Greece

The following is the 10th installment of the Memories of my Uncle Jim who served in the 1st and 8th Army, who as agreed that they may be posted.

CHAPTER TEN

GREECE

My posting, along with a number of different Guards’ Sergeants was to Athens in Greece. The RSM called us out on parade to give the Senior Sergeant the route paper for the journey. I naturally assumed that it had got to be one of these big lads. What a surprise when it was Jim — they were all Lance-Sergeants.

I was billeted in a nice hotel along with other members of the Anglo-Greek Information Service, the organisation to which I had been sent. The Headquarters were in a large hotel in the main street, where I attended classes to get some idea of the work they did. I was sent to Janina, or as it is sometimes spelt, Yanina, which is in Northern Epirus on the Albanian border. I believe I went first to Patras, which is a seaport, from where I crossed a stretch of water to a place called Missalonghe, where there is a tomb to Lord Byron. From there, getting lifts in trucks, I remember passing through Corinth and after a night spent somewhere I set off next day to Janina. I hadn’t been there maybe a month when the war in Europe was over — 2nd May 1945. I had a look in the old castle grounds where the Count of Monte Cristo was supposed to have been imprisoned.

I was then given a motorbike and told to go to the island of Cephalonia, which is in the Ionian group. This involved finding my way through the mountains to a place called Prevesa, where I would pick up a Greek caique (boat). While I was in Prevesa I paid a visit to the island of Lefkas, what for I can’t remember. I remember the sea was rather rough and the boat was not much bigger than a rowing boat and was loaded with people. I never paid for any of the sea journeys. I just called the main in charge ‘Kapitanious’ — that got me a free passage. The caique that I went to Cephalonia on reminded me of the ancient sailing boats, with big sails and steered by a big tiller. We loaded my motorbike and off we went. We eventually arrived at a little fishing village called Sami, from where I had to make my way to Argostoli, the capital of Cephalonia.

I was pointed in the right direction and had only gone a short distance when I got a front wheel puncture, so I rode all the way on a flat tyre. When I got there I reported to Captain J J Walters of the KRRC, who was there with his batman, a chap named George Mitchell. He had an office over the local Post Office, which was in the main square. I hadn’t been there long when the building started to shake, and my first thought was bombing, then I realised that it was an earth tremor, something I soon got used to. Sadly in 1958 the real thing happened and demolished a lot of the island, and I believe Zante as well. We lived in a large flat away from the office, and had an old Greek women to prepare meals for us. We had our army rations but we gave her money to buy us fresh vegetables and fruit. We had a garden to the flat which had an apricot tree and one day the Captain said “We owe Maria some money for some apricots”. I said “She’s getting no money off me, they’re our own apricots”, and I said “She’s helping herself to our sugar etc”. I caught her helping herself to sugar out of the basin, which I had filled on purpose and sacked her on the spot. I have thought since I was too hard on her, as they had very little, but if she had only asked I wouldn’t have refused her.

I don’t know how long the captain and George had been there before me, but I soon started to get a grip on things and in the process wasn’t very popular with one or two people. We employed a number of civilians who were very good. The first one I cam into contact with was a chap in uniform, and the first things I did was to take the stock room keys off him. We also made use of a local car owner, if that was the right name for it. It was about as old as me, and I noticed that every little journey he did he had two jerry cans of petrol. I put paid to that so wasn’t very popular with him.

I should say at this point a little about the AGIS and its work. It had its own printing press and radio station in Athens, and every morning and afternoon news would come over at dictation speed which I would take down, then our Greek interpreter, whose name was Nicky Kolitos would put it into Greek, hand it over to a lady typist named Titza Apostulatous, who would type into news-sheets, which we distributed around the island. We also took wireless sets out to some villages. These were run on large batteries, which were in wooden cases. We had a charging set for the batteries. The sets were put in charge of the headman of the village. Three sheets would be typed out regarding the sets, one for the headman, one for Athens and one to retain. We also rented a shop as a news centre, in which we sold publications like the Picture Post, Readers’ Digest and many others, but all in Greek. We also, at times, had copies of the Times newspaper, as a great number of the people could speak English. We also displayed photographs of the camps like Belsen etc.

I made a big board out of wooden shell boxes and put a map on it, and showed the battle-fronts which I kept up to date with tapes. The chap who ran the centre in Argostoli was called George Kefalos. He lived in Kampala, in Uganda, and had come over to see his parents when war was declared, so was unable to get back. I remember he showed me a photo of him with his foot on a lion he had shot. He wanted me to go to Uganda after the war. I don’t know if he and his wife and daughter got back.

We also had a young man named George Haracopas and he came to me one day and said someone had asked him what regiment I was in due to the feathers in my hat. I said “What did you tell them?” He said “The Buckingham Musics”. There was one young lad that wasn’t employed by use, and I can’t remember how I got to know him, but he was very poor and undernourished. So I made sure that he got some food and fixed him up with a pair of the Captain’s slacks and boots. He never missed them. He did little jobs for me. His name was Pangis Panayoutis. I’ve got a photo of him, me and George Mitchell taken in the main square.

I got to know a number of influential people in and around Argostoli. One was George Mataxas, the local dentist. His wife was South African and he was the nephew of General Mataxas, who was, I believe, the Dictator of Greece at one time. I visited the General’s home at the village of Metaxata. Dr Alevesartous was one time a member of the Greek government. I also visited the home of an old English lady, whose late husband had been a High Court Judge in Cairo.

Eventually the Captain and George left and came back to the United Kingdom, which left me as the only British soldier on the island. It wasn’t too bad during the day as I had my work to do but at night when it was dark and I sat on my own in the flat with the BBC on I would think of home and my wife, and feel rather miserable. I hadn’t been home for three years by this time.

Besides working in Cephalonia I went to Ithaca, the island where Ulysses was said to have been born. I went over one time with the local doctor, who was going to perform an appendix operation, which I understand would be done on a kitchen table. The person I had a meal with was named John Kolinikos, who was a ship owner. I also used to go to the island of Zante on AGIS work. Back in Argostoli I got on well with the few Greek soldiers who repaired my motor bike for me, two in particular. I remember one named Shorteris and the other Lefteris.

For my rations I had to got to Patras which is a seaport on the mainland. When I arrived there I went to see the Town Major and told him that I would need a bed and food. He said the troops were in the hotel across the road from his office, so that’s where I went, only to be told that I couldn’t stop there as it was only for ranks below sergeant and I should go to the Sergeant’s Mess. I thought “If they have a billet like that the Mess should be good”. I asked where it was and when I found it ‘Mess’ was the word for it. It was a building backing on to the dockside. I found the place and the ground floor was in darkness. I thought this was rather strange but decided to go up the stairs and found that it was the Mess. I found the man in charge who said “Find yourself a room” so I went down the corridor and found an empty room. I put my bedroll on the floor behind the door and went about my business in Patras. When I got back I got down on my bedroll and went to sleep.

Next morning I went to tap the cook for a mug of tea. He was standing with a sweeping brush in his hands and suddenly a head popped out from under the stove which he hit with the brush. It was a rat which he just dropped out the window. Having drunk my tea I decided to have a wash and shave. The bathroom was opposite the cook’s room. As I stepped in another rat shot from under the bath. Having completed my ablutions I went into another room to get a plate from a trestle table to get my breakfast when, yes you’ve guessed it, another one shot from under the table and went down a hole in the floor. Having eaten my breakfast I came out of the room and looked over the banister and you won’t believe it — another one was coming up the stairs. There happened to be a building brick on the floor, which I threw at it which made it go back. I suddenly thought I could have been eaten alive last night.

I went to the man in charge and asked about another room. He said “Have another look round”. I found a room with a camp bed in a corner and through “Why didn’t I find this last night?” Again I went about my business in Patras. On my return I got on the camp bed which had only a billow, a typical army round one stuffed with straw. I kept all my clothes on and it wasn’t long before my wrists and neck started itching. I started rubbing until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I got up and put on the light and the pillow and wall in the corner were alive with bugs as big as my little fingernail.

Previously to this, in my Infantry days in Africa, Sicily and Italy I slept on pavements, pig sties, cattle sheds, anywhere but in a bed and never got fleas or bugs. I was pleased to see the back of that Mess.

I collected my rations and made my way back to Cepahlonias. I was lying on my bed in the early hours of the morning when I heard a bump on the wooden floor and thought it must be a cat come in through the open window, so I paid no more attention to it. A few nights later I was lying with my arm over my head when I felt something nipping one of my fingers. I immediately jumped up and heard the same bump on the floor. I put the light on and there was a big rat. I picked up one of my boots and threw it, it shot through the door into the dining room and started climbing up the architrave of the music room. I threw my second boot and by the time I got my first one it was ripping splinters out of the bottom of the door. I decided I’d had enough of that place so went and had an hour with the Greek soldiers until daylight. I then decided I would sleep in the stock room in the office. That was out of the frying pan into the fire. That was infested with mice. So I spent hours belting them with a mail bag.

I was relieved when I got word to report to Athens to come home for a month’s leave. When I got to Athens an Officer asked to me to go to the Dodecanese Islands with him. I said I was going home, so I was told to go and see a Major who asked me what I knew about transport. I replied “They have four wheels and a steering wheel”. He said go down the road and take over the garage until your time for home. When I got there it had from a motorbike up to a big wagon. A Corporal was in charge there so I thought “You’ve got to box clever here, Jim Lad” so I told him to carry on just as he had been doing. As anyone who had dealings with transport in the Army knows, each vehicle has a log book in which a record is kept. The Corporal suggested we carry out an examination so down the pit we went. I pretended to be interested but had no idea what I was looking at or for. Again I became unpopular. I noticed every time the Greek drivers went out with a truck they would need petrol so I started dipping the tanks. I also took the keys to the stores which I noticed were always open.

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