LAST BOAT OUT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20572, 4 June 1941, Page 8

LAST BOAT OUT

N.Z.E.F. REARGUARD

GISBORNiTE’S TRIALS

TRIBUTE TO COMMANDER

"The Lord only knows what we should do if we had no navy. Those chaps are marvellous, and how secure and at ease we felt when we went aboard that destroyer, and lifted anchor at 4 a.m. and set off to Suda Bay, Crete. That was after a hectic 17 days, just one jump ahead of old Jerry all the time,” writes a Gisborne member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, in a letter received today from the Middle East. “Just how fortunate we were in the last jump is shown by the fact that we headed for and embarked from a little beach called Forto Rufti, east of Athens, and in doing so we passed through a village from which two roads fork off to different bays. We had just got through the village, when Jerry gave us hell from the air, and took off on one road; when Jerry flew over and dropped 1500 parachutists at the other beach, only three and a half miles from ours. We were still the one jump ahead, and embarked safely.” “Darned Good Licking”

The letter contains a lengthy description of the conditions in which the New Zealand Expeditionary Force fought its way out of the Greek hinterland, after the collapse of the left flank, which was held by Greek forces. The collapse was believed fcy the New Zealanders to be due to a “sell-out” by the commander of the Greek army on that flank, and the existence of a “fifth column” in the land was indicated by the number of bridges blown up, and roads demolished, on the line <’f tne British troops’ retreat.

“Our battalion saw most of the campaign, for we were in the rearguard, and were the last off in the evacuation,” the writer states. “We spent many anxious days with Jerry right on our heels. We saw the greater part of Greece, northern and eastern, from the Bulgarian and Yugoslav borders right down to Athpns. Our battalion did a deuce of a lot of moving about before we actually struck Jerry near the town of Servia, at a pass called the Prosien Gap. Here wc gave him a darned good licking for five days, taking just over 200 prisoners and killed about 000 or 700 others, for Ihe total casualties of seven killed and 20 odd wounded among our men, these figures including casualties from air bombing and machine-gunning.

“Hun Airman a Foul Swine”

“Then came the order to withdraw, because of the Greek cave-in on our left, and ours was the last battalion to withdraw, We got heavy shelling on the way out, but got through with only one man missing after a hard i 0-mile forced march. Then started those nightmare convoys where traffic jams held up the retreat. “Next day the Hun dive-bombers came up with us, and we commenced n period of absolute hell. We know niw why our planes were not to be seen, but it meant that the Huns were able to come down to within 20 or JO feel of us, and bomb and macirnegun to their heart’s content. It was on this day that I became separated from the battalion, and was posted as missing. Part of that time—l 4 hours to be exact —was spent in open fields being continuously dive-bombed and machine-gunned.

“I will say this: That the Hun airman is a foul swine <jnd seems to take a fiendish delight in killing and obliterating everything in sight, be it only a dog or a donkey. Talk of military objectives! I have seen close at hand about 30 odd bombers literally wipe a little innocent village right off the face of the earth. I don’t intend to add all the horrors I have seen, or speak of the poor Greek civilians, men, women and children. Close Call at Prosien Gap

“We all have had narrow escapes, and I have had my share. Back at the Prosien Gap, Jerry subjected us Lo If, hours of intense bombing and gunning in the late afternoon, prior to his infantry attack; and I was out with a couple of my lads mending and relaying lines on the hillside near some points which Jerry gaee particular attention. One feels puny and helpless against aircraft, especially out in the open. He got near us five time, and, in fact, we bounced around with the concussion.

“What a sight watching him dive at you, and seeing the little black pills coming down, and his tracer bullets heading in your direction.' As he passes, his tail gunner takes up the chorus. We were lucky to come out of that lot unscratched. A bomb fragment or bullet took the glass out of my wrist-watch without any other apparent damage!”

After several references to the trials of the retreat to the coast, the writer acids: “I don’t believe I have yet mentioned that Major Blackburn took over command of our battalion just prior to our withdrawal from Stena Portas, in the Prosien Gap, owing to Colonel Varnham suffering an injury. ‘A.B.’ did a splendid job of work, and the fellows have nothing but praise for the way in which he handled the battalion under most trying circumstances —truly in the same mariner of the man I used to idolise during my Territorial days. He is now temporary lieutenant-colonel, and we all think he richly deserves to command the battalion.

“The Gisborne lads of my platoon, Denny Lindsey, Stan Horne, ‘Bunny’ Bell, lan McCallum and ‘Spike’ Maloney are all fit and well, as also are ‘A.B.’, Doug. McLaughlan, ‘Doc’ Littler, and a few others. “Get this, straight. We are far from beaten, and are looking forward to meeting Jerry again, especially under more even conditions, .for we know we can lick him well on the ground. Without air support and with ‘fifth columnists’ blowing up bridges, misleading your transport, dressing in your uniforms and giving false orders, things do get a bit sticky!”