Major Henry Charles David Marshall - Wallet 2 - Booklet 8 - Part 3

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ambulance.- the driver of which when recovered from the ditch
averred that the plane was so low that they were throwing hand
grenades. He was shown the hole in the road made by a handgrenade
at the foot of the hill at Domokos he met [[Heery?]] of 1 Fd Rgt with
the same orders but he could find no one at Domokos village
which was a little off the road. Theo decided to go on to Braillos
and reached Lamia. The approach was blocked by a mile or
more of Greek horsed transport. after walking into Lamia Theo
found an Australian Provost Company in bed asleep and doing

of course nothing about the road. With their help he diverted
the Greek onto a side road and impressed on the M.Ps the
necessity of doing something. They could give him no information
to help him in his search for orders. After getting them on
the job they did a very efficient one. He encountered another
block on the road entering Lamia ordered by a Greek General
(another one) in a bus having supper. You must remember
that every moment trucks were piling up somewhere behind
and that the column of halted trucks caused by stopping
on a road and blocking it soon reaches miles and miles.
After a very heated argument with a gorgeously attired staff
he succeeded in clearing the road before having to put his
threats into action and went on. There was an airraid
going through Lamia the results or at least some of them I
saw later. He reached the foot of Braillos Pass and found no
one there. With difficulty owing to the oncoming traffic he
turned his convoy round and went back. near Lamia
he sidetracked to Lamia Rly Station which is a little
distance from the town. He called at Lamia station and got
the first definite news of the Bn and found we had gone on
to Larissa and had detrained Wookey sick who had
been taken to a hospital some miles out of the town. He
then decided to personally return to Domokos. In case you
have lost track of the date it is now 16 April and at 10am
he located Headquarters of Lee Force at Domokos. The
transport had a lot of trouble on the way back in the darkness
due to the road being in bad condition owing to the
rain. He had left men dispersed near Lamia Station
and now sent back for them. They arrived safely and
were dispersed in areas at Domokos. He was given his
orders and now had to wait for the Bn to arrive which
we did during the afternoon. When I arrived I saw 
the spectacle of Brigadier Lee and Theo literally booting
men and vehicles off the road. Anything horsed was
sent down a track across a ploughed field beside the
road so as to clear the macadam for the swifter moving
motor traffic. The road was seriously jammed with
all types of traffic practically nose to tail and an
airmans dream and was the stream we had joined
and made such slow progress from Dunali. We were now
all together again. Two small incidents before I go on. I told
you Macfarlane was ill on the train. He had to be assisted off when
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we detrained at Larissa and was so weak that when in an unguarded
moment his assistors let go of him he fell down an embankment.
However two hours later he was well on the way to recovery and 
at Domokos seemed quite fit again. The other point was a feature
of the countryside. It was a blaze of pink and red oleanders in
beautiful flower. They seemed to be everywhere particularly near
Athens. Back to Domokos. After the Coy Cdrs reconnaissance and
the Bn arriving they took up the final protection which was. 6 Bn
on right of road and  7 Bn and coy 4 Bn on left. We were disposed
A coy on right next to road the C, then D with B coy in reserve
with the coy of 4 Bn guarding our left rear beyond Domokos on a very
parlous condition. They too had to unload their guns at Volos
and for some time had only their Headquarters staff and the guns
and vehicles but no gunners. Endeavours were made to pick
out any artillery men from the withdrawing column but with no
success and finally the missing gunmen were brought from
Athens where like us they had disembarked. Domokos position
was on and extremely high hill which rose sharply from the
plain and the road wound in many spirals up the hill. From
our position we had a wonderful view of the plain, had a lot
of the road under observation and could see the railway more
or less parallel to the road with Domokos. Rly Stn about three
miles away looking very deserted with a stationary train on the
siding. Domokos village was about 400 yards off the main road
and to our left. Just above us and behind was the highest point
of the hill with a little church with a spire on top. Near Bn Hqrs
were a couple of graves with headstones. From this hill as the
centre two very deep ravines went down and those were part of
our job. The whole force had the duty of holding a rearguard.
All the rest of the 16^th the road was jammed with traffic of all
kinds and this continued without cessation all night. During
the whole day we had been under continual air observation but
no attacks were made on the road anywhere near us. The night
passed more or less comfortably except for the continual passing of vehicles.
On the morning of 17 April the German airforce commenced
bombing the road which was absolutely jammed with traffic.
It is impossible for me to find words to describe the chaotic
nature and it had to be seen to be believed, I have no doubt
that the freedom from air attack which we had enjoyed the
day before was only due to the difficulty the Germans must
have experienced in getting planes into the air from water
logged dromes as the rain had been almost incessant for
a week. The constant appearance of planes and attacks threw
the column if possible into worse confusion. The action of
the occupants of the trucks who on hearing a plane, stopped
and scuttled hundreds of yards into the fields made the
progress of the convoy or strictly speaking road traffic very
slow and halting. This fear of planes was first shown by
the Greeks and soon infected all drivers and trucks and
was a perfect example of mass psychology. They would have

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been much better to have continued on and  taken the chance.
We ourselves when it came to our own turn to go down the road
found that the watching of others had also infected the Bn that
they acted similarly and it was a long time before Theo and
I could say we had stamped it out. All day we had the
planes over but then attacks were on the road to our rear.
They hit our ammunition truck which caught fire and every
now and then parts of its load exploded as the fire reached them.
The mud caused a lot of trouble and accidents and also made
its contribution to the slowness of the passing of the column. All
day we had no attack by air on our position. As the officers
had all brought valises and kit opportunity was seized when
two men were to be evacuated sick to Athens to collect all
the unwanted kit and send it back. It was transported to
Demali and our evacuees  succeeded in getting it on a 
train and to Athens. What happened to it afterwards I do
not know. It was favourably lost. If so I lost all my uniforms
a fair quantity of underclothing and my valise. That left
everybody equipped with blankets and immediate toilet gear.
We were troubled all day by a German Reconnaissance plane
over and each time went to concealment. Theo and I made a
reconnaissance of the village and contacted the coy. of 4 Bn.
Like all greek country villages it was dirty and smelly and 
the streets covered with filth of all description. We saw few villages
who if they were there kept strictly to the inside of their houses.
a strange thing happened to me. Almost as soon as I landed
in Greece my sense of smell returned and I can assure
you that the majority of aromas my unpractised nose were
assailed with was anything but savoury . Being on a hill
and in fact to one side of of it the streets were steep- some
only steps and so narrow a car could no negotiate them.
Donkeys were the universal carriers off the roads in Greece.
Theo on one of his trips was treated to the sight of live storks
on a nest built on the spire of the church but I cannot
remember seeing them. And so to sleep. Next day April 18
was full of incident. During the morning no attack was
made on us but many things were going on. As we did not
want to be cluttered with more transport than necessary in
a rearguard action which we expected to fight - the [[airr?]]
which would have been almost useless were sent back
together with the trucks carrying our gas capes and the
band instruments. I forgot to say that in Alex. I had
sent the band instruments to the Kit store for safe keeping
but apparently the plans were for us to go straight into a
tented camp as Force reserve instead of using us
immediately so a few hours before the transport left to
be loaded on ship I had to rush a truck into Alex
and collect them. They were ever unpacked and
finished their existence by going up with a bomb. Our
gas capes also came to grief as some time later I found
that after the truck carrying them had been hit and
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rendered useless the contents were used to repair a hole in
the road. Keith Travis and his Field Company of Engineers
had also been on the job and prepared various parts of
the road in front of us for demolition. Particularly on
the ascent and also in one place behind our forward coys
and in front of HQ coy near BHQ where the road ran
very close to the side of the ravine. They were using
pneumatic drills and were putting in a big charge here
and all morning the work went on. At 2.30 pm the
Commander of the rear Gd passed through us and reported
that no more troops were in front of us. The demolitions
were then set off naturally from the front. When it came to 
the time for the big one within our lines all troops and
particularly HQ Coy were ordered to lay down in their slit
trenches. The charge was set off and a large part of the
hill and road blown up. Most of the debris blew sideways
into the ravine. One man of HQ Coy whose name I forget
disobeyed orders and sat on the side of his slit to watch.
His disobedience cost him dearly as a rock thrown
some hundreds of yards hit him in the thigh and tore
a large hole. Godby attended him but expressed the 
opinion that he would not recover. He was right as he
died half an hour later in the ambulance. After this
the artillery registered - a technical course for testing
the accuracy of their guns and for locating all possible
targets by actually firing on them and connecting any
errors. Then Lee Force Hqrs called for volunteers to try
and get the train in Domokos station back to Athens
as it was full of ammunition and explosives including
about 15 tons of ammonal. Scotty Taylor, Lester and
Edwards of the Pioneers Platoon and three or four others
were selected and set off. We were able to see the progress
made by the smoke from the engine. Then the fun started.
Wave after wave of bombers swept into sight and flew down
the road and we could hear them at the column which
was now behind us. As one wave finished and passed
us on the way back another hove into sight. It was 
beautiful aiming. Then they started on the Rly Stn and
the train. We watched for a while and saw that they had
missed and then we had troubles of our own. Apparently
the Recce Plane the day before had located us for they
started to bomb us. Theo had gone across to the 6 Bn
and he spent most of the time with Hugh Wrigley
on a bare mountain slope being machine gunned.
In order of events at the same time another attack was
made on the Station and this time the effort was Better
directed. We were all in our slits by this time. Goodwin
and Godby in one and Lunn and I in the other.
From time to time we popped up to watch the station
and were certainly treated to a terrifying spectacle.
The planes seemed a direct hit on the train and

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consequently it exploded. A sheet of flame orange coloured
and smoke leapt high into the air- how high I do not
hope to estimate and my eyes were dazzled. A few seconds
later the sound of the explosion reached us - it was not
as bad as I expected but quite disheartening enough
as I thought - nine more dead. I called out to Goodwin
that he could enter the lot on a Casualty Return. Almost
at the same time a plane made a dead set at us and we
could hear the whistle of the bomb coming down. We
were sufficiently experienced by now to judge from the
sound of any bomb whether it would come near us or not.
I saw the two leave the plane and knew we were going
to be near. We crouched down in the slit and listened
to the whistle getting louder and louder and nearer
and nearer. Thoughts flashed through my mind of a 
direct hit and I must admit I said goodbye to you.
Then the thud of two bombs very near and the instantaneous 
relief thought "Not this time for a direct one."  Lunn said
Dud, as their was no explosion. I must say I was profane.
"Dud be b--------d". Stay down and then the heavens went
up. The thud had slightly shaken our slit but neither
of us dared look see. There was a deafening explosion
I was tossed about and over Lunn and dirt fell
on us. I was momentarily dazed and then staggered
up and shook myself. I looked for Lunn who had
done the same and Is said " are you alright." After
that we inspected . Our slit was about two yards from
the edge of our embankment on the side of the hill. Actually
it had been built up to take the road. The bomb had
come down slightly slanting and gone into the side
about six feet below us and fortunately most of the
explosions had been outwards no consequence of the
slope. It blew out most of the slope and all out slit
and when I inadvertently stepped forward I fell
into the crater. On inspection I found my tinhat
gone - blown off and I was fortunate I had the strap on
just in the same way as you secure your hat with
elastic. Had it been on with the strap under my chin
the best that could have happened would have been a
broken jaw and the worst a broken neck. So you
were very close to losing me this time. Russ and
Goodwin had fared a little better. The second bomb
had landed after after ours and exploded at the same
time. It was slightly further away from them and
did not break their slit. but gave them a good
shaking. All the damage I suffered was to my forehead
as my tin hat was a bit large and without a band
and had scraped me as it was blown off. After that
my thoughts were whether I would suffer from shock
which usually takes some hours to appear. These two
slits were our Battle Hqr. positions so returned to my
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own further up the hill. Rather it was a little hole in the
side of the hill beside a bush. John Young who had had a
grandstand view had given us up. Somebody produced a
bottle of beer given them by a passing ASC truck on the
road and shared this with Lunn. The only effect of my
experience was to feel sleepy and so as the attack had
been transferred elsewhere I had a sleep for an hour.
which I think saved me. Our automatics had all the 
time been rattling away whenever a plane was in range
and it was certainly satisfying to at least have a hit back.
Just after I awakened we were overjoyed at the report over
the telephone from C or D Coy that the whole nine train
volunteers had returned unhurt but as black as ink.
They had a miraculous escape as they were all on the train
but not near the ammonal truck which was central. The
station did not look much different afterwards. The
buildings were not razed but were no doubt damaged
and the engine was lying on its side and the rest of the
train on fire. And so ended our attempt. With the signal
wire Wicking obtained an another ten reels of artillery wire
we begged we were able to establish a complete duplicate
circuit to all companies and they were a long way away.
A lot of wire was needed extra to normal as we had to
cross the ravines instead of laying on flat ground. The
band too had been sent out in parties to each company
as any wounded had to be evacuated up the hill and
quadruple relays of bearers would have been little
enough. Fortunately our only casualty was the one from
the demolition and he was only 500 yards from the cross
roads where the ambulance picked him up. As an instance
A Coy the nearest forward company was over an hour away
at the bottom of the most precipitous ravine. During
the day the Pioneers made some home made mines across
some tracks through our position with guncotton obtained
from the engineers. They were extremely ingenious with the
materials at hand. In the exact centre the old road led
straight up the hill and through our position and was wide enough
for a vehicle: Some gun cotton was placed and a Mills bomb
with the pin filed down was inserted as detonator. A long
wire with a man on guard to pull at the appropriate time
was attached. Later we heard that they did as we anticipated
and left the main road with its demolitions and came up
the old one. Some mines - had there been any - would have
made their advance slower. At 2 pm Theo had been at Lee
Force Hdqrs further back and received orders to retire at 11 pm.
that night. During this period there they received a very heavy
air bombardment which interrupted the conference. Harry Goodman
with the Coy of the 5th and the Reserve Coys of the 6 and 7 Bns
were to take over a position at Lamia for us to withdraw
through. and B Coy under Macfarlane left about 5 pm on
this job. I remember I was very angry with B Coy the day

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before for spreading our their blankets to dry on the bushes.
The blankets showed up like warts but fortunately I noticed
them straight away and they were taken in before a
recce plane came over. Harry came and saw me on his
way to Lamia. Just at dusk which was about 7.30 we 
saw about 6 trucks speeding down the road from Demali
and in front of the demolitions. Since 2.30 pm anything in
front should have been enemy. They were obviously British
trucks but this meant nothing as the Germans would
probably by now have some of ours. They approached the
first block a sedan car heading and someone got out
to inspect. I surveyed them through my glasses and
only instinct assured me they were British. I phoned
up Brigadier and whilst waiting to report to the BM I heard
the fire orders to the Artillery to fire. The 6 Bn had called
for defensive fire. I heard the shells go overhead and
we were treated to an absolutely marvellous force of
shooting. The first round hit the car and up she went.
the next rounds seemed to all burst in the same spot
and another truck also caught fire. I persuaded the BM
that they were not Genemy and he stopped the fire. I
took a risk as they might have been Germans but I
was proved right. Theo had to stop Savige sending a
patrol forward as he did not want it shot up for
the trucks were in the 6 Bn area. Savige also
confirmed my impressions that they were British. We had
had to wait for them to come in as they some distance
away. The orders for withdrawal were issued and the first
parties were timed to arrive at BHQ abt 9 pm - this having
been selected as the assembly point. We could not hope to collect
any wire laid down in the time left after the last elements
had left so it was jettisoned. The parties were extremely slow
coming in due to the arduous climb with their weapons
ammunition and blankets for transport could not come
nearer than BHQ. We had long ago lost connection with Lee
Force by telephone due to bombing. about 11.30 pm Hugh
Wrigley sent a message that he had received orders from
Lee Force over his phone that the forward coys of each Bn
were to remain in position. Their phone was still working.
Theo went over to the 6 Bn in his truck and received the
information that Brig. Lee had gone and that his Rear Hqrs
had issued the order. Their reason for doing so was that
the ASC trucks for our troop transport could not get past
a crater in the road about 5 miles back due to a land
mine scoring a direct hit and the sides of the road
being impassable with mud. Theo protested that the troops
were knocked up and offered to march the 5 miles back.
This rather simple answer was finally adopted and we
were faced with this as soon as he returned. During his
absence some of the first elements had arrived bringing
with them some of the party who had received our unasked
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for salvo from our artillery. They turned out to be two
English Engineers and their party of about 50 mixed English
N COs and Cypriots. They had been left a day too long at
a bridge on a side road and orders for withdrawal had not
reached them. They were in shirts and shorts and shivering
with the cold so as my truck had arrived with a small
emergency store of rum I handed them out a stiff drink. In
fact two. Our own transport had come up or rather some
of it whose loads had been transferred to other trucks
which had gone back. We put them on these and sent
them off. I heard later that one of the two Majors whose
faces I had not seen in the dark had been wounded
in the shoulder by a bomb. It was only a few months ago
that in casual conversation with a friend of mine in this
camp Oflag 1x A/H Spangenburg that we discovered that he was
one of them. Name Lynn. The other had been wounded alright
next day and evacuated but since then nothing has been
heard of him officially. He has been posted as missing and
periodically his name appears on the lists of enquiry. Further
his wife wrote to Lynn who could not give any information.
nor could Theo and I add to his knowledge. Strange meeting
him again here. During the am attack of the day the planes
machine gunned some of the villagers who had taken to
the hills with their goods and chattels and donkeys. Then
followed a hectic and very weary march. It was well
in to the morning of April 19 in fact 2 am when we started
the march and the hours of darkness left us were few.

and we hoped to get into our new position at Braillos before
dawn. Vain hopes as you will see later. The 6th went
out first and we followed. I was leading and Theo in the
rear as is customary in a withdrawal. I had instructions 
to march without halts and flat out. It was muggy and
everyone was exceedingly tired and soon the pace and
equipment and weapons began to tell. Again our
reinforcements proved that they were untrained and I
had to speak extremely sharply to several who muttered
and complained. Theo had the same tale at the other end.
It was painfully obvious that the old hands realised that
we were pushing for some reason. In the end they themselves
shut up the complainers. After a nightmare and seemingly
never ending 5 miles we came to the Crater. Earlier we had
passed Guinn's line at the Northern Pass Lamia. The
mud was certainly undescribable and churned up
with some badly bogged vehicles still there and
abandoned. ^ [[treeing?] boards had been used to bolster it up. 
On the road the other side where our troops
carrying vehicles waiting us and as the troops moved
up I've hurriedly loaded them and sent them off.
There was a great deal of difficulty in turning the
30 cwts without bogging. The ASC were as anxious
as we were to get away as they had had experience by
now. All things come to an end and the Bn was on

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its way. Godby was in the truck ahead of me and
Theo just behind. I was given a small 15 cwt of the ASC
and we shot down the road hell for leather. It was
then about 4 am and dawn any time between 5 and
5.30. In the meantime we had to go about 20 miles
through Lamia and across the mountains by the
precipitous Braillos Pass - the road up which made
Domokos ascent just childs play. As we went through
Lamia we were directed through the town and across
the square by M.P.s of I expect the same Provost Coy
mentioned in Theos' story. One was lazily sitting in
a kitchen chair waving the traffic on across the square.
Lamia was still burning and one building we passed
was the nearest I have ever been to a solid mass of
glowing coals about 30 yards long and 12/14 feet high.
On the south side of Lamia and before commencing
the ascent of Braillos in an absolutely straight stretch
of road about 5 miles long and a place we did not
want to be caught on. Dawn had broken just as we
passed through Lamia and on the straight stretch
we let go travelling at over 50. We stopped once as I
saw something blow out of the truck ahead. It proved
to be Godbys hat which I gave him later. We started
the ascent of Braillos and about a quarter of the way
up the air circus we feared started its performance.
Neither Theo nor I can remember how many time we
stopped for planes were circling in all directions picking
targets. At one stop two bombs landed about 50 yards
away from us and slightly up the hillside. We were
well under cover though thoughts of rocks coming down
were not pleasant. There was plenty of bracken off the
road which although it would not stop anything gave
you the pleasant feeling of being hidden. When the
planes had used up their bombs they resorted to machine
gunning. At one stop due to a plane we found that we
were near a Bofas gun very cleverly concealed near
the top of the pass. A plane going home flew over the crest
and the Bofas then revealed itself to us as it fired at
the tail of the plane going away. We were directly
behind the gun and could see the shells going
through the air. As the gun pumped them out they
gradually got onto the plane and we at last saw a
couple go into it. I was very disappointed not to see
anything happen when suddenly it burst into flames
and we cheered and watched it fly on in flames
gradually losing height until we lost it in the smoke
haze over Lamia. Theo further down saw a plane hit
also but his description differs from mine and
we think that two were brought down. I called
out to the gunner who because of a slight rise in
front of him had not seen the result of his shots and

293                                                 

he was then able to run 20 yards and confirm his bag.
We continued on over the top of the pass and down
the other side - the road alternately running between
pine trees and bracken with occasional cleared patches.
We passed Godby's truck with some wounded - it had received
a dusting and was damaged. On it was Sgt [[Reggay?]] McDonald
who had been slightly wounded in the forehead by a premature
explosion when experimenting with the pins of hand grenades
at Domokos. A bit further on we passed another of our
trucks which had been hit and with wounded amongst
them. After enquiring and finding none were serious I
went on and a short way later passed a forward
dressing station of the 2 field Ambulance. We passed
finally on to the flat and I endeavoured to find out
where the Bn was and incidentally I had collected
about half a dozen trucks which were aimlessly
going up and down the road with the same intention.
After travelling some miles I established a collecting
post and dispersed any vehicles we found off the road.
On the way we passed our Gas capes filling a hole in the
road. I finally went into Div Hqrs which I had noted
on passing and saw Alan Bamford who told me that
the Brig was there. I saw him and he referred me to
Brook who gave me some directions. They were not right
but put me on the track and I finally located most
of the Bn with Theo and BHQ. I dismissed the truck
I was in to its own job and sent down the road for
the rest of the trucks I had collected. Facing back the
way we came the troops were on the right of the road
and the B Eschelon slightly back on the left near
a creek and under some trees. All this time we were
either under air observation or actual attack. There was
a bridge further down the road and the 7 Fd amb. had
established a hospital. It was too close to the bridge which
was a target and had to be moved. It was rather a neat
way the Germans used to note a target. We may have been
wrong but a Recce plane came over, cruised around
and then emitted some white smoke which hung about
it had been drawn in a circle and five minute later
a circus came over and bombed dead centre of the circle
of smoke which in this case was the bridge. An engineer
Anti Aircraft Bren brought down a Recce Plane some
distance from us in a curious way. These planes are
very heavily armoured underneath and are able to
cruise along slowly and observe. As we had no Bofas 
in this area and small arms just bounced off he had
absolutely no fear of coming down low and observing
our absolutely perfect conditions. The Cpl in charge of
this gun banged away everytime without effect until
once when the plane got to cheeky and came low and 
turned over on its side slightly and the pilot could

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then look over the gun went off as usual, got the pilot
through the head and the plane crashed. Much rejoicing.
The pilot had only momentarily given away the advantage
of his armour and collected. During our trip up and down
the road we had a number of bombs dropped near us
but none so near as to cause worry. Theo went off to
Bde and during his absence we were attacked. A coy
had two officers but Howard receiving his second
wound in the hip and Crawford splinters in the arm.
They were evacuated. Later Vic Schofield came over 
from Bde for Theo who had not arrived so he wanted
me to come. Theo had had difficulty in finding them
but had done so before I arrived and received his
orders. Just before Vic's arrival we had a bombing
attack on BHQ a stick of four bombs dropping in 
a square around us. That was much to close to be
pleasant and Sutton under a tree about 20 yards
from me received a wound under the eye which 
fortunately turned out less serious than we thought.

Shorty Walker then had to take on RSM. The ground

was very soft after the rain and this was very fortunate as
the bombs went further in before exploding. on hard
ground our casualties would have been much heavier.
Just as Vic and I were leaving another plane gave
us a crack but nothing quite so unpleasant as the
earlier one. I got back from Bde and waited for Theo.
Comparative quiet reigned for the rest of the afternoon.
Theo received orders to reconnoitre a position we were
to occupy in reserve to the Bde which was to defend
Braillos village. On his reconnaissance he found our
Artillery with their guns in position in our area and
he had some tea which he badly needed with them.
It was nearly dark when he returned to us and out of
the orders emerged that one Coy of the I MG Regt should
have reported to us from a position some miles further
back. We did not know how to get in touch with them
particularly as altered orders were taking us to another
position. I offered to go look for them and Theo accepted.
I set off in the dark with no other information than that
they should be just off the road some miles back. I
cruised along for some time without seeing any signs
of them nor could I get any information. Suddenly
at some halt I saw a 30- cwt with their Bn marking
go past. We hurriedly returned and set off after it. It
was some miles before we could catch it and I found
it was going to Regimental Hqrs. I followed it as this
seemed the only place for information. It went about
15 miles before stopping and I found then the location
of the missing company. It was about 400 yards
away in an orchard. On the way I had passed the
bridge the scene of the attack in the morning and they
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had certainly  made a job of it. It was unusable and
a detour of some 500 yards had been made and a 
small temporary bridge only wide enough for a 3 ton
truck thrown over. I drove into the orchard and found
the Coy just back from a job and going to bed. They had
to be roused out and were to follow me. I gave them very
explicit directions and felt sure they would not miss. On
the way back and it was now 11 pm I slipped up to the 
new site of the hospital to give Russ Godby who had been
resting there all day after his shake up our new position
and to fxxx find out how our wounded were . They
were much better than we expected. On the way back I found
trouble at the temporary bridge. A three ton truck in turning
onto it had gone to wide and one front and rear wheel
were over the side the truck resting on the differential and
front axle. This could not be allowed to stay blocking the
way for the machine gunners and also for the other traffic so
after enquiry if any breakdown outfits were known to
be near I decided to tip the truck into the creek. And so the
first of my destroying truck orders was carried out. It was very
fortunately lightly loaded so we took that off and six of us
without any trouble tipped it into the creek and cleared 
the bridge. It was very beautifully balanced. I was quite proud
of reporting my success to Theo about midnight in finding the
missing Coy - A true miracle of finding a needle in a haystack
and that over 20 miles long. Our new orders meant a night
move of some miles to the village of Grabia the combined
transport of the 6 and 7 Bns being unloaded and used to
ferry us. They could only take us part of the way as another
bridge over the river (name unknown) was impassable
to trucks through bombing but men could march across.
The 6th were handled first and then ourselves and we
marched about one to two miles to the river again near
a bridge undamaged across which was the village of
Grabia and Brigade Hqrs. I remember that in tailing the
column as usual I had to haze the mortar Platoon who
had by far the heaviest loads both in weapons and
bombs and finally ended by sharing the carrying of
the mortar and the base plate. We got under cover of
trees along the river before dawn and spent the day of
the 20th quietly sleeping. No movement of any sort outside
the cover of the trees was permitted as the area was constantly
under observation of Recce planes flying low. Jack Bishop
led Theos' truck through a detour in the dark and his
was the only vehicle with us. As soon as we hit our tsport
Theo discarded his sedan as being too conspicuous. They
were always the first target of planes as obviously they
were for staff use. Almost as soon as we arrived Theo
went off with the Brig and Wrigley for a reconnaissance
of our new positions without waiting for food. The Brig
styled this position as a "to the last man and round"

296                                                       
position. Definitely there was to be no retreat. We had
not been able to replace the ammunition fired at Domokos
and later and I had been at Fletcher and Geary. We
finally got some about 15 miles away and this was delivered
to us. Col Lister told me the other day that he was at
Grabia and that there were large stocks there only a few
miles away from us. But we did not know. Theo came
back from the reconnaissance played out with fatigue
and lack of food. They had been mountaineering up
sheer mountains. All he had had was a hardboiled egg
and some tea the Brig's driver produced. Almost as
soon as the necessary orders had been issued they were
cancelled and we were ordered forward to take our
place in a new defence. The New Zealanders were defending
the Thermoplae Pass on the right and the Australians
the Braillos Pass on the left flank. Theo immediately left
to reconnoitre our new position. 17 Bde were on the left 
flank covering the Portes (Gates) of Brailles Pass. The detour
around the damaged bridge had been found quite
passable so our transport came up almost to our position
and as each truck arrived I had a load ready and 
sent them off. Before I go any further I have remembered one
most important happening of the day before. Henry and Macfarlane
came back about midday after some adventures. They had
remained in their position for some time next day when some
reconnaissance troops of the enemy mounted on motorcycles
came up. They were engaged by fire from B Coy and driven
off leaving some dead behind whose automatic weapons
we recovered. It was here that we lost one of our reinforcement
officers Morris as a prisoner due in my opinion to an
ill considered action of his own. Before the main attack
developed Henry withdrew his force without casualties and
came through to Braillos where each company of his
command reverted to their own Bns. I only saw Henry
for a few moments and said cheerio when he was going.
I did not see him again in Greece although we were
near one another at other times. Anyway we are now back
in our position on the 20 April. The dispositions were the
1^st, 4^th and 11 Bns were on our right across the road, we were
forward including the road and the 6^th well on our left.
The 5 Bn took up a position as reserve in the centre of
each Bn. As we were ferrying I had a few minutes
conversation with Brook who had come up to see how
things were going. Nothing important. I drove down at
the rear and found Bn Hqrs situated on a spur below
the road and N of a Cross Roads with a stone shed
on the other side. As soon as I reported in and was told
the positions of the Companies which were well forward on
big long spurs I went some hundreds of yards across to a
collection of a few houses on the road. I tried in one
place for food but the old man there only had some eggs
297                                                     
which he sold me. I filled my tin hat full but he had
no bread. "Avga" is the Greek name for eggs but I did
not know the one for bread. I then came back off the road
and downhill to three or four other houses. The womanfolk
were a bit nervous and took me to father or grandfather. It
must have been humorous to see me trying to explain
my wants. Chewing, drawing a picture of a loaf with my 
hands etc but of no use. They soon saw the game and offered
me all sorts of things but no bread. By that time they saw I
was harmless and made made no objections when I started to look
around in desperation. Finally in an outhouse I saw
a beehive shaped oven and knew I was on track.
I pointed to this and they opened it and inside was
the bread I wanted. Just baked and I got a loaf hot
from the oven. I also arranged for a chicken to be cooked
overnight but like the Arabs in the early morning
they were gone. I forgot that my first contact insisted on
drinking a glass of wine to the allies and told me he
had fought in the last war. The old man who sold me
the bread tried to teach me the Greek name but it was
too much for me the way he said. it. I can say it now
Psoni but from him it sounded like a cross between
a sneeze and a spit. The only other essential word in
Greek we needed was NERO - water. I took these back and
Theo had the largest meal - except for the tea and egg with
the Brigadier- for two days. Our dispositions were C on
the right near the road, then A, B with D in reserve and
HQ Coy around BHQ. The valleys were extremely deep and 
rugged between the companies and whilst we had telephone
instruments we had no wire. Even if we had our full issue
of 8 miles we would still have needed more to link up. We also
had by now with us the company of 1 MG Bn. Communication
was by runner whose journey in took 2 hours from the two furthest
Companies. The next day the 21st we obtained a load of pick ands
shovels extra to our establishment from the dump at Grabia
and completed digging in. There was nothing of moment
during this day. On the 22nd we received orders from Brigade
for our estimates for wire and defence stores for a prolonged
defence. This was prepared and forwarded. The only movement
of the evening was to finally get his guns up and firing.
A few shells of Armed H.C. came over and landed in the
valleys in our area. During the whole day our own
artillery were firing over us from positions in our rear
and not very far away and keeping up a pretty consistent
fire and delaying the enemy very well. On the 23 the position 
changed very rapidly. A Greek General commanding air
Army on our left capitulated and the Germans started
to come through his positions. This made ours untenable
overnight. and the order for retirement was given. ASC
transport was to carry us. I spent a quiet afternoon
listening to sheets of our own going overhead and a few of the enemy in

298
reply the splinters of the H.C. rustling through the bushes and
bracken in which we were hidden. Late afternoon brought on a 
very bad attack of nerves for me and I suppose or I like to think it
was the after effect of the bombing. I am not exactly pleased with
myself. All day a recce plane of the slow hovering type had been
over us trying to locate our artillery. We did not fire at it and remained
very close to cover. This thing sailing so contemptuously about without
our being able to do anything filled me with rage. To me the suspense
was trying and finally I thought I would breakdown and cry. I
mentally shook myself and decided that if I was not actually sick
I would cry so I went away by myself and out my fingers down my 
throat. The effect was magical and half a hour later I was calm
and ready for anything. I have always since thanked God for the
happy thought of doing this. Writing on memory comes back. My
afternoon was anything but quiet. Theo had been worried about
our drivers at B Eschelon who were not very punctual with
rations and ammunition. Reports drifted through that they
were completely unnerved by air bombing and went to cover and
stayed there if they ever heard a plane even without seeing it. So
we decided I should go down and see what the matter was. I left
in Theo's truck which was the only one up with us and driving
a period when the recce plane was not about. Some two miles
along the road it again appeared and sighted us moving along.
It followed us and to my extreme rage had the nerve to start
bombing us with the very light bombs which they carry. Then
shooting was bad and the bombs fell to the right and went off
with a noise like a very damp squib. I thought of firing my
revolver at it I was in such a rage but finally remembered the
armor and knew I would have been childish to do so. I arrived
at B Eschelon and found the stories about the drivers partially
true. I am afraid I was terse to John Young and gathered all
the drivers there together and gave them a stiff talking to. The
fact that they could come together and even when planes came
over I just made them lie down had I think the effect I

wanted and we had no more trouble to worry about. I also
saw Jack Bishop who was to lead up the ASC transport to us
that night and then returned to BHQ moving down the road
quite openly and was in fact the only truck doing so. Both Theo
and I were agreed that after our experience coming over Braillos
and having a grandstand view of the actions of men quitting
trucks every time a plane was over that the only thing to do
was to drive straight on and stop for nothing except a direct
hit which then probably would not concern you much. Our
own troops coming over Braillos had caught the prevailing
infection and particularly on the flat scattered as soon
as some more windy one thought he heard a plane and
called out "Planes". Due to the shape of the trucks and the
drivers vision being limited a system was adopted of spotters
one at the rear and one clinging on the side. They shouted and
the driver stopped. A lot of the trouble was caused by these men
shouting whenever they saw a plane miles away and obviously
299                                  

not in a position to or going to attack anywhere near the area
they were in. After a great deal of effort on the part of us both
we succeeded in stamping out a great deal of this by the time
we got to Athens but it is an extremely hard job to be everywhere
in a column anything from 10 to 15 miles long. Our position
covered two rail bridges and a tunnel through Braillos. It was
thought that the Germans might drive their vehicles along the rails
through the tunnel. Actually they did do this on the New Zealand
front. Keith Travis and his Field Coy during the afternoon blew
up both the rail bridges and certainly made a job of it -
ironically to his own cost later on in sweat and fatigue for
as a prisoner he had to march the whole way across the Braillos
Pass from Grabia to Lamia about 23 miles. Early in the
afternoon automatic fire was heard on the 6th Bn front. A
party of German mountain troops had come over the mountains
on foot on reconnaissance and had fired and continued
firing on the 6th with light automatic fire all afternoon. They
replied and at intervals for the rest of daylight we heard
these exchanges at intervals. The first bursts made us sit up
and due to the lack of communications it was some hours before
we heard the reason. The forward companies completed their
withdrawal from their positions and arrived in dispersal
areas around the Cross Roads between four and four thirty.
Just as they were coming in orders arrived from the Brig. to say
that there was a possibility that we may not go out that night
and that they would have to go back into position. Theo pointed
out that as we had no communications either signal or wireless
and only a runner who took two hours that he could not get
them back and in again in time in the event of the order to
withdraw being confirmed. After some discussion the Brig. said
that Theo had to take the responsibility of staying in. He did so
and would go back to our earlier positions at dawn. The forward
Companies were pushed out along the spurs but only a short
distance and fortunately for us all at 5 30 pm on 23 April
came the orders that we were to go. And now followed what I
will always remember as the hardest and most trying three days. **
of my life. After dark the 5 Bn and some artillery went off first
to Delphi Pass to protect out left flank where the loop road from
Grabia to Delphi constituted a route by which the Germans coming
through the Greek army could attack us on the flank as we
were withdrawing. The ASC transport kept moving up in  an
unbroken line of trucks. The road was terribly narrow  and
we were fortunate in the Cross Roads area which allowed a rather
difficult turntable. The 30 cwts had no chance of turning on
the main road as one side was banked with a deep ditch
and the other side fell away into the ravine. We had to lead
the trucks one at a time to the left and then back them
up onto the road again - a very slow process. The 6th Bn
marched in and were next to go out. Then the 11 Bn marched in
and took over the 5 Bns position in the centre and the 4 Bn
marched down the road to a new position near 19 Bde Hqrs.

[** It was here that we received
a printed order from division
which gave particulars of action
to be taken if it became necessary
to scatter to the hills. We were to
make our way to the coast and
contact a carque owner who has
promised £5 per head for every
man landed in Egypt or Crete.
It did not make us feel any
happier that Division envisaged
a possibility of us being cut off
but it was never the less a wise
precautionary order. We were
thankful when we did not have
to use it.*] 

300                                               
By the time it was our turn to go it was about 11.30 to 12 and
Bishop had brought up the ASC trucks and they were extended down
the road for a while. We used the turntable and as each truck
was loaded it started off. The last of the artillery near us were
pulled out as well. I think they started early and were interfering
with our column. I went along the column and straightened
this out. As I was standing on a culvert after doing so a gun
came round much too close to me and I stepped back. In the
dark I did not know it was a culvert and I ended up to my
knees and one thigh in mud and water. That did not help
my temper which was a bit strained with the artillery any
was and for quite a long while I was very damp and
uncomfortable. Our loading continued and when we had
got the last troops away there were about a dozen or so
trucks still left to turn and follow us empty. As they were
going one by one around the turntable the enemy who had
succeeded in getting his light infantry guns up forward
opened up with very accurate shell fire on the Cross Roads and
turntable. At the time I was talking to John Young  and Ian
Hanson whose company was protecting the road on the
right flank of the 11th. We dropped to the ground and waited.
In the lull after the first shells I left and Young finished the 
turning of the trucks. Next day he showed me his tinhat.
A splinter had hit it dead centre on the top denting it and
just cutting the metal. He had a lucky escape. It was now
the 24th and I was the last truck in our convoy Theo having
just passed me in an endeavour to get to the head of our
Bn as quickly as possible. The shells followed us both down
the road making Young's job easier but for us the noise
echoing in the hills made it sound as if the whole German
Army was on us. Fortunately they were aiming off the road
to our left and except for the turntable area nothing was
anywhere near enough to be uncomfortable. We travelled
along all night as fast as we dared without lights but
fortunately it was light enough to see the road. Towards
dawn I came on an inexpressable traffic congestion. The
transport of the 5th Bn after leaving them at Delphi had gone
for a dispersal area and were lost. So they stayed on the 
road mostly asleep and pointing in the direction we were
coming from. At the same time a N.Z. Arty Rgt had
stopped for some reason going our way and there was
absolutely no room to pass between. Theo told me later he
found the car at the head of this show with its occupants
asleep and very sharply woke them. I sorted our trucks
out of this mess and we got on. A little further on as
dawn was breaking we came to a narrow part of the road
fully occupied by more Arty very slowly moving. I was
very impatient to get on with my trucks but when they
finally stopped I started walking forward to find out why.
It was a truck of theirs which refused to come out of the
mud in a ditch at the side of the road. I soon moved the