DODGING BOMBS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 August 1941, Page 7

DODGING BOMBS

NEW ZEALANDER’S EXPERIENCE IN GREECE. ATTACKS BY NAZI PLANES. An indication of the rigours of the campaign in Greece is given by Lieut. N. W. Laugeson, of the Regimental Signal Section, in a letter to friends in New Zealand. In the course of his letter, he states:— My closest shave was once while wo were moving back in convoy along the road. We had been bombed and ma-chine-gunned along the road all day and many men and vehicles wore hit and destroyed. We had just turned a bend in the road when 29 German dive bombers came down on us out of the sun. Explosive bullets cracked around in all directions and one struck the hood of my lorry 18 inches from me. We pulled up suddenly and I jumped out and tripped as I was about io jump a muddy creek. I went in head first and crawled out the other side blinded with mud. Bombs were bursting on all sides. I saw a pile of rocks nearby and ran to them for cover. Something seemed to say “don't stay.' I got up and scrambled on another ten yards and lay in a crease in the ground absolutely exhausted on my back. There was hell let loose and planes were swooping down as low as 50 feet.. I looked up and saw a plane diving straight for me. He loosed a large bomb which came wobbling down straight for me. I remembei saying “Goodbye Girls ’ and closed my eyes. The bomb screamed nearer and with a terrifying whine whizzed byj and I was lifted clear of the ground by the terrific explosion. The rush of air nearly blew me out of Greece and I was thoroughly pounded with clods and rubbish. Then came the bullets as the plane flew past. I lay still for some moments, then looked up to find the planes were continuing up the road. Trucks were on fire and men were moving back toward them. I then staggered when I found a huge bomb crater instead of the rocks where I had originally laid. If I had stayed I would not have been writing this now! I found my truck was riddled with bullets but O.K. to drive off.

We had to destroy one of my wireless trucks and then we continued on passing burning and overturned vehicles. We drove all night and made *a camp in some trees next day. Here we dug in and were bombed and machinegunned uittil nightfall. Next day we moved up about 10 miles and two days later fought the Germans to a standstill and "so enabled most of the N.Z.E.F. to get away. My regiment had the honour or being rearguard at the battle of Mojos and consequently it was rather grim. I stood and marvelled a! our gunners wh'o stripped and fired those guns at the rate of 8 rounds a minute and more for 9 hours continuously. We had nearly 80 guns lined up in a row and popped off over 9000 shells into the Huns who came on and on and lost thousands of men. They are fanatics and seem to be doped or something for they come on with Tommy guns grunting and screaming. Then our ma-chine-guns just mowed them down but they gained a yard at a time. At one place the Huns gathered up their dead and wounded and piled them up and used them for protection. Their parachute troops were a menace indeed and they get behind our lines and snipe us.