GERMAN TROOPS IN ATHENS

Southland Times, Issue 24421, 29 April 1941, Page 5

GERMAN TROOPS IN ATHENS

Greek Population Is

Calm

(8.0.W.) RUGBY, April 27. A Middle East Command communique says: “Our troops are continuing the withdrawal from Greece.”

The Athens correspondent of the British United Press says the German advance guards entered Athens at 10 o’clock. Mechanized units followed and the swastika was hoisted on the Acropolis.

The Berlin radio says the German troops entered ' Athens at 11.17. A News Agency report from Athens says the first German troops were greeted with enthusiasm by the Germans who had stayed. The Greek population watched the troops march in and remained calm. Expressions of surprise were repeatedly heard at the sudden appearance of the German troops. CABINET MEETS IN CRETE Royal Greek decrees appoint M. Emmanuel Tsouderos acting Minister of War and M. Argyropoulos as GovernorGeneral of the Aegean Islands and also i grant an amnesty for all political I offences committed in Crete, except | those against the security of the State. | The Cabinet held its first meeting in I Crete. “All that for which we toiled for many generations is destroyed. We face dark days united in dignity and patience.” The newspaper Proini thus typified the proud courage of the Greeks in their hour of agony. All the newspapers and the radio echo an unshakable faith in the resurgence of free Greece. The newspaper Elmikon says: “We looked and smiled at death. We fought like David against Goliath. Now we arm our hearts with patience.” Asyrmatos says: “We face our adversity. We stay here because we are the masters of this land, sanctified by the blood of our forefathers, our brothers and our children.” The newspaper Estia says: “Cruel days await Greece. We are all convinced that these sufferings will not last long.” The Athens radio says: “Hold Greece to your hearts. Greece will revive. Greece will be great again.”

While from Ankara a Turco-German agreement for the exchange of goods to the value of £270,000 is reported. Turkey to supply tobacco and medicinal goods, the Istanbul correspondent of The Daily Herald says that it is reliably reported that Turkey has refused a German offer. The Nazi offer was Grecian Thrace in return for the control of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

PART OF BRITISH TROOPS LONDON, April 27. Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice in a letter to The Sunday Dispatch, complains that news from the Greek front is tardy and meagre. “I am sure neither the commanders in the field nor the censor deliberately withhold bad news,, knowing that is no way to treat the British public, but in view of what happened recently, I doubt whether the great importance of giving the public the facts promptly, particularly when they are unpleasant, is fully realized at the front,” he said. “I am also worried by the fact that in all the recent fighting in Libya, Greece and Abyssinia we hear only the deeds of the Anzacs and South African and Indian troops. We all know the Anzacs and others are the stoutest of fighters, but are there no British troops fighting? The casualty lists tell that they have been doing their bit, so why not say

20,000 KILLED IN BELGRADE , LONDON, April 27. A message from Cairo on Saturday stated that Yugoslav troops and planes which arrived in the Middle East to join the Allied forces received a warm welcome from the population, in addition to the Allied troops, to whom they eagerly recounted their experiences. A special correspondent on the German frontier says eye-witnesses from Yugoslavia say the air raids on Belgrade killed 20,000 persons. The people of Belgrade now live like animals. They have no electricity and no water supply. Thousands of rotting corpses are still strewn in the streets, representing threat to the population, who draw

water from the Danube.

The Germans entered on April 13 and filled trucks with goods pillaged from the shops. They then opened the gaols and photographed convicts looting to provide themselves with an alibi. The Germans moved on and left only a small garrison, which conscripted citiens aged from 16 to 60 years, to clear the debris and collect the wounded and dead.