The battle for Greece & Crete.pdf - Army Museum of South Australia

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The first Military Police to land in Greece arrived as the 1 st Australian Corps Provost Company withthe 2/3 Infantry Battalion on the 18 th and 19 th March 1941, they were to be followed by the 6 th DivisionProvost Company and the 7 th Division Provost Company and on Crete they were joined by theOrdnance Provost Section.In this campaign the Military Police certainly lived up to their Motto:“First in Last Out”They were highly involved in the campaign from the start, taking part in the following engagements:• 14 th April at Ellison and Portas Pass• 19 th April at Larissa and Thebes• 18 th - 23 rd April at town of Lamia• 24 th April at Brallos Pass• 26 th April at Megra (one of the evacuation ports)Brallos PassPart of the old Road at Brallos PassThe Corps involvement was recognised very early in the campaign with Sgt. Tom Osborne receiving aMilitary Medal (MM) for his actions at Portas Pass, with a second Military Medal being awarded toS/Sgt. Edward Trench (later promoted to Lieutenant) who unfortunately was killed on the 12 th January1943 and is buried in Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery. During the actions of the 18 th to 23 rdApril at Lamia, Capt. John Grimshaw was awarded the Military Cross (MC). During the campaignother members of the Corps were also to receive five, Mentioned in Dispatches (MIDs) one of thesebeing awarded to Lt. John Hazel, (later Captain) not a bad record for a Corps who many believe weresupposed to only be working in the rear echelon ‘Checking Passes and kicking arses “.The EvacuationThe evacuation of so many troops required a co-ordinated plan and strict control. This fell in part onthe Military Police, they were required to keep the roads open and flowing event though they werecontinually under attack to ensure that as many troops and as much equipment as possible reached theevacuation points which were spread over many areas of Greece.Whilst the troops withdrew it is reported that the members of 6 th Division Provost whilst reinforcingthe order that all vehicles were required to travel with dimmed lights, they carried out a veryremarkable performance considering the heavy traffic on the road and the evacuation was successfulentirely due to the good traffic control of the MPs.By the 19 th April the 7 th Division Provost were still ‘coolly’ directing the stragglers vehicles at Larrisaknowing that the German Advance Guard could arrive at any time.During the evacuation to Kalamata 600 vehicles containing 6000 troops were moved of 90 miles ofnarrow winding mountain roads to the evacuation point Brigadier Allen said:- 26 -
The march throughout was an exceedingly good one and the M.T. drivers are to be commendedfor their sterling work. In the darkness driving from dusk to daylight, using only dim lights, it wasno easy task…….6 Aust Div Provost gave valuable assistance.The admiration and respect for the Australian MPs is recorded in the comments of a ‘digger’ from 2/5who had been left behind at Delphi to undertake some demolitions prior to leaving for the evacuationpoint.The movement from then on was blind; we proceeded on, asking the MPs for the embarkation beach; they sentus on towards Corinth where we were sent on again. We me officers from other units, they could give us noinformation. They did not know where they were going. We continued on the road and occasionally met MPswho sent us on in the right direction.This respect by the diggers for the Provost can be seen from the comments of Pte. Wal Gudgeon of the2/8 Battalion when he said:“ I reckon the 6Div Provost were heroes right through because it wasn’t spur of the moment to them Greece was acontinuous job. And these 6 Divvy Provost, they were magnificent they really were.”CasualtiesFor a small Corps its casualties were very high.Location Killed Wounded POWsGreece 1 st Australian Corps Provost Company 2 2 -6 th Division Provost Company 2 37 th Division Provost Company 3 8Crete 6 th Division Provost Company 1 137 th Division Provost Company 2 35Ordnance Provost Section 9The Corps endeared itself to the Greeks and during the campaign they referred to the AustralianMilitary Police as “English Cowboys” because of the way they rode their motorcycles on the mountainroads.Two Australian MPsin Greece 1941Whilst the role of the Military Policeman in Greece and Crete was mainly that of traffic control animportant part of any campaign, it became highly important during the evacuation of Greece as its wasnecessary for the roads to be kept open and the vehicles and men moving to avoid being captured bythe Germans. This often meant that the Military Police were the ‘last to leave’ and therefore theywere all that stood between the evacuating troops and the Germans. They therefore became highlyinvolved in the rearguard action.It is a matter of record that it was the work of the Military Police in carrying out their role of “trafficcontrol” so efficiently and other duties not necessarily expected of Military Police that the evacuationwas so successful. It is reported from numerous sources that the Military Police in this campaign werehighly regarded by the troops (diggers) for their actions in making sure that they were not captured(refer to comments by Frank McManus of 1 st Australian Corps Signals below), and the fact that theyengaged in many activities that were normally outside their designated role and therefore played animportant part in the rearguard action in Greece, particularly in the battle for Lamia.- 27 -
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 and 28: The PlayersAustraliaBrigadier Georg
Page 29: On one occasion on the submarine HM
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

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