Here you will find a selection of books and websites that you might find useful. We continue to gather content for this section.
Books
Tell Them We Were Here by Edwin Horlington MBE Volumes 1 (1991) and 2 (1998)
This is the story of the ill-fated Greek campaign told through the reminiscences of the men of the three services who took part, many of whom, are now members of the Brotherhood of Veterans of the Greek Campaign. Here are the raw emotions – courage, fear, frustration and patience of those involved. The book consists of accounts of the horrors of the retreat in April 1941 of the British Expeditionary Force through Mainland Greece to the Peloponnese. In the absence of RAF cover, soldiers underwent continuous bombardment by the un-opposed Luftwaffe and suffered severe casualties. Thanks to the Royal Navy which is universally praised in these accounts, many escaped, but 10,000 soldiers were left behind and captured, forced to endure four harsh years in German POW camps. Through-out, there is gratitude to the Greek civilian population, who did what they could to succour the retreating army, nurse the wounded and who wept as those captured were hustled off to prison.
A Tankie’s Travels by R C (Jock Watt)
World War Two experiences of a former member of the Royal Tank Regiment. ” If you want to know what it was really like to fight in tanks in the North African campaign – the noise, the smells, the flies, the scorpions, the almost surreal horror – you will not find a better book.” James Delingpole, The Spectator
A Letter to my Daughter by Frank J Gill
“Everyone should read this to gain an appreciation for the sacrifices made by this ‘Greatest Generation’. Despite what he writes to the contrary, you father really is a hero who came face to face with tyranny and spat at it. Just unbelievable courage…” Randy Rhinesmith, Hotbutton Creative
Barbed wire and Balkans by Eric Bardsley
Khaki and Cowdung by Jack Wentworth Ansell
The Wrath of the Gods: The fortunes of three British servicemen sent on an ill-fated campaign to Greece during the Second World War by M Y Speak
Edgar Harrison: Soldier – Patriot and Ultra Wireless Operator to Winston Churchill by Geoffrey Pidgeon
Jack Hinton VC A Man Amongst Men by Gabrielle McDonald
Kiriakos A British Partisan in Wartime Greece by Don Turner
Going Solo by Roald Dahl
Greece and Crete 1941 by Christopher Buckley
Greece 1940-1941 Eye Witnessed by C.N.Hasjipateras and M.S. Fafalios
Forgotten Anzacs by Peter Ewer
Espionage behind the Wire by Howard Greville
All for Freedom: A True Story of Escape from the Nazis by DT Davies
Kalamata Beach 28 April 1941 and its aftermath .. by Tai Posses
The Extraordinary Life of Mike Cumberlege SOE by Robin Knight.
The first ever biography about Lt Cdr Mike Cumberlege DSO & Bar, Greek Medal of Honour, who was murdered in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp some time between February – March 1945. Robin Knight has gathered together unique material from Cumberlege’s family and others, to tell the story of Cumberlege’s life. 163 pages. Hardback published by Fonthill Media LLC.
Other books which are recommended
A Kind of Cattle, by Barney Roberts
A World War II Veteran Looks Back, by Charles S Brown
Arbeitskommando, by Elvet Williams
Blitzkrieg in the Balkans & Greece 1941, edited by Bob Carruthers
European Resistance in the 2nd World War (Chap 5 Greece), edited by Philip Cooke & Ben Shepherd
Forty Men – Eight Horses, by Douglas Arthur
Greek Tragedy ’41, by Anthony Heckstall-Smith & H T Baillie-Grohman
In Captivity, April 1941 – May 1945, by Ken Willmott
Jack & Bill’s War, Wartime Experiences with the RAF in the Middle East, by Jack & Bill Fairs
Perilous Commitments – Britain’s Involvement in Greece & Crete 1940-41, by Matthew Willingham
Prisoner of War, Voices from Behind the Wire in the 2nd World War, by Charles Rollings
The Campaign in Greece & Crete, by Ministry of Information
The Defence & Fall of Greece 1940-41, by John Carr
We fell among Greeks by Denys Hamson
The German Campaigns in the Balkans (Spring 1941), by US Department of the Army
Report on Experience by John Mulgan
Target Corinth Canal 1940 – 1941 by Platon Alexiades
Aegean Adventures 1940-1943 by Michael Woodbine Parish
The Gods were Neutral, a story of the Greek Campaign 1941 by Robert Crisp
Rogue Male, Sabotage and Seduction behind enemy lines with Geoffrey Gordon-Creed DSO by Roger Field, Geoffrey Gordon and N. Creed
Escape to Nowhere by Francis S. Jones
Hit or Miss, The adventures of Driver Randle Barlow by Francis S. Jones
Greece against the Axis by Stanley Casson
Last on the List by Miles Reid
The Imperial War Museum Book of the Desert War by Adrian Gilbert
The Long Way Home from Crete by Isaac Kal
Websites and links
Red Arrows over Kalamata for 70th anniversary
70th Anniversary of the Battle of Kalamata
Battle Of Kalamata 1941 | Facebook
World War 2 Today has article under April 28th 1941 ‘Last Ditch Stand in Kalamata‘
National Memorial Arboretum website
Youtube video of 2015 74th anniversary ceremony in Kalamata
BBC: WW2 People’s War – Greek Campaign 1940-41
Dad’s Army – Clive Dunn’s Real Wars
The Greek Campaign by author of Stalag18a website
BBC: WW2 People’s War – A Prisoner’s Tale Retold