GREEK SPIRIT UNBROKEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22125, 20 November 1941, Page 5

GREEK SPIRIT UNBROKEN

Struggle Will Be Carried On British Official Wireless (Rec. 7.30 p.m.) RUGBY, Nov. 18. Crown Prince Paul of Greece, speaking at a London luncheon to-day said: “We Greeks and those of us who still love Greece and those who are continuing the struggle far from home, are indeed proud that at a time when Europe seemed to be crumpling physically and—what is far more serious—morally, under the pressure of Nazi violence and a most brutal form of aggression, that we were vouchsafed strength to stand by your side. In the cause of liberty which we prize as dearly as you, we were able to throw back the Italian aggressor in a series of defeats over a period of six months and face with courage that befits free men an overwhelming tide of German machinery. In body we were not equal to the might of two great Empires, but if my country is being over-run by unscrupulous aggressors in pursuit of their plan of world domination by brute force, this does not mean that Greece’s contribution to the cause of freedom has come to an end. The nation is still resisting gallantly with all the means it can muster and that their resistance is effective is proved by the fact that 15 Italian divisions and more than 70,000 Germans are immobilised in Greece in an attempt to keep order. “The Greek Government in London has received authentic accounts of guerrilla warfare in various parts of the mainland of Greece and in the whole of Crete which is carried on with such stubbornness and tenacity as to cause the Italians and Germans the greatest discomfort and uneasiness, while the ravages and murderous depredations and acts of sacrilege and brutality committed by the Bulgars in Thrace and Macedonia have provoked open revolt in those unfortunate provinces which even German troops have had the greatest difficulty in suppressing. The atrocities committed by the Bulgars in these north-eastern provinces of Greece are indeed horrifying and are typical of not only the brutish mentality of that primitive and uncivilised race but also of the mockery of Hitler’s claim that under the mirage of his famous new order an era of prosperity will accrue to the nations which obey him. Of all the lies which he has put before the world with his impudent frankness that perhaps is the most blatant.”

The Crown Prince added: "Outside the borders of the Greek Kingdom as you know, our royal navy and merchant fleet, our new army in the Middle East and our air force, reorganised and equipped with new machines, are collaborating with Britain and adding the slender weight of their material strength and the indomitable spirit of their determination to the forces of righteousness which are fighting for civilisation.”