The battle for Greece & Crete.pdf - Army Museum of South Australia
The battle for Greece & Crete.pdf - Army Museum of South Australia The battle for Greece & Crete.pdf - Army Museum of South Australia
The bond that developed between the Cretans and the Allies can be seen on a building at Retimo wherea farmer has placed a plaque which says:” in memory of the soldiers from far away whose blood is now part of the sacred soil of Crete”.A sentiment similar to one expressed by Attaturk, at Gallipoli which also relates to the Anzacs troops.Cretan Youth at the Commemorationfor Battle of Crete CenotaphSydneyThe Preveli MonasteryThe Monastery in the village of Preveli played an important part in the battle for Crete. TheMonastery was seen as the rallying point for the allied troops who had been left behind after theevacuation.The Monastery at PreveliThe troops were made welcome by the Monks who would then arrange for small groups of abouttwenty to be hidden and looked after by the various villages in the area, whilst their evacuation bysubmarine was arranged.- 24 -
On one occasion on the submarine HMS Thrasher about 70 troops were evacuated from the beach ofLimni just below the Monastery.Map showing the location of the Preveli MonasteryThe efforts of the Monks was not forgotten, one of those they assisted Geoffrey Evans of the 2/11Battalion arranged for the building of ‘The Chapel of St. John the Theologian’ at Margaret River inWestern Australia and named his Caravan Park “Prevelly Park” a fitting tribute to the Monks andvillagers around Prevelli.The unacknowledgedWhen the details of a campaign are recorded they usually refer to the actions and exploits of the majorunits, those that are usually seen as the fighting (or glamour) units and very little is recorded aboutthose small units or corps many of whom are in the front line with the fighting troops and are also animportant part of the campaign. In fact without these units the others would have a very difficult time.In Greece and Crete there were a number of these units, two in particular are deserving of recognition,they were the members of the Australian Army Provost Corps (Military Police) and the Nurses whowere members of the Australian Army Nursing Service.The Military PoliceReference is rarely found of the involvement of the Military Police in any campaigns. It is believed(wrongly) that their activities only occurred in the rear echelon and involved such activities as –checking leave passes, maintaining discipline and escorting VIPs. This is far from the truth.There were some three hundred Military Police (Provost) who served in the Greek and Crete Campaign.The 6 th Division Provost Company were the first Military Police to be designated as ‘Combat MilitaryPolice’.- 25 -
- Page 1 and 2: THE BATTLEFORGREECE AND CRETEMatt W
- Page 3 and 4: The German Invasion Force- Strength
- Page 5 and 6: PrefaceIf one wishes to examine par
- Page 7 and 8: Dissentions about the campaignMany
- Page 9 and 10: This bond which developed between t
- Page 11 and 12: Recollections of a Greek Youth a Pa
- Page 13 and 14: AthensApril20 th Nurses____________
- Page 15 and 16: The GreeksGeneral Alexander Papagos
- Page 17 and 18: The RAAF in GreeceVery little infor
- Page 19 and 20: Crete was considered to be of strat
- Page 21 and 22: Troops were to be dispersed to the
- Page 23 and 24: The evacuation Beachat Sfakia (Stak
- Page 25 and 26: At 6.45 am on the 20 th May 1941 th
- Page 27: The PlayersAustraliaBrigadier Georg
- Page 31 and 32: The march throughout was an exceedi
- Page 33 and 34: Extract from the War Diary of 7 th
- Page 35 and 36: April 25 1941: Fine. Remained hidde
- Page 37 and 38: On the 20 th the Hospital ship Oba
- Page 39 and 40: The route taken by Paul Cullen duri
- Page 41 and 42: 42 nd Street gained importance in t
- Page 43 and 44: Australian Units who served in Gree
- Page 45 and 46: List of some of the ships involved
- Page 47 and 48: CruiserHelle (sunk)SubmarinePapantk
- Page 49 and 50: Service details of some of the Mili
- Page 51 and 52: The grave of L/Cpl BarnesPlaques in
- Page 53 and 54: 7 th Division Provost CompanyPerson
- Page 55 and 56: BibliographyAustralian Corps of Sig
<strong>The</strong> bond that developed between the Cretans and the Allies can be seen on a building at Retimo wherea farmer has placed a plaque which says:” in memory <strong>of</strong> the soldiers from far away whose blood is now part <strong>of</strong> the sacred soil <strong>of</strong> <strong>Crete</strong>”.A sentiment similar to one expressed by Attaturk, at Gallipoli which also relates to the Anzacs troops.Cretan Youth at the Commemoration<strong>for</strong> Battle <strong>of</strong> <strong>Crete</strong> CenotaphSydney<strong>The</strong> Preveli Monastery<strong>The</strong> Monastery in the village <strong>of</strong> Preveli played an important part in the <strong>battle</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Crete</strong>. <strong>The</strong>Monastery was seen as the rallying point <strong>for</strong> the allied troops who had been left behind after theevacuation.<strong>The</strong> Monastery at Preveli<strong>The</strong> troops were made welcome by the Monks who would then arrange <strong>for</strong> small groups <strong>of</strong> abouttwenty to be hidden and looked after by the various villages in the area, whilst their evacuation bysubmarine was arranged.- 24 -
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