GREEK-CRETE CAMPAIGN

Grey River Argus, 1 April 1946, Page 5

GREEK-CRETE CAMPAIGN

N.Z.E.F. MEN’S PLUCK Incident of Church Shrine LONDON, March 28. f Interesting facts on the N.Z.E.F. role in Greece, hitherto unpublished, were mentioned by LieutenantGeneral Sir Bernard Freyberg, at a farewell luncheon in his and - Lady Freyberg’s honour, given by J the New Zealand Society. Lord Bledisloe presided, and those present included Lord Addison, Gen-’, eral Birdwood, General Godley, Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake, Sir Erie.. Machti-g, Mr J. A. Beasley, Mr R. M.; Sunley/Captain Paul Freyberg, Major. M. McClaren, and many New Zealanders. “Now that the war is over, I hope the true story of the New Zealanders’part m it will be told, especially their? role during the early days,’’said Gen-; eral Freyberg, replying to a toast byLord Bledisloe. “So far, thanks to the censor, very little is known to-day ot the battles in the Greek and Crete campaigns, or of the early battles in the Western Desert. I have been studying these in detail, and the partplayed by the New Zealand forces is) very good. lam anxious, for national reasons, that New Zealand’s', part should be told as early as possible, while it is still fresh in our minds, toinspire the new generations of young men and women who are growing up_ in our country.”

Remarking that he would give a few facts to “stimulate healthy interest in that dramatic event” —the Greek campaign—General Freyberg continued: “We have now the complete German archives'. Never before in the history of war have we known, the truth from both points of view. I have seen the whole of the directives, planning notes and operation orders signed by Hitler, Brauschwitz and Keitel, with time and date. It is possible to get a complete picture of German strategy, and to realise the difficulties we had in trying to meet it. “The German operation to capture Greece was delivered in great, strength by two German armies' of 32 divisions, seven of which were panzers, supported by the bulk of the Luftwaffe. It came in against the New Zealand Division, and part of the Sixth Australian Division, supported by the First Armoured Brigade. We were deployed on the Aliachmon Line, 1000 miles from the-, supply and ammunition base, with a very uncertain line of communication, and with Piraeus knocked out on the first night of the attack;; .. “We were outnumbered by fifteen to one in the infantry, and seven to one in tanks. Ten days before the attack was launched, an. order to withdraw from Greece was issued—a difficult start for New Zealand’s war effort. We started with a very difficult rearguard action hundreds of miles back. We were heavily pressed by tanks on the ground, and were harrassed by daylight from the air, being also cut off from the outside world by communications, and not knowing, when we got back, whether we would get any ships to take us off. During the retreat one of those extraordinary incidents happened that do happen in life. Towards the end of the retreat, I found myself parked in an olive ’grove near a large Greek Orthodox church. I was very worried. I did not know if the weather was going to be good, or whether we could get ships. I told my Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Stewart, of a similar incident, 26 years' ago, on the day ' before the landing in Gallipoli. Then 1 sat, with my subaltern, Rupert Brooke, close to a church in the Greek island of Mudros, talking anxiously and inconclusively, about the Navy and the chances of a landing on Gallipoli. In the finish, Brooke said to me: ‘I am going into that church to light the biggest candle I can to Aeos Nicolas, God of the Sea, • to see what that will bring!’ On that - occasion Aeos Nicolas paid a big ’ dividend. I said to Brigadier Stewart: *T shall go in and light the biggest . candle I can to Aeos Nicolas. At any j rate, it can do no harm!’ I forgot about it. But, just as I was leaving. I. remembered. I stopped the car and ' entered the church; but I found there were no candles left. But there was an enormous blaze of light round the . shrine of Aeos Nicolas! It proves that New Zealand soldiers are quick an the uptake”. . General Freyberg went on to say that when the New Zealanders were . given equipment in satisfactory num-; hers, they took a full part in great, successes. “But in the early days, ;• when we were fighting without equipment, with our backs to the wall, of which we were most proud—in Greece, Crete, and Sidi Rezegh—the New Zealand fighting soldier was . seen at his best, and the Second N.Z.E.F. was shown to be worthy sue- -• eessors to their fathers. As brilliant ■ and great as are New Zealand fight- t ers in the quality of courage in battle, ; it is the qualities' of mind, moral ; qualities that I.most admire in them. ; They have been seen, to a great extent;, in the general .’behaviour of out’ prisoners of war. You can read what an Unsolicited testimonial they are given in ‘Escape Books.’ Read what Miliar has to say about them ; In ‘Homed Pigeon’; and I can give a testimonial of what we found from captured German reports on interrogations of prisoners'. They said: - ‘Of course, we got nothing but rude- ■ ness from New Zealanders!’ .It ? wasn’t, rudeness. It was non-co-opera- ■ tion. It is true that they would not ? salute Rommel, or any German of- ■; fleer, and they would not answer ■ questions. But if they were pressed. ; they were aggressive. But that was ’ their idea of non-co-operation.”