Jess - I'd expect no less a sentiment from a wild West Coaster! Tom - I have walked the western Cretan battlefields on several occasions and studied the battle perhaps more than any other in WW2 and I think that you are being generous to Tiny when you say he only made 1 mistake. I believe that his initial errors became compounded by the inertia of the battle. I certainly appreciate that he had to fight the battle with 1 hand tied behind his back...no armour to speak of (3 Valentines only) or artillery, rapidly diminishing air support, a landscape that favoured an attacker from the north and almost actively blocked meaningful support from the south, and an international conglomerate of tired men including British, Commonwealth, Greeks (mainlanders and Cretan locals), Poles, Cypriots, and more. Then came the order from his old mate Churchill not to reveal through his battlefield dispositions that he had intelligence of an aerial assault (ULTRA). Even still he failed to understand (and he was certainly not alone in this as you allude to) the very nature of aerial envelopment. If anything the battle was (early on before the Mountain div arrived) more like guerilla warfare and his greatest mistake was not being aggressive enough or organising company strength counterattacks to retake the vital high ground. Instead he lost 2 days of initiative by delaying his counterattacks towards Maleme airfield. He certainly suffered from the 'Fog of War' and I should have put virtually non existent lines of communication in with the reat of the things that hampered him but he still waited 2 days assuming that the main blow would come from an amphibious landing that thanks to incredible bravery and sacrifice by the RN never came. I interviewed Sir Leonard Thornton some years ago (Tiny's ADC) and asked him if at the time British forces had any understanding of German parachute capabilities, thinking perhaps that the lessons of Eban Emael and Holland had not been properly digested, but he disagreed with me saying that when the 2nd echelon had been stationed in England in readiness for any attempted invasion (Sealion) a lot of their training had been in counter para defence. The whole echelon was even stationed near Maidstone during the Sept height of the invasion scare precisely in an efforrt to attack locations where the German Paratroopers were expected to make their landings (towards Hawkings and Lympne airfields). In my opinion Tiny should have viewed Maleme as the same sorrt of threat. Instead he chose to make the Tavronitas river at the edge of the airfield the boundary between the Kiwis and the woefully underarmed Greeks. Yes he had a whole battalion on hill 107 overlooking the airfield and yes poor Col Andrews made a critical error in pulling back from the hill thinking that he had suffered far more severe losses than he actually had, but again in my opinion his dispositions were still wrong. Maybe I'm being too harsh and hindsight is a wondeful thing but I think that ever afterwards even Tiny himself knew what he had done wrong and that is why on subsequent occasions he was more aggressive (I'm thinking of Minqar Quaim here where the whole div was surrounded by the Afrika Corps and broke out in stunning fashion). Always a pleasure to trade thoughts with you though Tom. Best wishes Macca
Macca - I bow to your knowledge of that Crete fiasco as I have not given the study to this as perhaps I should - all I would venture to say is that Tiny was in the habit of having "cabinet" meetings as opposed to Order Groups so perhaps this was the main reason for his delay - but - as you say - the fog of war plus a large dose of hindnsight works wonders - or as an old friend was known to say - " when awaiting on the start line of a battle with plan " B " - one often thought that perhaps plan" C" might be better.....too late the time is now "...... He was the Colonel of an RHA battalion in Burma ! Cheers
Hi Tom I fell in love with Crete from my first day there many years ago, when I knew virtually nothing about the battle. it was the Cretan's themselves, upon learning that I was Kiwi who began my 'education'. They are wonderful people with very long memories and at first I was quite embarrassed by their generosity. I even tried not to admit where I was from but the bush telegraph spread the word that there was a Kiwi traveling down the coast and when I reached each village there was a welcoming party with food and Raki. They also guided me around many of the battle sites telling me anecdotes. One of them told me that the British were offered the use of locals as messengers but that the offer was refused on the grounds that civvies shouldn't be involved in the fighting. Having witnessed for myself how effective their bush telegraph was I have wondered ever since if we had accepted their offer then maybe things may have been different because disrupted communications caused our guys the greatest problems of all. Anyway I vowed then to learn as much about the battle as I could to honour of all the servicemen and civilians who were there. What you say about our 'cabinet' meetings is quite true and came about because of Tiny's unique position. He was a British general but was also responsible for a large precentage of our country's male population and as such reported back to the NZ govt so he felt it the right thing to do to reach a consensus among senior officers (that and the fact that he had some very capable and experienced officers too). Your RHA mate was quite right about wondering if another plan might not be better, especially in Burma...I can't imagine a worse theatre to have been sent..although I'm sure that wherever you fought was Hell enough...my dad was RN and survived Kamikazes off Okinawa which he has said was the most terrifying and helpless situation to be in. Cheers
Macca - I can see your point about the friendliness of those people - Roy Farran went back - unofficially - to thank them for assisting in his escape and journey to Alexandria and as he said " it's the poor - the very poor who give the most" - he was so right as they recognise the poverty and helplessness of others... I can also appreciate your Father's helplessness in watching a kamikaze coming in - those pilots didn't have too many reunions !....... a bit like knowing that an 88mm has got you in it's sights - that is really terrifying.. Cheers
Tom- it's interesting that you mentioned Roy Farran. I was having dinner one night in a little taverna in Galatas, the scene of a particularly ferocious night counter attack and whilst chatting to the owner he told me he had something to show me. We went around the corner and there built into his wall was part of Farran's tank. He then showed me his visitors book which Farran had signed and had acknowledged that the 'gate' was indeed from his Valentine which had broken down ( I think rather than been knocked out) on the outskirts of the village during the action. Great stuff and it's probably still there to today holding up the rest of the crumbling and still pockmarked wall. Cheers Macca
Macca - Roy was wounded in that skirmish and was captured - but being Roy - he escaped in nothing but shorts and boots and it was a Cretan family who took him in and tended to him and he then went off leading a party on a small boat to Alexandria - he got an M.C. for that one. Later - he went back to thank them - which was typical of the man. That story is in "Winged Dagger" if you can hold of a copy - it's a good read ! He was a great man - you can "google" his Times Obit. Cheers
Hi Lads, Great discussion that I am following with close interest. I think I have mentioned before on the site, but I will again as I quite chuffed with the story. MMy Great Great Uncle Len Diamond took part in the counter attack of Galatos with Roy Farran and Sandy Thomas as his company commander in 23 Battalion, he is even mentioned in Sandy Thomas' book about the battle and his subsequent capture and escape.
andy007 - Thank you - your comments are most appreciated - it was my great honour to know Roy Farran in his early ( 1970's) days in Calgary- before he had the throat cancer which finally killed him - we shared a number of things - Army - Tanks and our religion. Last time we met was at a Remembrance day parade at Calgary's Symphony Hall Cheers
No worries Tom, my pleasure. There must of been some very interesting conversations between you two. In one of the 23 Battalion Association books I have there is a few articles about Roy, his time in the army then about his life after the war. I think they were published about the time of his death. P.S Thanks for the excellent photos Macca, If I am correct Tiny's grave has only just been done up (last 5-10 years possibly) as before it was very unkept and a in a bad state.
Andy 007 - that is for sure as well as a lot of laughs at the stupidity of it all - we bumped into each other on a march for millions all around Calgary - he said it was as bad as Sidi Barrani - he pulled out after 20 miles with serious blisters - whereas my 12 year old son and I did the whole circuit of 33 miles - and paid for it for the next few days ! Cheers
Hi Guys- very interesting stories from both of you. Tom - 'Winged Dagger' is one of the only Crete books I have never got hold of and after your reminding me of it I am going to try and get a copy. Thanks for reminding me. Roy Farran certainly sounds like a character out of the top drawer and it is always great to meet such people. Andy- pleased to meet you mate- Hamilton eh- I'm a Rotorua boy originally and before moving to London used to know a lot of Mooloo's. Going to Galatas is one of the highlights of any visit to Crete. These days it's not much different to how it was in 1941. You approach up the same hill road as the attack and apart from the town square which has been tidied up and has a memorial to the fight the rest of the town is rather dilapidated with bombed out buildings and pockmarked walls everywhere. The great pity is that our guys fantastic efforts that night were all fruitless as they had to give the town up the next day. As Tom says the stupidity of it all but those of us who have followed still owe him and all the rest of those guys a huge debt of gratitude. Interesting to hear about Tinys grave restoration, it certainly looked newish an what I forgot to say in the original post is that his wife lies alongside him. Well for once it's a sunny and warm holiday weekend here in the UK so I'm off to make the most of it. Cheers guys, have good weekends yourselves (I may br mising in action for the rest of it). Macca
Cheers Macca, I am studying in Wellington now which is a bit of a change from Hamilton! I would love to visit Crete and specifically Galatos. If you haven't already there is a great book by Lynn McConnell Galatas 1941: Courage in Vain. Fishpond.co.nz: Galatas 1941, Lynn McConnell - Shop Online for Books in NZ bloody excellent book. The fruitlessness of the whole affair must have been heart breaking for the guys who slogged it out.
