WHITE FLAG IGNORED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23995, 19 June 1941, Page 10

WHITE FLAG IGNORED

SURRENDERING TROOPS

STORIES BROUGHT FROM CRETE

(X.Z.K.F. Offii'i.'il Xmvs Service) CAIRO, June is

A bombing and machine-gun attack un Imperial troops who had alj'eady surrendered in (.'rote following the evacuation is described l>y New ZeaInnder.s who have just arrived back at their base after the terrific ordeal of crossing the .Mediterranean in barges. This is not the unconfirmed version of one man but the content of statements made deliberately by several men independently who came away in different parties. A sergeant, who was one of over 100 men of various units who managed to escape from the island, said that they had seen while flags prominently displayed by troops who had surrendered in the early hours of the morning. When it. was daylight Nazi aeroplanes came over and bombed and machinegunned men who had been ordered out of the village of Sphakia high up on a hill overlooking the shore. The men were quite defenceless as they had been instructed to get rid of their arms and equipment prior to sin-rendering to tlio (lenuans.

Another Now Zoalander, who was acting as engineer on a second barge, which was hiding in a cave on tln* shore, said there was 110 donht that men were attacked from the air alter they had surrendered, and there was nothing that they could do about it. There was a slight mist along the shore which had enabled some of the men to set about making their escape from the island, but higher up on a hill men could be seen plainly, and white flags were quite visible;. The men were between two clumps of olive trees and were sitting down waiting for the Germans when they were machine-gunned and bombed.