War Stories—The Wartime Journal of S.O.C. - Part 2 Return - Kythera to Heliopolis

The Way Out
Just when they all felt very despondent and were left wondering what the next day would bring, there was a surprising but fortuitous telephone call.
We had thought we were the only men to be marooned on Kythera. Imagine our surprise when a call came through from Col. X, the British Attaché in Athens, to say that he was on the same island with some men who had escaped in the same manner as we had, probably a day or two after us. He was ringing up to find out if, by chance, there was anybody else on the island and was astonished when he heard that there were some 700 men on our end of the island. He informed us that he had managed to make arrangements with the Navy to take him off and that they were due to pick him and his men up after dark that evening. He said he would inform the Captain.
We at once set about collecting all the men from the hillside and ravines in which they were hiding and over which they were scattered for a considerable area. By midnight everybody was lined up close to the quay. Silence was maintained and no smoking was allowed. We were not absolutely sure that this telephone call was not the work of a fifth columnist - the latter had been rife in Greece, throughout the campaign - or whether it was genuine.
Return to Alexandria
At 03h00 am on the 29th April the whole contingent was rescued by the naval sloops Auckland and Hyacinth accompanied by the cruiser HMS Gloucester, one of the four cruisers that had taken us across to Greece, six months before. Alas, she is now at the bottom of the sea.
Not a moment was lost transferring 700 men with their equipment from the shore to the ships. The decks of those two little ships were tightly packed by the time we were ready to leave.
How pleasant it was to be with the Navy- again. As usual, we were regaled with drinks and, after everybody had had one or two, we all tried to get some sleep. We lay down on the floor wherever we could find room and those who had chairs remained in them. Many other refugees had been picked up at other ports en route.
Most of them were Greek Army officers. They all had the look of the hunted and hopeless outlook of men who have fought a great fight, only to see their country finally overpowered by a merciless foe. Many had probably had to leave wives and children in Athens and elsewhere. Their thoughts must have been bitter and terrible.
It was then that I, personally, realized more than at any other time of the war, how much I had to be thankful for—that my own wife and family were safe from all this in South Africa.
The next morning we at once embarked onto the Itria. She was practically empty but her holds as well as her main deck were soon filled with men. There were seven other cargo ships of about the same size as our own. These also, were all crammed with men from the services, who had been evacuated by various means from Greece.
But the evacuation of Greece was carried out almost entirely by the Navy, although many small boats of all descriptions were employed. As soon as we were all aboard, anchors were drawn and we were off, the eight of us. The two sloops accompanied us for a short distance before turning back to Crete. We were left with two destroyers escorting us.
Back to Sea
By 10 o’clock we were well clear of the bay and out in the open sea once again, on our way to Alexandria. About two hours later, several large ships hove in sight. These proved to be cruisers. They turned round and kept ahead of us and escorted us all the way back. British aircraft were now to be seen passing overhead, which was a very pleasant and reassuring sight.
We slept on the deck wherever we could, sleeping on any clothing we had managed to bring away with us, which was not much. Some had nothing at all, excepting the clothes they stood up in. I had my overcoat and one blank blanket which, when folded lengthwise, was something to sleep on and the overcoat acted as covering. How I blessed that overcoat—not only during the evacuation but during those bitterly cold months in Greece. The sea was like a mill pond and the sun shone from a very blue sky. That night too, was entirely without incident, and we all slept at peace with the knowledge that the Navy was there, carrying out its ceaseless, efficient vigil.
And so, on the 2nd of May, we came once again to the shores of Egypt and the old, old port of Alexandria. By 10 o’clock we were alongside the quay where, after a wait of about half an hour, we disembarked. On the quayside was hot tea ready for us and every man was given, free, a small bag of food, which consisted of an orange, a banana, a bun and a bar of chocolate. A train was waiting and all the airmen and NCOs proceeded to a nearby transit camp.
For us, the Greek campaign was over. A campaign of tragedies, but also of many happy memories. A country which one and all of us would ever remember, not only for its kindly and stout-hearted people, but for its wild beauty of endless mountains, olive groves and island dotted blue seas.

Signed: SOC, May 1941(F/Lt Stanley Oakes Crowther, RAFVR)