TAKEN PRISONER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23997, 21 June 1941, Page 10

TAKEN PRISONER

AUCKLAND DOCTORS

DECISION IN CRETE

STAYED WITH WOUNDED

How two Auckland doctora and a well-known city Baptist minister chose to remain with seriously wounded men rather than seek to escape from Crete is told in letters which have been received by Mr. Allan J. Moody, chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, whoso son, Captain 11. F. Moody, was one of the doctors, and by Mrs. J. S. Hiddlestone, of Epsom, whose husband, the Kev. J. S. Hiddlestone, was tho chaplain. The second doctor was Captain Selwvn de Clive-Lowe. A letter in reference to his son which Mr. Moody received yesterday from Colonel Kenneth MacCormick, D.5.0., also of Auckland, said: "I have not been able to get the full facts from those who have returned except that in company with Sehvyn de Clive-Lowe he found himself with a number of seriously wounded practically cut off and decided that it was his duty to stay with the wounded. Red Cross Respected

"The consensus of opinion among those who have returned," continues Colonel MacCormick, "is that unless medical units got in the way of active operations (lie Germans have respected tho Hod Cross and medical personnel had nothing to fear."

A similar opinion is expressed in a letter which Mrs. Hirldlestone reeoived from the Rev. Frank H. Buck. Ho says: "The men of his unit told me that the enemy were respecting the Red Cross at this point and had refrained from bombing. Mr. Hiddlestone and the patients#were in n cave under good shelter when they were left behind. The Germans would be especially apt to be kind to Mr. Hiddlestone because he had been very good to a number of wounded German prisoners collected in this hospital." Duty Lay With Wounded Mr. Buck says men of Mr. Hiddlestone's unit said that he was well, but worn out by the strain of the continuous bombing the forces had undergone. When the evacuation began the officers in the hospital were faced with more than 40 miles of road which was little better than a goat track. Mr. Hiddlestone and the other officers felt that their duty lay with the wounded, who could not be brought away under such conditions.

Both letters pay the writers' tribute to the courage of the officers concerned in making a decision to stay with the wounded. Colonel MacCormick adds that in Captain Moody's case lie had been promoted from lieutenant to captain and was probably unaware of his advance. 16 DOCTORS LEFT BEHIND HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT LOST Sixteen medical officers were among (lie New Zealanders left behind in Crete when the defending forces were evacuated, according to a letter which had been received in Auckland from a senior officer of the Army Medical Corps. In addition, a number of men and the. entire equipment of a general hospital and other units were left behind, and he expresses the hope that the people of New Zealand will take the long view and help the medical services in the Middle East.