SPLENDID EFFORT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 June 1941, Page 2

SPLENDID EFFORT

MADE BY OUR TROOPS IN GREECE MAORI AND PAKEHA. BRIGADIER HARGEST’S STORY OF CAMPAIGN. “The men were remarkable in their steadiness and never once lost heart, and the Maoris in my brigade were splendid." writes Brigadier J. Hargcst, D. 5.0.. M.C., V.D., referring to the retreat in Greece ’in a letter to a friend in Invercargill. "During the retreat there were many days when I could not see the way out, but. the expression ‘When one door closes another opens’ proved itself true." he says. "All the way down I was glad to be there, to see and assist in the most difficult situation in war—a retreat. "By a strange coincidence, too, on the morning when we finally embarked in the darkness and looked up at the black hills, we remembered it was Anzac Day. Twenty-six years ago it was almost the same, not many miles away. “The whole show was a desperate affair. From the moment we got into position and the Hun came on, we were for it. Outnumbered 10 to 1, with few aeroplanes and no tanks, we met one of the best-equipped armies the world has ever seen. “My brigade, with a field regiment in close support, held the great Pass for days against two divisions of the enemy with what appeared to be countless tanks. Wo punished them terribly and were still holding when the orders came to go. The Greeks in the west had given up and our flanks were in the air. “When I did go eventually the Hun was through all of my battalions, as we were so thin on the ground; but we closed up and chucked him out and went back with all our wounded and our guns. The other parts of the division were having as tough a time further west, and we had to hold one more day. 10 miles further back. There we had a second revenge and were able to take a good toll with our guns over open sights. We stood again for several days half-way to Athens and then had to go; that’s where we dumped our kits. "We carried out a retreat of a little over 300 miles, and when eventually we embarked on the ships our ranks were quite unbroken and we carried our mortars. Bren guns, rifles, and each man 100 rounds of small arms ammunition, each Bren 250 and each mortar its share. "It was a hard show, and for nine days I never slept except in the car or on the ground beside the telephone, but I was still fit when we got here and went straight to work."