91�ȱ�

ESCAPER’S ESCAPADE
In Greece in April ‘forty one
I was sent to use my trade
On a job I thought might be good fun -
What a big mistake I made!
We travelled north on mountain road -
More like a track I’d say
But the beauty of which I’d been told
Near took my breath away.

At *Lamia airfield we then found
The British had all gone,
Moved south days back, all safe and sound
Whilst there the war was on.
I later heard ‘twas a mistake
But we’d already gone
When the trip that we were told to make
Was then declared ‘not on’.

Whilst there we found our Hurricane
And took it down in bits*
It could be made to fly again -
It just had ack-ack hits.
But the German Air Force were a pest
And ‘shufti’** kites came round
Determined there would be no rest
For us upon the ground.

The 109’s came sure enough
And straffed from out the sun
With that incendiary/explosive stuff
From a 20 mm gun.
They set the blooming lot alight
Except our heap of bits
And we bad nought with which to fight -
No guns were in the pits.

So back to Athens far away
On those dizzy roads so rough -
We’d buried one man on that day
And the war was near enough.
All night we rolled - of sleep bereft
Then dawn brought “straffers sun”
Hassani had been wrecked and left
By the British on the run.

Superior forces in the air
Had broken all resistance
The ‘shufti kites’ were everywhere
With fighter and bomber assistance.
So Army, Navy, Air Force too
Were ordered to retreat
In forty one ‘twas nothing new
Just another small defeat.

Evacuation plans complete -
Fm last with usual luck -
With some odds and sods I’d chanced to meet
I left Athens on a truck.
Wars course had taken a new turn
And the Rulers must all fly -
Large crowds that gathered with concern
Glazed as we rumbled by.

By then I’d swallowed all my pride,
We were leaving them to Fate
And we would have to run and hide
In a land of pride so great.
We moved at night and hid by day,
We were long distance runners,
‘Twas now our turn to be the prey
Of the bombers and the gunners.

As Corinth’s bridge we came across
The dawn just lit the sky
It was declared a total loss
And later blown sky high.
At Argos we were well found out
By the Heinkel ‘Shufti’ kite
Who told his friends without a doubt
And they appeared airight.

The Heinkels and the 110’s
Would come and have a squirt
The Messerscmidt with yellow nose
Kept everyone alert.
We crouched behind the olive trees.
The trunks were awful thin,
Nowhere to run but stand and freeze
As the cannon shells came in.
By this time I was all alone,~
For my Squadron friends I learned
Had left Hassani and had flown
Before I had returned,
Thus here I was with friends anew
All stragglers left behind .
The concentrations number grew
But the clime at least was kind.

Well, sometime during the next day
We fitters had a try
To get a Hurricane away
But it didn’t ever fly.
That day the German air Force came .
And straffed and bombed all day .
The Herman (bering Squadrons’ fame
Became known to us that way.

We ran for refuge to a ditch
To get well out of sight
But a Luftwaffe pilot - son of a bitch -
Had spotted us alright.
He’d seen the petrol drums all stored
At the end of our ‘safe place’
But we moved so fast before he scored
None ever made such pace.

No legs have ever moved so fast
As ours moved on that day
More records broken and surpassed
So fast we ran away.
When they had finished all was wrecked
Another airfield dead
So Southwards to the hills we trecked
Our road was long ahead.

We climbed the Argos Mountain Road
It seemed ten thousand feet
A ‘shufti kite’ did us behold
And the pilot waved to greet.
But they were after better game,
No time for us that day,
A ship on fire and very lame
Was laying in the bay.

And so to Sparta and then south
But our every move was known
For word was passed by word of mouth
A ‘fifth column’ now had shown.
At Githeon port we met more friends
Whose officer in charge
Had bought a boat to suit our ends
But it was not very large.

The boat was full of empty cans
To be off-loaded first
And a Warrant Officer mustered hands,
Who tired - worked and cursed.
We stacked the tins up in a church
That they would not be seen
They could well land us in the lurch
By showing where we’d been.

This operation in the dark -
My job was pass ‘em in -
Whilst a Cockney voice inside did bark
And swear like Holy sin.
Some two years later my old friend
In Cairo, explained that he
Was the chap in the Church just round the bend
And he didn’t know it was me.

So round the coast to be discreet,
To wait for dark, then sail,
The aim was Kythera, then Crete
But proved to no avail.
The engine failed and so we lay
In a cove along the coast -
A mountain sheltered Grecian bay
Of which Greeks well may boast.

Next morning Mr Casey said
“Would you climb up with me?
If we can see beyond that head
Who can tell what we shall see.”
On top we had a splendid view
When an aircraft came in sight
‘Twas a Sunderland which lowly flew
On a rescue-recce flight.

A mirror made of stainless steel
Which Mr Casey had
And my coat white lining would reveal
We waved and flashed like mad.
That bright eyed airman picked us out
And straightened out to land
All the chaps below let out a shout
To greet his helping hand.

Big movement then we watched ensue
As we climbed down the cliff
Some eighty men besides the crew
Were aboard in half a jiff.
The pilot couldn’t stay too long
Just like a sitting duck - .
All engines roared their mighty song
And again I was out of luck,

The number now was much reduced,
About thirty odd I’d say
I can’t say we were much amused
By the happenings that day.
The officer who was in charge - .
The Adj. of’One One Two’
Had his Squadron does. in a box quite large,
A Lewis gun and ammo too.

I asked if I could tag along
As an orphan of the storm
And he let me join his ragged throng
With a welcome brief, but warm.
I slept a little and just lounged
For we kept out of sight
For food we foraged, begged or scrounged
For we’d move away that night.

The engine then began to fail
And then gave up the ghost
It looked as if we couldn’t sail
And the hunters watched the coast.
Another boat was then obtained
After quick but desperate deal
That night a further stage was gained
And escape became more real.

When the Luftwaffe had all gone to roost
We quietly slipped away
Our spirits got a little boost
As we sailed across the bay.
I lay back right against the stern
We were packed like tinned sardines
I learnt things I would never learn
About men in anxious scenes.

We consoled ourselves about our plight
And the rescue flight we’d missed
P’rhaps if we’d got away by flight
We’d be on the Missing List.
I watched the mast sweep past the stars
As the gentle swell caused sway,
Being pawns in a game by the god called Mars
Would make a tale to tell one day.

Our heavy laden smack chugged slow
Across Lakoma Bay
The sailors knew just where to go
‘You go to sleep” said they.
By dawn we reached the Kythera Isle
We were on the eastern side
But in our now adopted style
We went ashore to hide.

I’ll ne’er forget those island folk
Who gave to us succour,
They bore a very heavy yoke
Made worse by times of war.
They offered us their meagre fare,
Fruits of their island toil.
Poor life bad taught them how to share
The fruits of sea and soil,

We heard that on the other side
Had gathered quite a throng
So we sailed off against the tide
But stayed at sea not long.
Gigantic waves near tipped the boat
So the skipper turned about
They’d try again next day they hoped
But time was running out.

A worried general had joined us.
With his daughter, he must fly,
She was very ill, but made no fuss
For escape they had to try.
But we were beaten by the sea
And this was a dead end - .
Across the island we must be
If escape we did intend.

The people came then to our aid,
Two donkeys poor and thin.
Were loaded with what had been saved -
Lewis guns and box of tin.
We must climb up the mountain track
The Greeks would show the way
So we set forth, with no way back
And no time left to pray.

A man and woman, staunch and Greek,
With a donkey each to lead,
Led us towards the mountain peak
At the donkey’s easy speed.
The aged lady tough as wire
And the donkeys poor and lean,
Led us, too terrified to tire
Where I thought no sane man’s been.

All I recall of that mad climb
Was darkness and cold sweat
Though the memory now is dulled by time
Those hours I’ll not forget.
More Greeks were waiting to meet us
On a crazy mountain road,
Wth a rickety car and crazy bus
And we were a heavy load.

That ancient motor in low gear
Through darkest blackest night
Cared not at all for things like fear
But I’m glad it wasn’t light.
By dawn we reached old Kythera town
A little island dock
In an old wharf shed I then laid down
And slept just like a rock.

Now the Luftwaffe pilots had good sleep
So they were fresh next day
So soon they came to have a peep
As hide and seek we’d play.
We soon moved once we had been seen
To the olive groves again
We knew the Luftwaffe was dead keen -
His objective was quite plain.

A ship lay in the harbour bay
And we could get aboard
If we could clear the hold that day
In which some bales were stored.
I got ‘roped in’ to help unload
But the Luftwaffe changed our minds
A Dornier with one bomb to unload
Had us on his list of finds.

That aircraft made a short attack
And used that nasty gun
Stowed us his belly to fire back
For them no doubt good fun
But they had friends - we’d seen before
And they would soon appear
With cannon shells and bombs galore -
Their airfields now quite near.

They managed first to start a fire
We watched it burn away
But the Luftwaffe didn’t seem to tire
And visited all day.
But still the ship remained afloat
It wouldn’t burn or drown
Just one poor small defenceless boat
That wouldn’t just go down.

Next day the dreaded Stukas came
And I watched all the show
They dived in the way that made their fame
And out the bombs would go.
I think we counted fifty four,
Which broke the anchor chain
Of a tug whose crew had come ashore -
A great strategic gain!

They let us know they also knew
We used the olive tree
So every now and then they flew
And straffed what they could see.
In fact they had us on a plate
Future prisoners well ensnared
But that was not to be our fate
Though for it we prepared.

The days had blended with the nights,
No hours - just night and day -
I’d seen enough of how man fights
But I knew we’d get away.
By now fear was a sort of thrill
Excitement nothing new
I’d seen how bombs and bullets kill
My indifference slowly grew.

We saw a coaster sailing round
The lighthouse on the shore.
A haven they thought they had found
But Heinkel made a score.
One bomb then made a vital hit
A red mass hit the skies;
The little ship in two parts split
And vanished before our eyes.

No moving object was secure
On land or out at sea
And they’d find us again for sure
But it didn’t worry me.
The word was quietly spread that night
That we might prisoners be.
The chance of rescue now was slight
So I destroyed my diary.

So many incidents occurred
What more could frighten me
What thoughts had this within me stirred?
What was life or eternity?
But our rescue came for us that night
By silent sailors brave;
To pick us from our sony plight
They risked a watery grave.

I stood on deck and looked ashore
As the ‘Aukland’ went to sea
At the island I would see no more
And made a memory.
We sailed past where our ship had been
Now sunk but still upright:
The mast and yardarm could be seen .
In the starlit soft blue light.

We were given cocoa, thick and hot
And bully beef with bread;
We no doubt looked a sorry lot,
Unshaved and underfed.
But this was not a pleasure ship,
We were given action stations,
And then told we could have a tip’
For an hour or two’s duration.

Next morning on a peaceful sea
We saw the coast of Crete;
Into Suda Bay sailed we
Where my friends I hoped to meet.
To a coaler-steamer we transferred
And my name went on the roll,
There was bully or stew as one preferred
And I slept on a heap of coal.

The ‘softening’ air raids had commenced -
My unit wasn’t there
And further trouble there I sensed -
Not only from the air.
So when the “Itria” sailed away
Permission granted to publish this poetry by Mr Frank S. Paul.

In convoy with three more,
The Naval escort on that day
Was fair sight for eyes so sore.

That night the Navy fired on Rhodes,
A cheeky thing to do;
I thought the future trouble holds
But near us no aircraft flew.
So we the ainnen without planes,
Some sailors with no ship,
And soldiers who had made no gains
Escaped the Axis grip.

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