GISBORNE KIWIS INVOKE R.S.A. AID TO SAVE FORMER FRIEND

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22697, 23 July 1948, Page 4

GISBORNE KIWIS INVOKE R.S.A. AID TO SAVE FORMER FRIEND

A MOTHER'S CALL FROM CRETE

TWO Gisborne returned servicemen who spent two years in hidingon Crete, following the collapse of the Allied defence of that island and its occupation by German forces in 1941, are engaged today in an effort to save from execution, on political charges, a crippled Cretan who sheltered and fed them at the risk of his own life and who himself had to take to the hills after his betrayal.

They are endeavouring to secure a stay of judgment in the case of the former friend until they can forward representations to the Greek Government, based upon their knowledge of the convicted man’s wartime resistance to the Germans and his innocence, so far as their experience went, of any subversive activities directed against the re-establishment of normal administration in Greece and its dependent islands.

At their request the executive of the Gisborne Returned Services’ Associaciation has forwarded to the Dominion executive committee a request that the Greek Government be approached through its representative in New Zealand, with an urgent recommendation that the case of the Cretan prisoner be re-examined in the light of evidence to be forwarded by his Kiwi friends. The R.S.A. action has been prompted by representations from Mr. R. Huston, Gisborne, one of five New Zealanders who lived for two years mainly upon the food brought to them by a Cretan whom they knew as Mitso Ledaki. German Reprisals Threat Defied

These Kiwis, who were cut off in the process of the German occupation of the island and had to take_ to the hills, teamed up with an Australian and took refuge in a cave above a Cretan village. There were three Gisborne men in the party, Messrs. R. Huston, Colin RatcliiTe and Jack Symes. The other two Kiwis were Messrs. Gordon Davis and Milton F. Knight, both of Auckland.

German troops had a station just below the village where Mitso I.edaki lived with his parents and other members of the family, and the enemy made frequent visits to the village. _ Despite the terrific hazards, Ledaki found means to bring the Allied refugees.food and clothing, and kept them informed of the movements of the German troops thus enabling them to avoid actions which might have led to their capture. At night, when the coast was clear, the refugees would come down out of the hills and spend a few hours in the home of the Ledaki family, partaking of their generous though meagre hospitality and learning much of the hardships of the Cretans’ lives under the German domination.

Three Refugees Evacuated

Mitso was the presiding genius of the family's efTorts for the escapees, and during the night visits to the village he organised and maintained a careful guard against surprise. It was he, too, who contacted British representatives on the island in an endeavour to arrange the evacuation of the Kiwis.

Eventually Jack Symes, Milton Knight and the Australian got clear, but the two Gisborne men and Gordon Davis, Auckland, were finally captured by the Germans, apparently as the result of a betrayal. At this time the enemy were actually occupying the village in which the Letaki family lived. Even the presence of the Germans in the village did not prevent Mitso from keeping a small but essential supply of food moving up to the prisoners, and he constantly risked the most fatal reprisans by his activities on behalf on the refugees. Evidence Sought Against Cretans

The enemy was well aware that Allied troops were in hiding in various parts of Crete, and that they were being slowly but surely drained oil by the British Navy, and they were exasperated to an intense degree by the knowledge that the existence of the refugees was impossible without the connivance of some Cretans. They took the most drastic measures against those who were even suspected of harbouring their enemies. Their anxiety to stamp out Cretan opposition was exemplified to the Gisborne men when they were finally captured. Huston, Ratcliffe and Davis, were safe enough in their character of prisoners of war, but the Germans interrogated them constantly for two or three months after their capture in an effort to secure information as to who had helped them during their long period of hiding. Girls Taken as Enemy Hostages

The Kiwis determinedly repulsed all efforts to secure such information, but apparently Mitso was under suspicion, and at a later stage he had to take to the hills himself to escape German vengeance. Two of his sisters were taken as hostages ,and held in prison pending his surrender; but as the family knew what his fate would be it he did give himself up they bore with the imprisonment of the two girls until liberation of Crete, rather than allow their son to surrender.

That is the story of the Letaki family as the Gisborne men know it. From their constant contacts with Mitso over the two years they know him to have been strongly prh-Ally in sentiment; and they believe him also to have been a loyal member of the Cretan community.

It is their hope that a re-examination of his case ,in the light of his wartime activities and his standing as a strong and determined anti-Nazi mav have a happy result for Mitso and his family. The approach to the Greek consul through the Returned Services’ Association is the first step in an endeavour to repay the debt accumulated when

but for his friendship and the steadfast support of his family and neighbours, they would have suffered infinitely worse hardships and doubtless a much earlier capture by the German forces.