NAZI SAVAGERY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21957, 8 May 1941, Page 6

NAZI SAVAGERY

New Zealanders Get A Taste Effort To Prevent Escape (From Official War Correspondent atfched to the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces in the Middle East) CAIRO, May 6. When the British, Australian and New Zealand troops were withdrawing from Greece, often embarking on whatever vessels that were available, small Greek fishing ships which came to their assistance did not escape the attention of the Luftwaffe. Two Nazi planes bombed and machine-gunned a small brig, setting it afire from stem to stern, and must have been convinced that they had accounted for the men trying to escape in it, but they had not allowed for the fact that these were New Zealanders. This is their side of the story.

A small party of New Zealand Infantrymen abandoned their last motor truck, packed some food and clothing and set out on foot down the Peloponese. They were directed by Greeks to a small Greek brig lying at anchor in an inlet. With German aircraft about difficulty was experienced in embarking, but with a feeling of intense relief they stepped aboard after being constantly harassed by the enemy for two weeks. They were leaving Greece at last. “Aircraft,” a cry went up. Two Messerschmitts dropped from the blue and began a furious attack with bombs and incendiary bullets. The New Zealanders scuttled below and crouched among the cargo of baled hay. They found 30 other occupants in a rather frightened state. The Nazis meant business and bombs fell all around the frail little craft. Some of the rigging crashed through the hatch. They heard the crackling of machine-guns and bullets beat on the deck above their heads. Panic overcame them when an incendiary ignited the hay and fire swept through the hatch, the straw and dry timber making the hold a roaring inferno. Like trapped rats they had one desire to leave the burning hell. “Here they come again—duck,” yelled one of the party. The Messerschmitts, still with machine-guns blazing, banked and dived at the doomed ship. An infantryman noticed a loose board in the ship’s hull. This he smashed free and dived through the opening to strike the water. He glanced skywards and saw thick clouds of smoke above him which would temporarily protect him from the Nazi bullets. Taking full advantage of this accidental smokescreen he struck out for the shore. When he, reached the beach he wondered whether his companions had been as fortunate. The sun was strong so he stripped off his clothes to dry and stood naked beneath a rock. In this condition he was found by another member of the party who reported that one man had been drowned and three others were casualties. They slept on the bare ground in their wet clothes and hid in the hills next day where Greeks gave them food and water. The possibility of escaping in the night seemed very remote. However, they were wakened by shouting and the tramping of feet on rock. They stumbled down to the bay, where they were taken on board by the Navy.