GREEK STRUGGLE

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 April 1941, Page 7

GREEK STRUGGLE

GERMANS NEARER ATHENS

BRITISH TROOPS RE-EMBARKING

Heroic Rear-Guard Actions

[by cable— press assn—copyright.]

LONDON, April 25.

The Athens radio went off the air at 9 o'clock last night, and resumed at midnight to announce: “The final, decisive battle before the. gates of Athens is now under way. The situation is serious,” A Greek military review issued last night said clashes with the German advance guard had taken place in front of the new Allied positions. An American report says that a German attack on the new line was hurled back, and the Germans then brought up the heaviest artillery they have yet used in the Balkan campaign and shelled the Allied positions. Military commentators in London say the Empire forces are holding their defensive positions and there is no truth in a rumour originating from German sources that the left flank had been turned. News of the Greek situation was, however, conspicuously lacking during last night, but the German Official News Agency, after claiming that part of the Empire’s forces had already embarked, added that the British had left only covering troops. The German army had been ordered to occupy Athens without too much damage. The German radio declared thai the German forces were advancing rapidly. The Luftwaffe had been ordered to make the British retreat as costly as possible, and to divebomb all vessels moving along the Greek eastern and southern coasts. A German military spokesman explained that the British had caused delay in the wild,' mountainous country by blowing up bridges, roads, and houses in order to gam every possible minute before embarkation. Big transport vessels were being used at large ports and swarms of small craft of the Dunkirk type were crowding every inlet, bay, and cove in southern Greece, embarking without delay all comers indisenmincitely* According to a message from Rome, the “Giornale d’ltalia” states that with the Germans 35 miles irorn Athens, British troops began to embark at Piraeus, Kalamata, and Neupliz.

GERMAN CASUALTIES

The Istanbul correspondent of the British United Press says diplomatic circles estimate Germany’s casualties in Greece so far at 75,000 dead and 200,000 wounded. Neutral diplomats from Rumania say that the hospitals in Bucharest are full oi German wounded and houses being requisitioned for the train-lo Sos still arriving. The “Daily Telegraph says a German communique speaks of a conflict “at the historic pass of Thermopylae.” The “Daily Telegraph comments: “But the history of tyrants who go that way, however they go, is not encouraging to Hitler.” The Athens correspondent of the “Daily Mail” says some Greek units are still in the front line, but the full responsibility of holding the front rests on the British Command. A message from Zurich says the Athens correspondent of • Nene Zuercher Zeitung,” who is now m Ankara, says 80,000 Anzacs in Greece, although well equipped, are no match for 25 German divisions arrayed against them. ; The Greeks unanimously pay ti ibute to the her'oic resistance of rhe, Empire forces. The Greek public is very disappointed because there are no signs of the arrival of American help promised on October 28 last Berlin radio has announced the Greek Epirus Army forces will be released after the war in various stages, which are defined in the terms of the armistice signed on April 23 in a cottage dominating rhe heights of Salonika, used by the stall of General List. The Germans after signing, acknowledged the bravery of the Greeks.

ORDERLY WITHDRAWAL. . RUGBY, April 25. A Cairo communique states: Empire forces conducted a further orderly withdrawal in Greece, inflicting severe losses on the enemy. ARRIVAL AT ALEXANDRIA LONDON, April 25. The Alexandria correspondent oi the "Daily Express” says back to rejoin their comrades of the mam Im- . perial forces came men of the Anzac regiments to-day, mud-stained ami ■ exhausted, but grimly ready to fight | again as soon' as they have rested, i An observer just back battlefields in Greece declared that by holding up the mam body of the German army for 100 hours in the face of a blitz campaign waged with every weapon, the Anzacs saved the Allied forces from encirclement. One body of Australians was encircled by the enemy and was unable to shoot its way out because of a shortage of ammunition. It decided on a bayonet charge in spite, of the fact that it was confronted witn mechanised forces in addition to German infantry. Such, a charge wou.ci have meant the certain annihilation of the majority, but just as the. Australians emerged from their positions, two Hurricanes swooped down and machine-gunned the Germans who scattered wildly, whereupon the Australians escaped with only slight casualties. A group of New Zealanders guarding a flank lost contact with their comrades. When they needed help they counter-attacked the advancing Germans and captured an undamaged motor-cycle, on which a grinning New Zealander roared away with an SOS to headquarters. The “Daily Express” says the anxiety of the people of New Zealand and Australia for the welfare of their troops in Greece is wholly understandable. All things cannot be told during a war. Much must be suppressed for the safety of the soldiers themselves, but a full explanation should now be given to the New Zealand and Australian people regarding the reasons for secrecy.

WHY GREEKS SURRENDERED

LONDON, April 25. i The Greek night communique said the unexpected dislocation of the Jugoslav front, the rapid advance of : the German forces on the Monast’.r plateau, and the consequent separation of the Greeks from the Jugoslav army, as well as the threat to the rear of the Greek troops in Albania completely disarranged the Greek line ■ and obliged them to make a vast and hasty withdrawal. The rapid thrust of German mechanised units from the Monastir region southwards, resulting in the loss of the principal ■ route of withdrawal from the left I wing of our Albanian front obliged i these forces not possessing anti-tank I weapons to turn off to the mountains in which provision became problematic.

“The principal body of our Epirus forces, which up to the last moment victoriously opposed Italian forces twice their strength, also participated in the general withdrawal. These movements were carried out in an orderly manner in spite of obstinate Italian pressure. Our troops counterattacked several times, even taking prisoners, but numerous enemy aircraft attacking our withdrawing troops and their rear created difficult conditions for the continuation of the unequal struggle, and the Gree.< forces on the Albanian front had t) capitulate on the evening of April 20. At the time of their capitulation, the Italian forces had not succeeded in entering Greek territory.”

MUSSOLINI GRATIFIED.

LONDON, April 25.

Following the - armistice between the Italian and German, and the Greek Command of Epirus and Macedonia, Signor Mussolini has issued an Order of the Day, as follows: “Soldiers of all branches of the forces on the Greek front: After six months of the hardest fighting, the enemy has laid down arms. Victory crowns your bloody sacrifices, which have been specially heavy for the land forces. I am proud of you as I have never been before. At this moment the Italian people thinks with the deepest emotion of its sons who have fallen in Albania. It expresses its unquenchable gratitude to you, who have avenged them. Long live the King!” An Italian communique admits that Italian losses in Albania in the last few days were about 6000, including 400 officers. The Rome radio claimed that the occupation by the Italians of all of the islands in the Adriatic Sea, including the group in front of Sibenik, and the islands between Split and Dubrovnik. has been completed.

JUGOSLAV KING.

LONDON, April 25.

The Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Mail” says a member of the Jugoslav Cabinet on arrival revealed that German aeroplanes harried King Peter all along the journey from Belgrade to Jerusalem. The Luftwaffe bombed and machine-gunned every place at which the King and his ministers arrived. The worst experience was at Sarajevo, which the Germans raided continuously from noon on Sunday till late on Monday morning. The collapse of the Jugoslav army was due to the fact that the previous regime depleted all key points in south-eastern Jugoslavia of sufficient troops to impede the German thrust to Greece by way of Monastir. General Simovitch had no time to regroup the nation’s forces when the Germans, knowing the weakness of this point, began their operations. Fifth columnists also played a vital part in cutting communications and passing on faked, orders. All the Croatian ministers accompanied the King except Dr. Macek.

DEMANDS ON TURKEY. CONTROL OF STRAITS. LONDON. April 25. The “Daily Herald” says foreign diplomatic circles in London report that Germany is demanding from Turkey complete military control of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles ■ m return for a slice of Grecian Thrace. The Turkish Government, i according to these circles, has not yet ! answered, but is being pressed for an I immediate reply. i The Ankara correspondent or i “The Times” says: “It is realised here I that the next German move may intimately concern Turkey. The Gerfman Ambassador in Turkey (Herr ivon Papen), however, has not yet returned from his visit to Hitler, and .'German troop movements, in the Balkans give no precise indication [, what is in the wind. German concen- >' trations at Plovdiv were recently ini! creased, but this is not necessarily ■ i ominous. The question whether or I not Turkey will be attacked depends l 1 on the state of Turkish-German rela- •, tions. It is simply a question whether J the German High Command aims to I make its way from the Near East to > the Middle East across Anatolia. It is ■ ■ not believed that Germany will make -1 war against Turkey for the sake of ithe straits alone. Forcing a passage ■ across Turkey would involve operac tions on a grand scale which would ’ be less inviting since the British have ? asserted themselves in Iraq. The 1 Turks, accordinugly, think it is a 50z 50 chance that Germany will make 3 no effort.” z I The correspondent adds that no--5 body, however, imagines that the * German armies will remain idle for r ,which reason Balkan reports that " German officers are talking of in--1 vading the Soviet Union —to break “ the blockade by the Odessa route—s may not be entirely bluff. ■ From Istanbul it is reported that ~ o the British Consulate has advised British people to leave.

EMPIRE COUNSEL.

LONDON, April 24.

The “Daily Mail” in a leading article says politicians are again discussing whether Britain has the best possible system for the supreme direction of the war. “Mr. Edgar Granville, M.P., in a question he is putting to Mr. Churchill in Parliament, invites him to consider the formation of a supreme War Cabinet composed of Ministers without departmental duties and including statesmen of the calibre of Mr. Menzies.

“We are in complete agreement,” the newspaper says, “that Dominion leaders should more closely share the deliberations of the War Cabinet and the strength of the Empire at war would be notably increased.”

MR. FADDEN’S COMMENT.

SYDNEY, April 25.-

“In spite of the heroism of the new Anzacs and in spite of the heavy losses inflicted on the enemy there is no ground for hoping that fighting in Greece, can or will take any turn to our advantage,” said the Actting-Prime Minister (Mr. Fadderi). “We are now seeing the last stages of a most gallant rearguard action but it is a rearguard action and it would be foolish to regard it as anything else.” Mr. Fadden said the German advance in Libya had been stopped,and ’Egypt at the moment was secure..

“Nevertheless, Australia has never before faced a position fraught with so much danger. If the Australians, either at home or on the battlefield, are content to give anything but their best, we will fail.”

SIR THOMAS BLAMEY.

RUGBY, April 24.

Much interest has been aroused by the announcement made by the Australian Prime Minister (Mr Menzies) that General Sir Thomas Blarney, Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Forces in the Middle East is to be appointed deputy-Com-mander-in-Chief for the whole Middle East. It is understood that the appointment is intended to meet the special situations in the Middle East where the Commander-in-Chief (General Sir Archibald Wavell) is called upon to deal with a variety of fronts, and the idea is to provide General Wavell with a deputy who will have fuller responsibility in his absence than could be exercised by a chief-of-staff.

MR. FRASER’S STATEMENT.

“FULLY CONSULTED.”

WELLINGTON, April 24.

In a statement issued this afternoon. the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser) said he wished to make it plain that the New Zealand Government had been, fully. consulted on the question of sending New Zealand troops to Greece, and that it fully accepted responsibility in the matter. The text of Mr. Fraser’s statement was as follows: —

“The news from the . armies in Greece shows once again that the New Zealand Division with the Australians has made a magnificent fight against unparalleled odds. They are still facing difficult days, but we are assured that steps are being taken to ensure that everything that can be done to assist them is being done. The decision to reinforce the armies of Greece came-after receiving the evidence of German concentrations in Rumania, Bulgaria, and on the frontiers of Greece. The Greeks, by their fighting in Albania, had stemmed the overwhelming superiority ot the Italian army. Assisted by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, they had driven the Italians from Greek soil, and were progressing to the occupation of Albania. 'I his action, holding off as it did the menace to our positions in Egypt and the Middle East, enabled our forces _ to carry out their successful campaign in Africa. n ■ “On the evidence of the preparation of our enemy, Germany, to attack Greece, it was essential that we should come to her aid. I wish to make it plain that the New Zealand Government had been fully consulted with reference to the dispatch of New Zealand troops to Greece, and that we fully accepted our share of the responsibility for the decision that ■was taken.

IN FULLEST DETAIL

“The whole matter was laid before us in the fullest detail by the British Government, with the views of British Ministers (including Mt. Eden, who was in the Middle East at the time), and the British chiefs of staff, and, in particular, Sir John Dill (Chief of the British General Staff), General Sir Archibald Wavell (Commander-in-Chief, British Forces, Middle East), Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham (Commandei-in-Chief, Mediterranean), and Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore (Air Officer Command er-m-Chien Royal Air Force, Middle East), wnp were considering the problem on the spot. We also had the opportunity of exchanging views on the matter with the Australian Government. “Every aspect of the proposed operation was placed before us, and was fully considered by us and we came to the conclusion, on the most • competent military advice available that while the prospects of effective resistance to German aggression'were reasonable, although hazardous every consideration of honour impelled us to take all steps within our power to assist the gallant Greek Army and people whose resistance to Italian aggression had won the admiration of the world. . “After the most anxious consideration we concurred with the unanimous view of the British Government and their military advisers, including our own commander (MajorGeneral B. C. Freyberg) that the operations should be undertaken. This conclusion was arrived at unanimously by all the members of the War Cabinet and all the members, of the ordinary Cabinet, and was approved as the only possible course m the difficult circumstances by the Leader of the Opposition, who was specially consulted on the matter by myself. I wish to take this opportunity of assuring the people that the enterprise was not lightly undertaken by the British Government or lightly concurred in by the New Zealand Government. I know that if we had to face the same situation again, we would certainly come to the same decision. I have no doubt at all that the people of New Zealand will fully appreciate the situation, and that they will agree that we took the only course open to us, and that any decision to the contrary would haVe involved eternal dishonour.”