Crete veterans will plant olive tree

Press, 18 May 1984, Page 4

Crete veterans will plant olive tree

The forty-third anniversary of the Battle of Crete will be marked on Sunday by the planting of an olive tree by New Zealand veterans of the battle attending a reunion in Christchurch.

The planting of the olive tree at Elizabeth Park, above the Sign of the Takahe, will be the final function of the first national reunion of the Crete Veterans’ Association to be held in the South Island.

The site of the planting is a four-acre area given by the Christchurch City Council for a plantation of memorial trees for World War I. The Crete veterans will plant their tree near an Aleppo pine which was grown from a seedling from Gallipoli and planted in 1956 to commemorate the A.N.Z.A.C.’s participation in the Lone Ridge Battle. The olive tree was

brought to New Zealand from Crete about seven months ago by a veteran. Since then it has been kept under the supervision of the parks and recreation department of the Christchurch City Council. The large sprawling olive trees in Crete were a source of livelihood for the locals and a source of protection for the soldiers who sheltered beneath them as enemy aircraft passed overhead. Veterans have claimed that the trees have been responsible for savings hundreds of lives. About 11,800 New Zealanders fought in the Battle of Crete, and more than 600 of them were killed.

About 300 of the surviving soldiers will attend this week-end’s reunion in Christchurch — the eleventh reunion of the Crete veterans to have been held in New Zealand.

Included in the official guest list for the reunion are the Governor-General, Sir David Beattie, and Lady Beattie, and the Mayor of Christchurch, Sir Hamish Hay. and Lady Hay. The Greek Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Mr Alexandre Vayenas, will attend as will a Greek Government representative. The vice patron of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Crete Veterans' Association, Captain Charles Upham, and his wife, will also attend, as will the patron, Brigadier J. I. Burrows. Captain Upham was awarded the Victoria Cross for his service in Crete. Activities for the weekend include a visit to Burnham military camp on Saturday afternoon, a reunion dinner, a church service, and the association's annual general meeting.