MEMORIES OF A VETERAN
The story of his experiences as told by Lindsey Nicholls.. 90 year old Lindsey kept a diary of his time spent in Greece. These tales were told to the Hawera Star and ran for three consecutive weeks.
On march the 19th 1941 we shook the sands of Egypt off our feet and left for Greece. We had just spent the worst possible week imaginable in the desert.Nearly everyday there was a howling sandstorm which smothered our food. It was good to leave it all behind,though it wasnt much fun our belongings from the camp to the railway station,2 miles away.My gear weighed 180lbs and this was the hardest work I,d done in all my soldiering career.. On arriving at Egypt biggest shipping centre we were surprised to be placed on the distroyer HMS Orion, a 6000 ton ship with a complement of 6 to 700 men We were accompanied by two other war ships The HMS Ajax and Perth At about 10 or 11 am the main land of Greece came in sight. We sailed up the beautiful harbour of Port Pires and docked at one of the wharves. We couldnt help noticing the cleanliness of Athens after stinking Cairo... We pitched our tents in amongst trees at a public park. We were well covered from possible enemy aircraft . The park was crowded with mostly refugees and they hung around our kitchens and tents for any food we could give them.They were mainly old women who could not fend for themselves,so were happy with any tins of bully we sent there way.
On March the 21st we left by train to head up country towards the border of yugoslavia and Bulgaria.. Our next camp was a 24 hour train journey and a somewhat painful one as we were crammed into what appeared to be horse boxes.On our journey to Katarini our next camp, we went through several passes in the mountains. The largest was Lamea Pass where we to fight a battle a few weeks later.Our next move was a march which took 2 to 3 days to a place called Ellison. It was here we were to dig in and take our first defensive position, although as yet the Germans hadnt made an assult on greece..It came through on the radio that Germany had attacked Yugoslavia. Soon war was heading our way. We dug into the slopes of steep hills which were impossible for Tanks to climb.We knew we were expected to bare the brunt of the attack, but even so morale was high. we could hear the guns and bombs in the distance as jerry smashed their way into Greece.While waiting for the attack we medicals (the section I belonged to )planned a route to take the wounded out over the rugged country to where the RAP was.On april the 5th news came through that the enemy was approaching .There were rather tense moments knowing they were so close and that we would be the last to leave the danger area. At 1am on April 6thand without any warning , we were got out of bed and told to pack up and retreat as fast as possible..We moved all morning at a brisk pace ,and stopped on the outskirts of Katarini. We learned later we had just got out in time as the enemy was right behind us .
The story of his experiences as told by Lindsey Nicholls.. 90 year old Lindsey kept a diary of his time spent in Greece. These tales were told to the Hawera Star and ran for three consecutive weeks.
On march the 19th 1941 we shook the sands of Egypt off our feet and left for Greece. We had just spent the worst possible week imaginable in the desert.Nearly everyday there was a howling sandstorm which smothered our food. It was good to leave it all behind,though it wasnt much fun our belongings from the camp to the railway station,2 miles away.My gear weighed 180lbs and this was the hardest work I,d done in all my soldiering career.. On arriving at Egypt biggest shipping centre we were surprised to be placed on the distroyer HMS Orion, a 6000 ton ship with a complement of 6 to 700 men We were accompanied by two other war ships The HMS Ajax and Perth At about 10 or 11 am the main land of Greece came in sight. We sailed up the beautiful harbour of Port Pires and docked at one of the wharves. We couldnt help noticing the cleanliness of Athens after stinking Cairo... We pitched our tents in amongst trees at a public park. We were well covered from possible enemy aircraft . The park was crowded with mostly refugees and they hung around our kitchens and tents for any food we could give them.They were mainly old women who could not fend for themselves,so were happy with any tins of bully we sent there way.
On March the 21st we left by train to head up country towards the border of yugoslavia and Bulgaria.. Our next camp was a 24 hour train journey and a somewhat painful one as we were crammed into what appeared to be horse boxes.On our journey to Katarini our next camp, we went through several passes in the mountains. The largest was Lamea Pass where we to fight a battle a few weeks later.Our next move was a march which took 2 to 3 days to a place called Ellison. It was here we were to dig in and take our first defensive position, although as yet the Germans hadnt made an assult on greece..It came through on the radio that Germany had attacked Yugoslavia. Soon war was heading our way. We dug into the slopes of steep hills which were impossible for Tanks to climb.We knew we were expected to bare the brunt of the attack, but even so morale was high. we could hear the guns and bombs in the distance as jerry smashed their way into Greece.While waiting for the attack we medicals (the section I belonged to )planned a route to take the wounded out over the rugged country to where the RAP was.On april the 5th news came through that the enemy was approaching .There were rather tense moments knowing they were so close and that we would be the last to leave the danger area. At 1am on April 6thand without any warning , we were got out of bed and told to pack up and retreat as fast as possible..We moved all morning at a brisk pace ,and stopped on the outskirts of Katarini. We learned later we had just got out in time as the enemy was right behind us .
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