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ILL Met By Moonlight The story of the abduction, in 1944 from Crete, of General Kreipe, and of "In the footsteps of heroes", two expeditions in Crete remembering and honouring both the Greek and British heroes involved in the original operation. |
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OFF SITE LINKS The War Graves Photographic Project |
Lt. Cdr. F. G. Pool (Skipper) Commander Francis Pool R.N.R. had, prior to the outbreak of war, run the Imperial Airways flying boat station on the island of Spinalonga, Crete. Aged 47, he landed back in Crete on 26th July 1941 having been put ashore by H.M.S. Thrasher. His purpose was to organise the evacuation of Allied personnel, many of whom were to be found in the area of Preveli. With the assistance of the Abbot of Preveli, Agathangelos Langouvardos (later O.B.E.) , two evacuations by submarine (H.M.S. Thrasher and H.M.S. Torbay) resulted in 73 and 130 troops respectively, being evacuated from the island. In addition to the troops, others including a small number of Greeks were evacuated. For details of the account of H.M.S. Thrasher, see an article that I wrote for ExploreCrete. It lists the names of all personnel evacuated including several characters of note, namely Australians Geoff Edwards, his mate Bill McCarrey, and a certain Themistocles Marinos who was later to be one of the S.O.E. group who blew up the Gorgopotamos bridge in mainland Greece. (refs HS-5-1727 and ADM-1-1147) Pool left Preveli on 20th August 1941 aboard H.M.S. Torbay along with another 130 men - and in doing so became part of a record number of people ever crammed into a submarine. Pool was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) on 1st November 1941 for his work in this operation. refs ADM-1-11477) Additional Source. Beevor. A. Crete The Battle and the Resistance. (note though that there are minor differences in some dates) For a photo of POOL, see Grundon. I. The Rash Adventurer - A life of John Pendlebury p.104-105. |