WITH THE FIELD ARTILLERY

Evening Star, Issue 23907, 10 June 1941, Page 5

WITH THE FIELD ARTILLERY

HARD CAMPAIGNING IN GREECE SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH INFANTRY IN FINAL STAGES Old artillerymen and many others, too, will he interested in the following account of the New Zealand gunners experiences in Greece, given by a young Wellington bombardier in a letter to his father “ Wo landed in Greece at the port of Piraeus, after a comfortable trip from Alexandria, quite lacking in incident. Our trucks and guns, which had! preceded us, were not quite so lucky, and had to beat off a dive-bombing attack, which cost tho Hun ono plane against no damage to any of our ships or equipment. “ From tho port we passed through Athens, where we were warmly welcomed by the inhabitants, to a suburb called Kephiosia, about 10 miles away, and there we ‘ bivvied ’ for tho night in a plantation of firs. What a contrast to the heat, filth, and dust of Egypt! The air was noticeably fresher and cleaner. Although officially we had no leave, most of the boys took the opportunity of becoming acquainted' with our new allies either in Athens or the neighbouring village. After all, champagne at 100 drachmae per bottle was a Ibit of a novelty—a drachma is worth a bit less than Jd. “ After a day of checking over equipment we set out on our long trek north. Wo * bivvied ’ the first night near Molos—of which more anon—and our first taste of the hot sulphur baths at Thermopylae. Next night we had got as far as Larissa, and camped about three miles outside the town in a paddock of oats.

“ Moving on again, by the time dusk fell wo were in tho shadow of Mount Olympus, and we camped that night at the foot of tho Pass. We crossed the Pass the next day, and what a road! Nothing that I have ever seen in New Zealand can compare with it for grades, S bends, etc.

“ While on the subject of roads, once you get off the main roads in Greece you are starting-on an adventure. They, were, naturally enough, never designed for much more than horse-drawn traffic, and tho authorities made frantic efforts to get them in some sort of condition. It was a common sight to see old men r women, and children all doing their little bit with shovel and barrow.. Shades of Bob Semple and his bulldozers 1

“ From Olympus we moved up to our first position at a little village called Palleostanc, in the vicinity of Katerini. Dimly in the distance we could see Thessalonika further round the gulf. We put in a lot of hard work there and had completed the job of digging ourselves in, laying wire, etc., when we got the word to move. A HOT SPOT! “Wo came back around Mount Olympus and on to a pass near the Haliakmon River. Our 0. Pips were established just above the town of Servia, while our guns were some four miles back alongside the strangelynamed village of Lava. It certainly turned out to be a hot spot. " It was at Servia that I saw my first glimpse of one of Adolph’s ‘ blitzes.’ The day after our arrival between 30 and 40 Hun planes came over and gave us a demonstration of dive-bombing a defenceless town. The planes flew over at a great height in perfect formation, and then, gradually forming a huge circle, came down out of the sun for all the world like cars coming down a shute on a scenic railway. A sight more coldly calculated would be hard to imagine. Never will I forget seeing those helpless, inoffensive, non-combatant citizens trying *to gain the shelter of the caves dug into the hill right' at the back of the town. “ Things developed quickly after that, and for almost a week Jerry tried his hardest to shift us. _ He shelled, divebombed (comparatively ineffective against troops, once you get used to the noise) and machine-gunned all without avail. Our boys were marvellous—little would you think that after all they were only amateur soldiers. They fought back like veterans.

“ I think everyone was surprised when we got the order to withdraw. Up till then I’m sure we all thought we were on top. However, it was a dear victory for the Hun. We withdrew in good order without losing a man, a truck, or a gun. I can assure you that this is a bit more than he could say about his advance.^ “The weather was kind to us iu our withdrawal. We had fought three days of the battle in rain and snow, and on the fateful day it was overcast and foggy, making it quite impossible to