Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to draw to the attention of the House the importance of acknowledging the contributions of Australian, New Zealand, British and Greek soldiers and Greek civilians in the defence of Crete against the 20 May 1941 invasion in World War II. Only a few days ago the commemoration of that particular date was celebrated in Greece, and it will be celebrated this weekend here in Canberra. Also in this motion I call for an annual commemoration of the Battle of Crete within Australia as an event of national significance and to encourage reflection on the shared experiences of Australian diggers and Greeks through the Battle of Crete, the bond that was forged between our two nations in a time of war and the evolution of remarkable Australian-Greek relations after the war and continuing to this day.

I know, Deputy Speaker Scott, you were Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and visited Crete for the commemoration of these celebrations at the Rethymnon war memorial for the Australian diggers who lost their lives in Crete. While Gallipoli is an extremely important part of our national heritage and we all acknowledge the emphasis placed on it, especially on national days of commemoration, it can sometimes eclipse equally significant though lesser-known battles where the Anzac spirit shone no less brightly. I feel the time is right for some of those other stories to share the limelight. The story of the Battle of Crete, in which Australian soldiers, Greek civilians and allied troops fought shoulder to shoulder against the Nazi invasion, is one such story that deserves our remembrance on an annual basis in Australia as an event of national significance.

The extraordinary story of the Battle of Crete begins on 20 May 1941. Three weeks after the Nazi forces had captured mainland Greece, Crete was the last frontier for the German forces in Greece and they spared no expense in launching the biggest German airborne operation of the war. As more than 8,000 Nazi troops parachuted out of the sky, 4,000 were killed or wounded as a result of the allied effort. But over time the Nazis increased their stronghold in the west and the balance of the war tipped towards a less certain victory for the allied troops.

The battle was significant on a number of fronts, but the civil resistance by the local Greek population was in itself highly significant in the spirit of resistance to the Nazi domination and in the bond that was forged between the peoples of Greece and Australia. Local men and women and even children became involved in the battle proper, but when the allied withdrawal commenced and the many thousands of troops were scrambling to evade capture the local population put itself at extreme risk by assisting allied forces and Australian soldiers who were left behind. It is my belief that through this period of adversity a bond was formed between the peoples of Greece and Australia.

Many Australian soldiers were left behind and they were harboured by the local villagers. For every Australian soldier who was caught by the Nazis, whole Greek villages were executed in response, to send the message that this was not on for the Nazis. But this did not stop the local Greek community. They continued to harbour Australians and others from the allied forces to ensure their safety and that resistance continued. We know that a bond was forged between the peoples of Greece and Australia through a shared desire to prevail against an invading Nazi force that proved to be a disaster for the local population. Today in Australia, with thousands of Greeks and Cretans still remembering the battle at home and abroad, they and their relatives, together with all Australians, can be proud of what they together fought for and against.

I am pleased to see that today we have bipartisan support for this motion from the member for Cowan and the member for New England. I think that shows the breadth of support in the wider community for substantial recognition of the contributions of all those involved—all those Aussie diggers and Greek resistance fighters in the Battle of Crete. I also acknowledge the member for Calwell’s support for the motion, as I said, and I know that as a person with close ties to Cretan Australians she is very much aware of the need for proper recognition of the unique relationship we share with Greeks in Australia. I hope that, along with all of them, all Australians continue to acknowledge the important contribution of the Australian defence forces, the Greek soldiers and the Greek civilians in the defence of Crete against the 20 May 1941 German invasion. I hope we also continue the annual commemoration of the Battle of Crete within Australia as an event of national significance and encourage the reflection of the shared experiences of Australians and Greek nationals through the Battle of Crete, the bond forged between our two nations in a time of war and the evolution of Australian-Greek relations in the post-war period. (Time expired)

Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to join the member for Hindmarsh in support of this motion on the Battle of Crete. It was on 20 May 1941 that the battle for Crete began. If you look back at the circumstances at the time, what we knew was that the British had naval superiority most of the time in the Mediterranean and the Germans had air superiority. It was always going to be the case that the German invasion, once accepted by Hitler, was going to occur via air. The Germans knew that they had a limited period of time to capture Crete, because they knew there was going to be the invasion of Russia from 22 June 1941.

The Allied forces were really up against it during this battle. They had lost most of their heavy equipment when Greece itself had fallen. They had quite a few soldiers there but their equipment was not that great. They did not have that many artillery pieces, the tanks were worn out and not in particularly good shape, and even the Matilda tanks, with 40-pound shells, were not suited to antipersonnel fighting. The Germans were also very susceptible through certain weaknesses in their plan. The German paratroopers would parachute out with nothing more than pistol grenades and a knife. Their rifle would go in a different canister, and that could land hundreds of metres away. Even the way the parachutes functioned was a major problem for them—they could not steer them towards where their main weapons were.

It is no wonder that the quite decent defences put in by General Freyberg, the New Zealand general, made it very dangerous for the paratroopers who came in. That is why we hear these stories of 400 out of 600 German paratroopers being killed very early on in the battle. Most of the German casualties did seem to happen on the first day. There was even a reported case of an elderly Cretan civilian actually beating to death with his walking stick a German paratrooper. This really highlights the ferocity and the determination of the Cretan people in the defence of their island. The Germans had really made a mistake when they thought that the republican movement on the island of Crete was somehow going to be in support of the Germans as opposed to the King of Greece at the time. In actual fact, the Cretans did object to the invasion and they fought very hard. They paid a high price, as well.

On the morning of the second day, 21 May, there was an error of judgment in an infantry unit, and one of the commonwealth units withdrew from Hill 107, which then gave the Germans the opportunity to take the main airfield on Crete, the Maleme airfield. After that, the Germans were then able to reinforce with heavier weapons and more soldiers. For the next six days after that, the Allies kept on facing fresher and better armed troops. By 27 May, the British command in London decided that a withdrawal would take place.

The highlight of the battle for Crete was without doubt the ferocity and the determination of the Cretan resistance. As I said, they paid a very high price for it. The Germans lost just over 6,500 soldiers killed or wounded. It should also be remembered that over the course of the war 6,593 Cretan men, 1,100 Cretan women and almost 900 Cretan children were killed by the Germans. The price of liberty can be very expensive. I pay tribute to the Cretan people and all those who fought in the Battle of Crete.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate the member for Hindmarsh on this very timely motion, which draws to the House’s attention the recent 69th anniversary of the Battle of Crete. The anniversary commemorates the heroic efforts of the Australian Defence Force and the local Cretan community in defending the island from German invasion in this historical significant battle, which began on 20 May 1941. The battle took place three weeks after the Allies lost mainland Greece and consisted of Allied forces made up of three British battalions, two New Zealand brigades, eight Greek battalions and six Australian battalions. After one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered—as has been said—appalling casualties. The next day, events turned and the Maleme airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans, enabling them to fly in reinforcements and overwhelm the defenders.

The Battle of Crete is documented as an unprecedented battle in three respects. It was the first mainly airborne invasion, it was the first time that the Allies made significant use of intelligence from the deciphered German Enigma code and it was the first time that invading German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population. During the battle, the Greeks and Australians sacrificed much and suffered terribly in unison and side by side in their defence of the island. The loss endured by the local population and the gallantry of the soldiers is something that has forged an eternal bond between our two countries.

Australian authors Dr Maria Hill and Peter Thompson, in their respective books Diggers and Greeks and Anzac Fury, point to the terrible price the Greek people paid for their support of and sympathy with the soldiers. It is well documented that after the defeat thousands of Allied troops were scrambling to avoid being captured. The Cretans risked all to hide, feed and look after the Australians left behind, particularly in the face of German reprisals. Perhaps it was the exposure to the horrors of the Nazi occupation or the unbreakable bond that can only be forged between people in times of war through which the relationship between Australia and Greece was tempered and strengthened. The courage shown by the Australians and Greeks is commemorated annually at many ceremonies around Australia, including my home state of Victoria.

In 2006, I was part of an Australian delegation that visited Crete, and I had the very special opportunity to meet a wonderful man, Mr Marcos Polioudakis, who, until his death a couple of years ago, was a tireless advocate of the need to elevate the Battle of Crete to an event of national significance. Marcos was more than an advocate for the cause that this motion speaks to. He dedicated his entire adult life to preserving and documenting every bit of information and memorabilia he could get his hands on that related to the local Cretans and to the Anzacs, producing a three-volume account of the Battle of Crete. The books are written in the Greek language. What a valuable addition to this nation’s war history it would be if these significant firsthand accounts could be translated into the English language. It certainly Marcos’s desire that this happen.

It was also Marcos’s desire to see a number of other happens. I remember having lunch with him in Crete together with the member for Indi. We were both very much impressed by the energy and passion of this man, who was born in Rethymnon in 1928 and was just 13 years old on 20 May 1941, the day ‘the Germans fell out of the sky’, as he put it. Those dramatic days were a nightmare for young Marcos and they left a lasting mark on him. His father was executed on 1 June by the German paratroopers for having taken part in the Battle of Stavromenos and his grandmother was killed on 3 June during an altercation with a German paratrooper, as was his grandfather, who sought to intervene and help his wife.

Marcos is credited with being instrumental in developing the Greek-Australian relationship and friendship. He was president of the committee that oversaw the dedication of the memorial for Greek and Australian soldiers in Rethymno. Marcos made it his life’s work to research and collect documents and material pertaining to the Battle of Crete. He felt that its importance, and the bravery and sacrifices of the locals, had been somewhat overlooked.

Marcos’s activities brought him to Australia on two occasions, and he was awarded the Order of Australia for his efforts. He was immensely proud of this award, and he genuinely loved Australia. We are, as he said, forever bonded to each other because of those events in Crete in 1941. I certainly feel honoured to have met him. I want to pay tribute to him this evening and to support the motion’s call for the commemoration of the Battle of Crete to be an event of national significance here in Australia. I am sure Marcos would have wanted this and I am sure that this chamber would also want this.

Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with pleasure that I support this motion, and I congratulate the member for Hindmarsh and the others who have spoken. The tragedies that occurred in the campaign for Crete were something that most, if not all, of us would support being recognised as a day of national celebration. It is definitely something that has brought the people of our two countries much closer together. The sacrifices that the Cretans and the Greek community made during that campaign and in other campaigns were quite incredible. The loss of women and children, as well as men, from the various communities and villages that protected people is something that we should never forget and is something that has created a very firm bond between peoples on different sides of the world.

The major reason that I want to speak on this motion is to recognise a former parliamentarian who has died but who served Australia in a number of theatres of war. He was in North Africa, Greece and Crete and had a couple of stints in New Guinea. He was one of four young Australian officers that were awarded the DSO during the Second World War. His name was Noel Park and he was the National Party member for Tamworth prior to my becoming involved in politics in 1991.

Noel Park served for 17 years as the member for Tamworth and gave extraordinary service to that community. But one of the things that he never forgot and that he talked about often was the way in which the people of Crete and the Greek community generally treated him and others. He was captured by the Germans and installed in a prison camp for a short time before escaping with others. He was protected by various villagers and community people and lived in a cave for a while. Subsequently, he took a boat with some others and was bombed by the British. The bombs did not go off, apparently. He was also bombed by the Germans and one of his party was injured. He subsequently made his way across to North Africa and, obviously, escaped. He went on to great service in other theatres of war and was injured twice in New Guinea. As I said earlier, he spoke very highly of the Cretan people and how they were quite prepared to sacrifice their lives for the people who were there to fight for them. To the day he died, one of his great memories was the way in which those people looked after him and others, and the story of his escape is one of real heroism.

So I pay tribute to Noel Ernest Park. He, above all people who have come from my electorate, would want to see this motion endorsed by the parliament, would want to see a commemoration take place and would want to see that the Greek people and the people of Crete are recognised and remembered for what they did for Australians. If they had not done that service for Noel Park, he would never have had the capacity to serve his community as a member of parliament and do so in the fashion that he did. His wife, June, is still with us, and I am sure that on his behalf she would ask that this motion be endorsed. (Time expired)

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.