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

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 -