Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY. MAY 17, 1941 CRETE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 May 1941, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY. MAY 17, 1941 CRETE

In the last war and in this New Zealand iroops have been called upon to fight in some of the most ancient strategic centres of the Mediterranean—Egypt, Palestine, Gallipoli, Greece. Now they are in Crete, known for centuries as the bastion of the eastern Mediterranean. Under Major-General Freyberg, who has been given the responsible post of Commander-in-Chief on the island, our men may soon be called on once again to face the Germans as they seek to conquer Crete and use it as a stepping-stone to the mainland of Asia Minor. Because of its key importance we have decided to fight to hold it. Moreover it is the temporary seat of the Greek Government and the refuge of the King of the Hellenes. Crete is a long and thin island lying almost along the 35th parallel of latitude. Its length is a hundred and sixty miles and its breadth varies from thirty-five miles to some seven and a half. In area it approximates 3000 square miles. Through the centre of the island runs a moun- j tain backbone, from which other j ranges lead down to a much-indented j coastline, where there are fine natural I harbours. Some of the peaks, famed j

in Greek mythology as the birthplace of the Gods, rise to more than 8000 feet. This rugged country is seared by ravines ending in precipitous cliffs and pierced by subterranean caverns and huge caves. Most of the forests which once covered the mountain sides have now disappeared. Cypresses still grow high up, while the lower hills and valleys, which are exceedingly fertile, are covered with olive plantations. Oranges, lemons and other fruits, including apples and pears, abound. Before the war the population was about a third of a million. The impress of many peoples has been left on the island of Crete during its varied associations with some of the great civilisations of the past. Lying midway between three continents, it was from the earliest period a natural stepping-stone for the passage of early culture from Egypt and the East to the mainland of Greece, just as Hitler hopes to make it a stepping-stone in the opposite direction for Nazi tyranny. In Homer’s poems, particularly the “Odyssey,” Crete and its people are freely mentioned. Its naval value was recognised by Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, two thousand years ago, and his estimate is still a true one in spite of the threat of air-borne troops which has arisen in the meantime. About half a century before the Christian era the island was subdued by Roman arms and became a Roman province. Strangely enough it was united for administrative purposes with the Libyan province of Cyrenaica, which the world has come to know so well. When the Emperor Constantine split the Roman empire in two, Crete was made part of the Byzantine empire till it fell into the hands of the Saracens, to become a nest of pirates and the home of a great slave market. The next great Mediterranean people to hold sway there were the Venetians, who occupied it for four centuries, only to lose it to the Turks in 1718. From that time Crete continued subject to Ottoman rule without interruption till the Greek revolution in 1821. It was a dark hundred years for the Cretans. In the middle of last century the island acquired the reputation of being the worst governed of the Turkish dominions, which is saying a good deal. When the Greeks revolted the Cretans also raised their standard of insurrection. However, on the recognition of Greek independence, Crete was not included in the new state, though a change in administration gave it a period of twenty years’ enlightened rule under a Turkish Governor who was such a welcome relief from most of his kind that the period of his administration is known as the “golden age of Crete.” A new era began for the Cretans in 1868, when the Turks were induced to grant them a measure of self-government. The ensuing story of Crete la largely one of a struggle for more pad more self-determination, in which bloody feuds between Moslem and Christian played a big part. Moves were made to annex Crete to Greece, but these were defeated because of the policy of propping up Turkish authority by certain of the Great Powers. While the Cretans fought for independence from Turkey and for union with Greece this was strenuously resisted by the Moslem element. It was left to Venizelos, himself a Cretan, to restore the ancient and historic link his native land had with Greece. Cretan deputies were admitted to the Greek Parliament in 1912. Later in the year Greece declared war on Turkey and, as the result of the Balkan war, wrested Crete from the Turks. Now the island is a haven for the King of the Hellenes and will be defended by Greek, British and Anzac fighting men. When victory comes, that culture which is the glory of Greece will once more be able to use Crete as a stepping-stone to the European mainland.