the field artillery journal - Fort Sill - U.S. Army

1943 CRETE CORRESPONDENCE 163
time—the infantry started coming back through us.
However, we kept on firing, with vcarious flaps of "Tank
alert" and a wrong order to move. We had moved about
50 yards, but came into action again. We ended up in a
grand hooley of shellfire from a small mountain gun. I
know it was small, because one of its shells hit the ground
20 yards from me, failed to explode, ricochetted over my
head and landed 20 yards behind. This gun was not much
use, as shells burst within 10 yards of several of us and
did no damage. It damaged the old Hun more than us, as
it made one lot of chaps pretty wild by blowing up their
bedding, leaving blankets hanging on trees, so the chaps
were all the more keen on getting more rounds away.
Some time during the afternoon G—— came through my
gun position looking a bit sorry for himself, as he had had
his gun just about blown up under him and his tractor as
well. He had been forward in an antitank role and had
done great work, shooting up several tanks before he got
out. We took him out in one of our tractors to the tune of
mortar and shellfire. Not a blessed thing was hit. Why, I
don't know. I suppose the devil takes care of his own. The
last range we shot at was about 2,500 yards, I think.
Major S—— was at the O.P. and most of the time we
were shelling Hun infantry crossing a river in assault
boats to some good effect.
Captain B—— was at the gun position all the latter
part of the afternoon and was a great moral support. I am
no brave man and by God I was glad to get away from
there. It was a bit nerve-wracking. We withdrew from
there two guns at a time, following all the best artillery
traditions, much to the relief of the infantry. First of all
we withdrew through "F" troop and dropped G——, and
then they withdrew through us, everybody except me
seeming to have a crack at the tanks. From here we
formed up and started to "withdraw by prearranged plan."
It sounds as if this was another Dunkirk, but it was not, as
every time we knocked the old Hun we knocked him so
hard that he sat down and licked his wounds and gave us
a day to withdraw, a day to recover, a day to reconnoitre a
new position, and a day to settle in. This particular
withdrawal lasted the whole of that night and the next day
until 10 o'clock in the evening. It is wonderful how long
one can go without sleep.
I was horribly frightened all the time. All the same I
would just like to have another lick at the old Hun on
more even terms, say with him only having double the
number of troops we had. We would beat him hands
down. He does use his head a bit, but not as much as us,
and he is incredibly brave, but our equipment and
individual training are streets ahead of his.
* * * * *
11th May, 1941
I expect you have been hearing all about the
Australian and New Zealand deeds around Mount
Olympus and Thermopylae. This time there were as
many of us as there were Aussies, so you should hear
something of us. I certainly quite enjoyed it and can
look back on it as a rather long and protracted climbing
or tramping trip. Not much more exhausting and after all
not very much more dangerous. Anyhow, I have enough
faith to believe that I am coming out alive, so nothing
worries me much and when things get a bit hot I remind
myself of this.
We got into action twice before we were evacuated
and the other battery only once, so we are very pleased
at that.
Our baptism of fire was a very nice little affair and
taught me a lot. It was a "good old days" show of crude
gunnery and almost galloping guns—if you can imagine
them galloping behind a tractor. It was pretty solid from
a rest point of view, as we spent a day settling in and
digging a position, and started firing about 9 o'clock at
night, going on intermittently for 24 hours. We then
spent the next 24 hours withdrawing to the Thermopylae
position. Luckily the old Hun can't fight or march as
hard as we can, so we had four days to recover and dig
the new positions. I think we really did knock him pretty
hard. It is a great pity we were evacuated (I suppose I
should say "had to be"), as, given half the troops and the
same arms as we had then, and add perhaps a few tanks
for attacking purposes, we would knock him balmy. Hun
dive bombing and machine gunning is a bit of a
nuisance, but can easily be got rid of by night moves;
anyhow it is not nearly as effective as artillery fire. A
spot of R.A.F. would have helped things considerably—
I think I saw one of our fighters streaking for home
during the whole campaign. This is not a fair statement
of what they really did, but it leaves a very definite
impression on my mind.
The invincible German tank! Well, report has it that
some one saw a 25-pounder shell go right through one.
They say we had some crack German divisions against
us. If this is so, God help the not-so-crack ones if we
meet them. All we are waiting for now is to be reequipped
and to have another crack at them.
* * * * *
Middle of May
We are still on the delightful island of Crete kicking
our heels and trying to imagine we are doing something
when we are really doing nothing. [This is illuminating.
Why no preparation for the defense of the island?—
Editor of the Journal of the Honourable Artillery
Company.]
Our living quarters are in an olive grove. The stream
flows north and from us down to the sea; about 600
yards away there are terraced vineyards. Just opposite
me on the other side of the stream is a vineyard where
the owner says he grows sultanas. It is a beautiful slope,
this vineyard, and gets all the morning sun. The sultanas
should be grand and very early.