THE TOMB OF A HERO

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 5, 10 September 1943, Page 3

THE TOMB OF A HERO

N.Z. SOLDIER IN GREECE

This is a stoiw about a Ncav Zealand soldier in Greece. It Avas sent lo the New Zealand Legation at, Washington by the wife of a high placed Greek official in London. New Zealand Army Arclm'cs cannot find any trace of the incident in the Avar diaries, but the people in the Laris.sa area in Greece vouch for its accuracy. On the outskirts of Larissa. along the highroad leading Lo the aerodrome,, passers-by are halted by a freshly dug tomb. No protective •stone cross stands oA'er it, but two machine guns lie crossed on the broAvn earth and a Avooden board placetl probably Avhere the head is resting bears the following word* carA'cd in German : "Here lies a New Zealand Hera. Alone During Three Hours, With these Two Machine Guns, lie Halted a Whole Company." The desolate plaiu of Larissa spreads around, once the greenest corner of central Greece. Drifting birds beat their Avings in haste as if conscious of the folorn surroundings, while at the far end of the mountain, the ruins of Larissa stand out like the keynote of this doleful picture. This is the spot where the New Zealand soldier chose, lo remain. When orders came to leap in the. cars and. escape, he decided he AA'onld stay. He had been told this Avas a total Avar. The}' were not fighting for Greece or England or New Zealand, this Avas a Avar of liberty. So he refused to go,, and on 'the Avidcsprcad fertile plain of Salonica, unruffled, determined, and alone, he awaited the robbers.

Tliosc who remember the day say it was a beautiful one, clear and transparent Avith the snow-coated peaks' of Olympus glittering in the far east. The German armies Avere racing madly through plains and ravines. They were heading for the British. Assured of a second Dunkirk, they were pursuing them at full speed to the sea . . . Suddenly, unexpected bullets poured on the enemy, a .shower of lead from nowhere; taken by surprise, they searched for shelter.

The New Zealander crouched in his trench grasping first one gun and then another, and spreading death around him, butchering the confused Nazis until the remainder turned heels and lied. Soon alter the German artillery started pounding the stronghold, and the young soldier, digging himself deep in the soft earth, waited calmly for his turn. The. German guns, raised hell and then quietened down. The in-

vader seeing no sign of resistance, sure, of having silenced the' enemy position, started marching to the city in solid columns. The New Zcalander let them approach his hiding place and then ' again went blazing away with his guns.

Before the Germ aas were able to lire their mortars, the New Zealander left his trench. intent at his reckless game,, he crawled along dragging his guns, loaded with all the ammunition he could carry, and struck another spot located in the opposite direction. This time the enemy also changed tactics and sent out a fc;\v patrols. These men -walked right past the Anzac's hiding place They inspected, and explored the land on all sides in the direction of the previous attack, while, deep in his hole, covered with shrubbery and branches, our lad was crouching. Slowly and cautiously for the third tfane. the enemy advanced, and the New Zcalander was awaiting him. But the game was getting tough now, lie could l'eel the Nazi's Mere, alarmed. He therefore deckled on letting the first .squads plod, past, and. when the bulk ol the Nazi hordes reached him the young defender of the Salonica plains set tiring . . . But this was his last round. A. grenade whistled; the air. burst on the machine gun position • • • 1 hen all was silent again but l'or the crying birds and the regular beating of. heels as the unmolested Nazis trudged into Lurissa. l.ater the New Zealand warrior was buried, on the very spot, where he scattered death among the Germans and terrorised a whole Nazi company. The Greek peasants know the place and tarry there. Over their weather-beaten faces they

draw a sign of the cross remembering with admiration and love the wonderful inspiring days when lads of far-off countries, in the name of liberty, fought and died -with them on the land of their lorelathers.