LEAVE IN ATHENS
Leave in Athens was a real treat to the men from the Desert, who found friends easily, but were dismayed to find that Greek girls were not allowed to dance with soldiers, as their Government had decided that as many were fighting, others should not be able to enjoy themselves in their absence. This simple instance is typical of the wholeneartedness of the Greek war effort. Greek hatred of Mussolini is very thorough. In fact he is despised and considered of no account. Hitler comes in for similar treatment.
People in Athens were astounded at the calmness displayed by New Zealand soldiers during air raids, and had been cheered by by their example, said another soldier. At a railway station in the interior, a member of a reserve motor transport company was sitting on a pile of boxes on a platform when eight Nazi planes came down low and flew overhead. He did not move, and when a second New Zealand soldier went over to speak to him afterwards, he saw painted on the boxes the letters T.N.T.
“Why on earth didn't you run for it,” he asked.
“If they had collected this packet, it would have been of precious little use running,” was the reply.
Such a bearing is a magnificent example to the people of towns and villages who have little organised air defence, said the soldier relating the story, who added that everywhere outmen were held in the highest regard.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 April 1941, Page 6
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246LEAVE IN ATHENS Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 April 1941, Page 6
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