This year the service was held at the Greek Grove at the National Memorial Arboretum on Saturday 12th September 2026. We were delighted to welcome Father Samuel Christoforou from the Greek Orthodox Church in Walsall (the church where Father John was based before he retired). He led our service admirably and gave a very appropriate and impressive sermon.
We were also very pleased that Captain Alexandros Xanthouleas, Greek Defence Attaché, joined us again. Also, several service personnel including a Wg Cdr, four Sqn Ldrs and a Lt Cdr.
Janet Parkin gave a brief welcome and introduced Paul Hadwin, Grandson of Driver Tom Hadwin, RASC who officially welcomed Father Samuel and our guests. Paul reminded us that it was thirty years ago in 1996 that the first tree in the Arboretum had been planted by Janet Parkin’s father, Edwin Horlington. He also emphasised the importance of remembering the sacrifices made by our forefathers 85 years ago.
David Sanderson, Brotherhood Chairman, then gave the following address:
“I’d like to endorse previous comments on how good it is to see your attendance here today, especially our military personnel – in this the 85th anniversary year of the Battle of Greece. By way of a reminder, the Battle of Greece involved over one and a quarter million Axis forces (by which I mean Italian and German forces), against a combined Greek and Allied force of around 500,000. The German forces were not only larger, but they were also better equipped, and crucially they had control over the skies. Britain had committed a force of approximately 60,000 personnel to Greece, made up principally of British, Australian and New Zealand troops, who arrived there in early 1941.
It was an ill-fated campaign. When Germany invaded Greece on 6 April 1941 the decision was soon taken by the Allies to leave mainland Greece for Crete, and so a long journey started to the southern ports of Nauplia, Monevasia, Raffinia and Kalamata. This was a perilous retreat, and soon became “another Dunkirk”. The Navy did a magnificent job, getting away around 52,000 of the 60,000 or so of our forces. Unfortunately, around 8,000 men were left behind and were taken as POWs. As Janet mentioned, the Brotherhood was set up by her father in 1990. Edwin Horlington advertised in the National Press to find fellow veterans, and the idea of erecting a memorial in Kalamata was taken up. With contributions from veterans, and with the support of Patrick Leigh Fermor as Patron, a memorial was unveiled in 1994, and an annual service in commemoration has been held ever since in Kalamata. A book entitled Tell Them We Were Here was published, containing accounts by veterans of their own experience in Greece. The Greek Grove in which we are now standing, was also established.
Each year I like to mention one or two veterans to especially remember on this day.
Today I’m thinking of Private Douglas (Joe) Beckett RAOC
Douglas joined the Army in April 1937 aged 19. He was one of the first soldiers to be landed in France soon after war was declared on Germany – and one of the last to leave. The story of Dunkirk is a familiar one, but Joe (as he was known to his mates), was evacuated not from Dunkirk, but from St Nazaire, having witnessed some terrible sights along the way. Soon after returning to England, Joe was posted to North Africa where he fought in the desert, before being posted to Greece in April 1941. During the retreat to Crete, Joe was captured by the Germans and sent to Stalag 18A at Wolfsberg in Austria. He attempted to escape three times, and on the third attempt he teamed up with a New Zealander named Sam Hoare. Sam and Joe crossed the Hungarian border on Christmas Eve 1943. They were taken to a Hungarian Castle called Szegitvar Castle, which was a kind of privileged open prison, as Hungary had not yet been subsumed into the Third Reich. The Germans dropped parachutists onto the castle some three months later, and Joe was again taken as a POW. Joe was eventually taken to Zemun concentration camp near Belgrade. He escaped from there when the Americans bombed the camp in error! Unfortunately however, Joe was recaptured, and sent to Markt Pongau POW camp for punishment – before being returned to Stalag 18a.
We are fortunate to have Joe’s son, Doug “Buster” Beckett, here today. Buster does a lot of hard work for the Facebook group which he set up for the Greek Veterans, and which now has over 2,100 members. He also supports the Brotherhood in any way he can, and in particular he makes wooden poppy crosses which enable descendants of veterans to pay tribute to their relative in Kalamata. That involves a lot of hard work, so thank you very much Buster.
The second veteran I’m thinking of today is the famous author Roald Dahl.
Pilot Officer Roald Dahl, 80 Squadron, The Battle of Athens: On April 20, 1941, Dahl participated in a desperate dogfight where just 12 British Hurricanes were engaged against an overwhelming German Luftwaffe force of over 100 enemy aircraft. During the Greek campaign, Dahl was officially credited with 5 or 6 aerial victories against German Junkers Ju 88 bombers, earning him the designation of a flying ace. Outnumbered and outgunned, Dahl was among the final group of Allied pilots to evacuate and withdraw from Greece as the country fell to the Axis forces. Literary Legacy: Dahl chronicled his harrowing wartime experiences vividly in his second autobiographicalmemoir, “Going Solo”.
In a letter to his mother dated 15 May 1941 Dahl wrote: “Well I don’t know what news I can give you. We really had a hell of a time in Greece. It wasn’t much fun taking on half the German Air Force with literally a handful of fighters. My machine was shot up quite a bit, but I always managed to get back. The difficulty was to choose a time to land when the German fighters weren’t ground strafing our aerodrome. Later, we hopped from place to place trying to cover the evacuation – hiding our planes in olive groves and covering them with olive branches in a fairly fruitless endeavour to prevent them being spotted by one or other of the swarms of aircraft overhead. Anyway, I don’t think anything as bad as that will happen again ……” Dahl subsequently moved on to Palestine, before being declared unfit to fly and returning home.
Many of you will be aware of our veteran’s website (ww2greekveterans.com) in which over 500 veterans are remembered, and whose stories are there for all to read. I would like to thank Noah Scott, son of Norman Scott, Corps of Military Police, PoW Stalag XV111A, for all of his work in relation to the archive over many years. Noah carried out a great deal of original research, and carefully checked contributions received from veterans and their descendants. His archive is a treasure trove for anyone interested in learning more about the Greek campaign. My wife Mary Sanderson spent many hours creating the website, and putting the archive on the web for all to see. Our members Buster Beckett and Phil Evans established a Facebook group, which has also helped members get in touch with each other sharing stories and information. This has been a great success, particularly amongst our Greek, Australian and New Zealand friends and the group now has well over 2,100 members.
It is claimed that the Greek campaign was not a complete disaster. By committing some of his best divisions to Greece, Hitler delayed his planned invasion of Russia by six crucial weeks. That delay meant that the Germans hit the Russian winter, which undoubtedly contributed hugely to a Russian victory on the Eastern Front. I for one like to believe that that is true, and that our parents/grandparents did not go through what they did in vain. It is very important that we remember the men who lost their lives, or who were badly injured doing what they were required to do for their country, and for our freedoms today. Thank you all for doing that, by being here today.”
Five wreaths were laid: Captain Alexandros Xanthouleas, HN, Greek Defence Attaché, on behalf of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff; Buster Beckett, in Memory of the Prisoners of War; Mrs Margret Stanbridge, on behalf of the Widows; Mrs Janet Parkin, In Memory of Deceased Members; Mr David Sanderson, on behalf of the Brotherhood of Veterans of the 1941 Greek Campaign.