ESCAPE FROM GREECE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24070, 15 September 1941, Page 6

ESCAPE FROM GREECE

NEW ZEALANDERS' RUSE 17 MEN 11 DAYS AT SEA How 17 New Zealand soldiers escaped from Greece in a launch, which they confiscated, and deceived German airmen by posing as Greek fishermen,, is described in a letter from Gunner L. A. W. Beazley to his family in Auckland. The men were picked up by a British destroyer after being 11 days at sea. Gunner Beazley says he and 16 others were unable to get away in one of the boats evacuating the" troops and the party walked 15 miles along the coast, an arduous task being met in climbing over the rocks and crossing gullies. The men's feet were sore and blistered. They lay under cover all next day to escape observation by the enemy. The following night some of the men proceeded to a near by village and took a launch from under the noses of the Germans and brought it along shore to the hiding place. The men set off, but by morning, when only a few miles off-shore, the engine failed and the men -endeavoured to sail the craft. The wind dropped and they were becalmed. "As luck would have it there was some fishermen's clothing on the launch and another man and I put it on and stayed on deck while the other boys kept under the hatch and out of sight.'' the letter continues. German aeroplanes flew low over the small vessel nearly every day, but the men's ruse apparently deceived the airmen as the party was not fired upon. The men had only one slice of dry bread a day for the 11 days in which they sailed from island to island until rescued by the destroyer and taken to Fgypt.