Today, the 22nd if 1941, the start of the battle of Crete. Over the next 8 days, Second Lieutenant Charles Hazlitt Upham would display outstanding courage and leadership despite of his wounds and a severe attack of dysentery. His citation reads: '8077 Second Lieutenant Charles Hazlitt Upham. During the operations in Crete thid officer performed a series of remarkable exploits, showing outstanding leadership, tactical skill, and utter indifference to danger. He commanded a forward platoon in the attack on Maleme on 22nd May and fought his way forward for over 3000 yards unsupported by any other arms and against a defence strongly organized in depth. During this operation his platoon destroied numerous enemy posts but on three occasions sections were temporarily held up. In the first case, under heavy fire from a M.G. nest, he advanced to close quarters with pistol and grenades, so demoralizing the occupants that his section was able to 'mop up' with ease. Another of his sections was the held up by two M.G.s in a house. He went in and placed a grenade through a window, destroying the crew of one M.G. and several others, the other M.G. being silenced by the fire of his sections. In the third case he crawled to within 15 yards of a M.G. post and killed the gunners with a grenade. When his company withdrew from Maleme he helped to carry a wounded man out under fire, and together with another officer rallied more men together to carry other wounded men out. He was then sent to bring in a company which had become isolated. With a corporal he went through enemy territory over 600 yards, killing 2 Germans on the way,found the company and brought it back. But for this action it would have been quickly cut off. During the following 2 days his platoon occupied an exposed position on the forward slopes and was continuously under fire. 2nd Lt. Upham was blown over by one mortar shell and painfully woulded in the left shoulder by another. He disregarded this and remained on duty. He also was shot in the foot. At Galatas on 25th May his platoon was heavily engaged when troops in front gave way and came under heavy mortar and M.G. fire. While his platoon stopped under cover of a ridge 2nd Lt. Upham went forward, observed the enemy and brought the platoon forward when the enemy advanced. They killed over 40 with fire and grenades and forced the remaineder to fall back. When his platoon was ordered to fall back he sent it back with is sergeant and he went back to warn other troops that they were being cut off. When he came out himself he was fire on by two germans. He fall and shammed death, the crawled into a position and having use on only one arm rested his rifle in the fork of a tree. As the Germans came forward he killed them both. The second to fall actully hit the muzzle of the rifle as he fell. On 30th May at Sfakia his platoon was ordered to deal with a party of enemy that had advanced down a revine to near a force headquarters. Though exhausted he climed the steep hill to the west of the ravine, placed his men in positions over looking the ravine and himself climded to the top with a Bren gun and two other rifle men. By clever tactics he induced the enemy party to expose itself and then at a range of 500 yards he shot 22 and caused the rest to retreat in panic. During the whole of the operations he suffered from diarrhoea and was able to eat very little, in addition to being wounded and brusied. He showed superb coolness, great skill and dash, and complete disregard of danger. His conduct and leadership inspired his whole platoon to fight magnificently throughout, and in fact was an inspiration to the batalion' * * * Whew, a lot of typing!
It feels odd saying this,(typing it in London ), but earlier today I stood at Suda Bay Cemetery and saw the many New Zealand graves, row after row lined up together in the hot sunshine. And last week visited Galatas to see the NZ memorial. Ryan, on Crete the sacrifice and fighting spirit of the New Zealanders are certainly not forgotten.
It is very good imformation, Kiwi. Thanks for that. And I'd read some things about Crete in my new WWII encyclopedia but the first volume was not among the collection! The volume which includes 1939 until summer 1941... &%/"$(/)&Ç!!!! (That's the problem in buying very old books...)
Fried : Go try and find a copy of After the Battles Invasion of Crete 1941. This is number 47, 1985. Also try and find a copy of the English book: Crete May 1941 the Fallschirmjägers Greatest Battle by Druffel Verlag, 1981, by Pantelis Kaloudis. there are many more of course..... ~E
Possibly the best to read ( and still in print now ) is ' Crete : The Battle and the Resistance ' by Antony Beevor ( of 'Stalingrad' and 'Berlin' fame ). The best first-hand account ( but out of print ) is Baron von der Heydte's 'Daedalus Returned : Crete 1941'.
Erichs correct, the after the battle magazine is an outstanding portrayal of the actions on Crete. Only other one I have seen which interested me was Bevours book on Crete.
