Commemorations of the 75th Anniversary of the
Greek Campaign and the
Battle of Crete
Commemorative Service
Australian Hellenic Memorial
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
12:00 pm, 14 April 2016
© Commonwealth of Australia 2016
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Commemorations of the 75th Anniversary of the
Greek Campaign and the Battle of Crete
Contents
Historical Overview
Order of Service
National Anthems
Image credits
Historical Overview:
The Greek Campaign and the Battle of Crete
In 1941 Australian, British, New Zealand and Greek troops fought in the ill-fated campaigns in mainland Greece and Crete.
On 6 April that year German forces invaded northern Greece and Yugoslavia. The
Allies, comprising mainly of troops from Australia and New Zealand, underequipped and outnumbered, were compelled to conduct a fighting withdrawal from the north of mainland Greece to the beaches in the country’s south, from which the force was evacuated.
Many of those who took part in the evacuation were deployed to Crete, where with British,
New Zealand and Greek troops they fought a series of vicious battles against elite German paratroops. When the Germans were able to seize a vital airfield and begin bringing in supplies and reinforcements, the Allies had to concede defeat once again and conduct another evacuation. More than 5000 Australians were taken prisoner of war in both campaigns.
Greece
Greece’s involvement in the Second World War began with the Italian invasion of
28 October 1940, but the Greeks quickly repelled the Italians, leading Germany to commit support to its ally.
In 1941 the defence of mainland Greece was placed largely in the hands of troops from
Australia and New Zealand – known, as they had been during the First World War, as the Anzac Corps. Even before the German invasion, senior British military and political figures doubted the wisdom of attempting to fight the Germans in mainland Greece, and some were already discussing evacuation plans. Lacking aircraft and armour, the Allies were poorly prepared to withstand the German onslaught, which came in the form of ten infantry, armoured and specialist mountain warfare divisions. Outnumbered on the ground and in the air, the British Commonwealth force was unable to deploy sufficient troops in any one area to halt the German advance. Instead they found themselves conducting a series of withdrawals, slowing the Germans down and offering brave and sometimes successful local resistance.
Writing about the fighting in mainland Greece, Lieutenant General John Coates said:
As in almost every Allied campaign in the early part of the war, the worst mistakes of the politicians and strategists were moderated by the bravery, fighting qualities and sheer dogged determination of the troops. Greece was no exception.
The final withdrawal to the evacuation beaches on the Peloponnese was skilfully conducted and the evacuation began on 24 April. Over the next five nights more than 50,000 troops left mainland Greece.
The Australians left behind more than 300 dead, and more than 2000 others became prisoners of war. Some 290 New Zealanders were killed and more than 1600 captured. Hundreds of others were cut off during the fighting, many of whom escaped, largely owing to the bravery of the Greek people who assisted them to make their way back to Allied lines in Crete or North Africa via Turkey or the Greek islands.
Crete
Crete’s position in the centre of the eastern Mediterranean made it a key strategic asset during the Second World War. For the Allies, it offered potential as a base for operations in the Balkans and against the source of much of Germany’s oil, the oilfields at Ploesti in Romania. For the Germans, it offered a base for operations against North Africa.
When the Germans conquered mainland Greece in April 1941, placing Crete under dire threat, few preparations had been made for the island’s defence. The garrison was hastily strengthened with troops evacuated from mainland Greece but they lacked vehicles, artillery and other heavy weapons.
In an operation codenamed ‘Merkur’ (Mercury) more than 9500 German airborne troops began landing on Crete on 20 May 1941, their main objectives being the airfields at Maleme, Heraklion and Retimo. Initially the German forces suffered heavily at the hands of the defenders but, although held at bay at Retimo and Heraklion, they managed to take control of Maleme airfield by the night of 21 May.
Ralph Honner, at the time a company commander with the 2/11th Battalion, described the arrival of the Germans, as seen from his vantage point east of Retimo:
[It was] a spectacle that might have belonged to a war between the planets. Out of the unswerving flying fleet came tumbling lines of little dolls, sprouting silken mushrooms that stayed and steadied them, and lowered them in ordered ranks into our consuming fire. And still they came, till all the fantastic sky before us was filled with futuristic snowflakes floating beneath the low black thundercloud of the processional planes – occasionally flashing into fire as if struck by lightning from the earth.
The battle for Crete cost the British Commonwealth forces more than 1700 killed and some
2200 wounded, and thousands more were taken prisoner. Persistent German air attacks and unsustainable naval losses caused the evacuation from Sfakia to be abandoned prematurely.
The Royal Navy lost nine ships around Crete and more than 2000 sailors were killed.
Operation ‘Merkur’ had likewise proved costly for the Germans, who suffered more than
7000 fatalities.
Order of Service
Music provided by the Royal Military College Duntroon Band
Arrival of official guests
Introduction and Welcome
Nicholas Vazenios
Master of Ceremonies
Catafalque Party is mounted
Members of the Australian Defence Force
Memorial Service
Reverend Father Petros Kipouros
Reverend Father Konstantinos Kostakos
Address
Her Excellency Ekaterini Xagorari
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Greece
Address
The Honourable Dan Tehan MP
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC
Minister for Defence Materiel
Address
Lieutenant General Konstantinos Gkatzogiannis
Chief of Staff of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff
Official Wreath Laying
Ode of Remembrance
Alf Carpenter OAM, ED (NSW)
Veteran
They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Response:
We will remember them.
All:
Lest we forget.
Last Post
One Minute silence
Rouse
National Anthems
National Anthem of Greece (Hymn to Liberty)
Advance Australia Fair
Catafalque Party dismounts
Public Wreath Laying
Members of the public are invited to lay wreaths
Official Guests Depart
National Anthems
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National Anthem of Greece
(Hymn to Liberty)
Se gnorízo apó tin kópsi
tou spathioú tin tromerí,
se gnorízo apó tin ópsi,
pou me via metrái ti gi.
Ap' ta kókkala vgalméni
ton Ellínon ta ierá,
kai san próta andrioméni,
Chaíre, o Chaíre, eleftheriá!
I recognize you by the fearsome
sharpness, of your sword,
I recognize you by your face
that violently defines the land.
From the sacred bones,
of the Hellenes arisen,
and valiant again as you once were,
hail, o hail, Liberty!
Advance Australia Fair
Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We’ll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair
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Image credits
Page 1:Australian troops recently arrived in Athens view the Acropolis, April 1941.
(AWM 006797)
Page 2:Members of the 2/7th Battery, Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, man a Bofors gun on the north side of the Maleme airfield, May 1941. (AWM P01495.002)
Page 3:British and Australian troops march through a street in Kalamata to the evacuation point in the area, 26 April 1941. (AWM 069885)
Page 6:top, Bearded, stained and wounded, Private Clive Armstrong arrived in Alexandria in a condition typical of many who had survived the fighting withdrawal through Greece. (AWM 008175); bottom, A Breda gun crew of HMAS Perthrests after a full day of returning fire from German fighter aircraft during the evacuation of Allied troops from Sfakia, on the southern coast of Crete, 30 May 1941. (AWM P01345.016)
Page 7:Australian soldiers use donkeys to carry themselves and their equipment along a Greek road, April 1941. (AWM 006714)
Page 8:Tea and rations were ready for the evacuees as they disembarked at Alexandria, 28 April 1941. (AWM 007607)
Page 9:top, German paratroopers descend from Junkers JU52 transport aircraft, one of which has been shot down by anti-aircraft fire, near Souda Bay, Crete, on 20 May 1941. (AWM P00433.009); bottom, Members of the 6th Division Signals boil a billy at their encampment near Souda Bay, Crete, in April 1941. (AWM P02053.009)
Page 10:Nurses of an Australian and New Zealand hospital unit, some of whom were wounded in a bombing raid during the evacuation, arrive safely at Souda Bay, Crete, in April 1941. (AWM 007606)
Page 12:Members of the Royal Australian Navy evacuate troops from Crete, 1 June 1941.
(AWM 007785)
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