"They marched to the beaches in ordered, well-disciplined lines, bringing with them all that they could carry in the way of arms and equipment. Indeed many carried more than the space available allowed the embarkation authorities to let them bring aboard. They were very, very tired, mentally and physically exhausted by long days and longer nights of constant strain. They were bitter, too, disillusioned by the tragedy that it had been beyond their power to prevent. It was easy to feel for the sorrow of Greece. The country was a beautiful one, very similar to their own. With its people who had taken them into their homes they felt a bond of friendship and of common ideals. They felt also a great admiration. For thousands of New Zealanders the most striking memory of the campaign will be that of the reception given the convoys retreating through Athens. The Greeks gave the Anzacs flowers when they came, and they give them flowers again when they were~ compelled to go. In the early evening and far into the night, as truck after truck loaded with weary, bearded men raced through the darkened city on the way to the beaches, crowds gathered to see them pass. They were solemn, hopeless crowds, crowds which knew that the enemy was at the gates, crowds which already knew the bitterness of defeat. And yet there were cheers. Wave after wave of cheers, and flowers. Whatever the New Zealanders may have expected of the Athenians, they did not expect that. There was no joy in the cheering this time, as there had been when the New Zealanders were welcomed to Greece, but there was no note of reproach, no hint of recrimination. There were few indeed who failed to be deeply moved by this amazing demonstration of a people's courage in the face of disaster."
From: The Campaign in Greece: The New Zealand Division in Action
Another great post Stavros. You're doing great work here putting out stories that many people may be unaware of.
Keep fighting the good fight.
Semper Fi!
Posted by: FreeCyprus | 21 October 2006 at 12:58 PM
FreeCyprus,
(BTW, I love that name), Thanks, friend. I think you are doing much more important work, i.e. trying to tell the story of those who are fighting on our behalf.
Semper Fi
@Stavros Stavridis,
Thanks for the info, the link is up on my list of links as "National Center for Hellenic Studies and Research."
I have registered and searched the archives which are full of interesting items. Unfortunately I can't pull up the full text.
What am I doing wrong? Thanks again, for visiting and making comments. (Sas evhome oti epithimite gia to kentro kai kali protho.)
Posted by: Stavros | 21 October 2006 at 01:43 PM
The documents are in tiff format. Maybe you need to download a tiff reader/viewer to be able to read the text. I will talk with our IT man at work tomorrow and let him know about your problem and will report back to you.
Posted by: Stavros Stavridis | 22 October 2006 at 05:26 AM
i havent yet spoken to a cretan who has spoken in a negative way about the tall good looking new zealanders who came to help them fight in the second world war. they have been remembered as good-natured people. i know of quite a few cretans who were helped by new zealanders eventually to emigrate, and thus improve their life. sadly the bravery of those soldiers does not accurately rpresent the avrage new zealander of the present, because they have lived a much more sheltered lifestyle since the war.
and it is so true that maintaining homes in two countries so far apart wears you out - i'm glad i only have memories of new zealand and not an actual house! far too expensive in this day and age
Posted by: maria v | 23 June 2008 at 08:23 AM