyberg) has received from the head of the British Naval Mission in G Th^ e messaee says: “Two officers and one ratng from H.M.N.Z.S. Taupo and HMN Z S Hawea returned to their Jhipfaf Athens on September 14after visiting the remote village of Spakhia on the south coast of Crete It was from this village that most of the 2nd NZEF was evacuated in 1941. xne visit was arranged by Lady Norton wife of the British Ambassador, ine journey was made by cou ?F s lL?L:! l ai Royal Hellenic Air Force to Tymbaki and thence west 43 miles by caique to the evacuation the village was under continuous German bombardment, and two-thirds of th® build ings in it were destroyed Not one has been rebuilt, and children attend school in a cellar. On!y 60 famihes live there now, as against 200 before of the villagers are elderly, and there are only 60 children. Many were killed by the Germans as reprisals fcr helping New Zealanders, and the naval party was shown cne grave which contains the bodies or hostages. .. “Though desperately poor, the villagers gave the vis'tors a most hospitable and moving welcome. They were deeply touched to feel that they had not been forgotten . by His Majesty’s sh'ps of the Dominion they had suffered so much to help nine years ago. J , “They showed their must treasured, possessions, namel”, letters they still receive from personnel of the 2na N.Z.E.F. and. their relatives.” The Taupo and the Hawea are taking part in the Mediterranean Fleet s second summer cruise, which will continue throughout this month. Tactical exercises in nearly ell forms of naval warfare are being carried out, and visits are being made to ports or France, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Corsica, Sicily, and North Africa.