GREEK KING IN EGYPT

Southland Times, Issue 24445, 27 May 1941, Page 5

GREEK KING IN EGYPT

GERMANS’ PLANS FRUSTRATED PARACHUTISTS LAND NEAR HOUSE (Rec. 9.45 p.m.) LONDON, May 26. King George of Greece and his Ministers arrived in Egypt en route to British territory. After escaping in Crete over rugged mountains the Royal party slept in caves with shepherds. They were fired on by Greek patrols who mistook them for German parachutists, but none was injured. King George, in a message to the Greek people, disclosed that the houses occupied by him and the Prime Minister, M. Tsouderos, were among the first objectives of the German parachutists. The first flight landed within a few hundred yards. Fighting began immediately. “We became separated from our troops,” said the King. “It was also impossible to keep in touch with the military • and civil authorities, for which reason it was necessary for us to withdraw from Crete in order to frustrate the enemy plans. With profound regret we decided to leave the heroic island while the Allied forces, also all Cretans irrespective of age, continued to fight with the most admirable courage against the unsuccessful attacks of the enemy, who was using, with his usual ferocity, every mechanized device at his disposal. I am convinced that it is in the interests of the whole Greek nation that our lawful Government should continue to function in the closest collaboration with the British Government. In the final victory the honour awaiting you people of Crete will be great because you are the last glorious rampart of the Greek nation. All Greeks throughout the world are watching you in the white mountains of Crete with confidence and admiration.” KING ADVISED TO LEAVE The Allied commander in Crete, Major-General B. C. Freyberg, advised the King to leave Crete before the German attack, but the King insisted on remaining until the last possible moment. The King left Crete on Friday. The party included Sir Michael Palairet, the British Minister, Lady Palairet, also members of the British Legation from Greece, Major-General T. G. G. Heywood, who was head of the military mission to Greece, and Colonel J. S. Blunt, military attache in Greece, who accompanied King George. The party graphically described their adventures before leaving Crete.

Major-General Heywood said the Germans last Sunday launched increasingly heavy air attacks on the aerodromes at Candia, Rethymo and Malemi and shipping and installations at Suda Bay. Their attacks were very heavy on the Sunday and they severely bombed the hospital, killing three doctors and several patients. More heavy bombings occurred early on Tuesday. At 8 a.m. crowds of parachutists came down in the area south-westwards of Canea. There were swarms of parachutists, and troop-carriers and gliders landed northwards of Canea and tried to land at Malemi. The landing of parachutists went on steadily until noon with continual machine-gunning of the town and olive-groves and dogfights wherever the parachutists landed. Fortunately the King had left his house, south-westwards of Canea the night before, and gone to the house of the Prime Minister. NEW ZEALAND GUARD Colonel Blunt took up the story. “The King occupied a house commanding a wide view of the countryside,” he said. “The guard consisted of an escort of Greek gendarmerie and a platoon of New Zealanders under the command of Second-Lieutenant W. H. Ryan. The platoon had been in action in Greece from the start of the Balkan campaign. They were aroused by the roar of a squadron of Messerschmitts overhead and King George, Prince Peter and the Prime Minister came out to watch them. The remainder of the party, including the Governor of the Bank of Greece, M. John Drossopoulos, and the Prime Minister’s secretary were in another house in the village. Bombers followed the Messerschmitts, bombing targets where they thought there were troops and then coming through the smoke of the bombardment from the north we saw a very large force of aeroplanes and took cover in trenches. Large gliders appeared over the house, circling a long time. We did not see land, although others landed later at the bottom of the King’s garden. It was clear a landing was going to be made and shortly afterwards we saw troop-carry-ing planes flying very low in chains of three from the west. They seemed endless.

“Then the parachutists started dropping,” Colonel Blunt concluded. “A company of parachutists estimated at between 150 and 200 came down in the area where the King had been the day before. It was an extraordinary sight. Their parachutes were red or green. We saw through our glasses the French chalk in which they were packed popping off as the parachutes came out of the containers. The nearest parachutists were' about 800 yards away. We saw a number of parachutes which did not open and let the men fall straight to the ground. There was a great deal of machine-gunning from the planes, also firing in all directions from our anti-aircraft guns and troops.

ROYAL PARTY LEAVES “We decided it was no use staying, as our house would obviously be attacked as a useful observation post. With difficulty because of low-flying planes we collected our party. The whole thing happened so quickly that we could not get transport and took to the hills, literally with what we could carry in our hands. We saw another flight of parachutes come down on our road and for this reason we had to climb a 1500 feet hill in great heat. Every five or 10 yards we had to take cover as hundreds of planes were whizzing about in every direction. Everyone had to lie down. Prince Peter said he could see the faces of the rear-gunners in the planes.” Colonel Blunt explained that everyone was nervous of Germans in British or Greek uniforms. Therefore, parties indulged in much shouting before meeting, each thinking the others were parachutists. After climbing the ridges the Royal party at noon arrived at a cave occupied by a certain shepherd family beside a little spring. They sheltered there until 3 p.m., when they continued the journey to Panagya. From there Colonel Blunt tried to make contact with Canea, but the situation was so confused with much fighting that he was compelled to abandon the attempt. Colonel Blunt eventually made contact with Suda Bay by telephone and arranged for the embarkation of the King on Thursday night. There were pathetic scenes when the Royal party reached the south coast. Women, recognizing the King, knelt and kissed his hand before he embarked. Lady

Palairet cooked for the party throughout the journey. Major-General Heywood revealed that the Germans released 1000 civil prisoners in Crete, but instead of fighting for the Germans they fought against them. Major-General Heywood expressed the opinion that it was possible to hold Crete. “The British and Dominion troops, also the marines, fight well in this type of fighting, which is man-to-man,” he. said. “The withdrawal from Greece and the fighting in Crete constitute part of the same action. I hope we have reached the last stage and will hold the Germans, who are finding difficulty in reinforcing the troops already landed.”