THE New Zealand troops who were evacuated from Greece were taken to the island of Crete, except 6 Infantry Brigade which proceeded to Egypt. From the afternoon of Anzac Day, 25 April 1941, until the arrival on 1 May of the last-planned evacuation, convoys from Greece moved into the harbour at Suda Bay. The ships which embarked the troops from the various harbours in southern Greece on the night of 24–25 April joined up in one convoy which arrived at Suda Bay on the afternoon of 25 April. Among the nine ships of this convoy were the destroyers HMAS Voyager and HMS Calcutta and the troop-carrier Glengyle, all of which had New Zealand medical units on board, including ADMS NZ Division and his staff, 5 Field Ambulance, 6 Field Ambulance, 4 Field Hygiene Section, and also the matron and fifty-one sisters from 1 General Hospital. None of the units was up to full strength, but in subsequent days some groups left behind in Greece rejoined their parent units, while small parties from 4 Field Ambulance and 1 General Hospital also found their way to Crete, some in Greek caiques and rowing boats.

Upon disembarkation the British, Australian, and New Zealand nursing sisters, totalling 150, were taken to 7 General Hospital while the troops marched to a transit camp near Perivolia, a distance of 6 miles inland from the port of Suda. Along the road leading to this camp was a refreshment centre operated by the Welch Regiment, part of the garrison of Crete. From this improvised canteen free issues were made of tea, biscuits, chocolate, oranges, and cigarettes, which were a godsend to the weary and hungry troops. It was the morning of 26 April before all of the many parties had arrived at the transit camp.

At Perivolia camp there were unit mustering sites, 5 and 6 Field Ambulances being located in one medical concentration area where, with a scanty supply of medical stores, treatment and dressings were given to the slightly injured among the nearby New Zealand troops. The 4th Field Hygiene Section was also quartered in the area and later moved out with 5 Field Ambulance.

When our troops landed on Crete the spring weather was warm but the nights were cold and dewy, and those without blankets on the first night awoke not a little damp and stiff next morning for any further march to dispersal areas. Of the Cretan rivers only the Platanias carried any volume of water, and New Zealand units enjoyed its refreshingly cool waters after a dusty march from Suda Bay. In Canea the produce market was but scantily supplied for the needs of a greatly increased local population swollen by refugees from the mainland, and soon after the arrival of the troops eating-houses were more or less restricted to civilians as supplies were short.

The only military hospital on the island was 7 General Hospital—a 600-bed tented hospital established only a week before. This was situated on a promontory on the seashore about 2 ½ miles west of Canea, the site having been selected long before it was apparent that Crete would be invaded. There was a fairly large stretch of level, open land leading inland from the beach to the main coastal road from Canea to Maleme, and the hospital tents were widely dispersed in the area close to the road. The tents for the staff were placed nearer the sea. On the shore were several large caves capable of holding a considerable number of men.

The hospital accommodation at 7 General Hospital was quite inadequate to deal with all the wounded arriving from Greece, and in the early stages hundreds of men were sheltered under olive trees in transit camps, where dressings and treatment were undertaken by field ambulances. Besides 5 and 6 Field Ambulances, there were three Australian and two British field ambulances from Greece and also 189 Field Ambulance. The last-named had been stationed in Crete for a considerable period and was the only field ambulance with a stock of medical equipment, as the medical units from Greece had little equipment and no transport.

On 26 April Colonel Kenrick went to Crete Force headquarters to make medical arrangements, and, having acquainted himself with the overall medical situation, instructed 6 Field Ambulance to open a dressing station at Perivolia transit camp and evacuate serious cases to 7 General Hospital. As 5 Infantry Brigade Group was to move out on the following day to occupy a defensive position on high ground some 6 miles west of Canea, 5 Field Ambulance was detailed to service this brigade.

During the night some 400 walking wounded arrived at 6 MDS without warning, and in many cases their dressings had not been changed for a week. These men were all treated, the ADMS of the Crete garrison having provided two tents and two surgical panniers, and additional dressings were obtained from 189 Field Ambulance. More than 700 casualties were treated in twenty-four hours.

On the morning of 27 April 5 Field Ambulance marched 8 miles to Ay Marina, west of Canea on the coast, and set up a skeleton MDS. The New Zealand force in Crete had taken up defensive positions from Canea to Maleme against invasion by air and sea. The 4th Field Hygiene Section had been attached to 5 Field Ambulance, and one staff-sergeant and 20 orderlies from 1 General Hospital, who had escaped to Crete after the bulk of their unit had gone to Egypt, were also attached for the move. On the arrival of the ambulance at Ay Marina these orderlies were posted to 7 General Hospital.

One company of 6 Field Ambulance also moved on 27 April and established an MDS for 4 Infantry Brigade right at the junction of the Canea and Galatas roads, not far from 7 General Hospital, and arrangements were made for 6 Field Ambulance to supply 24 nursing orderlies and 30 general duty men for daily duty at 7 General Hospital. On the following day, after 168 Light Field Ambulance had taken over the dressing station at Perivolia, the remainder of 6 Field Ambulance moved out and joined the rest of the unit.

The weather was fine at this stage but the nights were cold. All ranks lived in olive groves; most of the troops were near enough to the coast to be able to enjoy a swim, and to some extent were able to relax and recuperate after the ordeal of the final days in Greece.

On their arrival at 7 General Hospital the New Zealand sisters immediately volunteered for duty and were posted to the nursing staff. The Matron of 1 General Hospital (Miss Mackay) was asked to take charge of all the nurses, including British and Australian sisters who had also arrived from Greece. When ADMS NZ Division visited the hospital on 26 April he ascertained that the Officer Commanding wished to retain the services of the New Zealand sisters as his own nursing sisters had not arrived from Egypt. Colonel Kenrick informed him that the New Zealand sisters must proceed to Egypt at the first available opportunity, but that they would work at the hospital in the meantime.

Miss Mackay had taken up the duties of Matron of 7 General Hospital and organised the nursing staff from all the available nurses with outstanding success. The hospital was then receiving 300 to 400 patients daily. With her cheerfulness, tact, and coolness at the most difficult times, the matron set a standard which could not fail to be an inspiration to all who were associated with her. All the nurses, including those who had been injured in the truck accident in Greece, frequently had to take shelter in crops and under olive trees during air raids, but not one of them offered a complaint. In fact, it was difficult to persuade anyone to admit an injury. Excellent work was also done by Sister Jackson

Matron Miss M. E. Jackson, RRC; born Auckland, 11 Jan 1900; sister, Auckland Hospital; sister 1 Gen Hosp May 1940–Apr 1942; charge sister 3 Gen Hosp Apr 1942–Nov 1943; Matron 3 Gen Hosp Nov 1943–Jul 1945.

On 28 April New Zealand Divisional Headquarters moved to a new site in Galatas, a village about a mile and a half south-west of the hospital, and the New Zealand nursing sisters were moved into billets in the village as they had vacated their tents at 7 General Hospital to make room for patients the previous night and had themselves slept on the ground.

The stay of the sisters at Galatas was short, for they were called at four o'clock the following morning and taken by truck to Suda Bay. Here, with 130 British and Australian nurses and some 500 walking wounded and 200 troops, they embarked during the early morning on the small Greek ship Ionia. The crew, fearful of air raids, had fled to the hills, so volunteers from among the troops manned the ship. Australians were in charge and gave the sisters the few available cabins. The voyage to Egypt was a slow one and the first night was one of apprehension, for there were enemy attacks; but later the ship joined up in convoy with a naval escort and the rest of the voyage was uneventful, Alexandria being reached on 1 May.

The decision to evacuate the nursing sisters forthwith to Egypt was both prompt and wise, as their presence during the attack would have created much anxiety and trouble to the command—more than their valuable services warranted.

Until the end of April large bodies of troops were still arriving from Greece. On 28 April 6 officers and 57 men rejoined their unit, 5 Field Ambulance, at Ay Marina. At the embarkation beach at Porto Rafti on the night of 24–25 April they had boarded a tank landing craft too late to reach the ships of the convoy, which had put to sea. The naval authorities sent the party in the landing craft to the small island of Kea offshore, whence they were taken back to Porto Rafti in a tank landing craft on the evening of 26 April and put aboard HMS Carlisle, which put them ashore at Suda Bay on 27 April. The NCO and 16 men from 4 Field Ambulance who had been attached to 2/1 Australian Field Ambulance, which was serving with 4 Infantry Brigade at the time of the final withdrawal in Greece, embarked at Porto Rafti on the night of 26–27 April on a destroyer and landed on Crete the following day. They were sent to 6 Field Ambulance and became members of the groups on duty at 7 General Hospital, whence they accompanied to Egypt the wounded who were evacuated by the hospital ship Aba on 5 May. An officer of 1 General Hospital, Captain Kirk, reached Crete on 29 April in a small boat, having been three nights and two days en route. A party of twenty-one members of 1 General Hospital, on duty at 26 General Hospital, Kifisia, and the Convalescent Hospital at Voula, also escaped to Crete and on their arrival were sent to 7 General Hospital, where they performed valuable service.

Major-General Freyberg arrived from Greece on 29 April, having been embarked on HMS Ajax at Monemvasia the previous night with the last detachments of New Zealand troops to be withdrawn under the Navy's organised evacuation. Fourth Field Ambulance had also been aboard HMS Ajax, but on arrival at Suda Bay was transferred to the Thurland Castle which took it to Egypt.

In the first week on Crete it was noted by ADMS NZ Division that the general health of the troops was good, in spite of only four-fifths of the standard food ration being available and most troops being without a change of clothing. Hygiene and sanitation were not up to standard. The normal water supply came from wells which generally were reliable, although many of them became contaminated during the campaign. There was a lack of facilities for water-testing and sterilising and no water carts were available. Water was boiled and individual water tablets supplied, but unfortunately, although these were given out to units in Greece, many had never been distributed to the individual soldiers and were not available in Crete. A serious shortage of spades, picks, and shovels interfered with proper sanitary arrangements, especially as trenches had to be dug for the protection of personnel from air attack. Fifth Field Ambulance was able to commandeer six shovels and six picks or adzes at Ay Marina and these proved invaluable. Instructions were given, however, to dig deep trenches for latrines. After the evacuation of Crete, dumps of picks, shovels, and rifles were found which could have been available to Creforce. Evidently, the handover to the new Creforce Headquarters had been incomplete.

No transport was available and troops had to march considerable distances, with the result that many men suffered from sore feet. On 30 April there were 126 New Zealanders, wounded and sick, among the patients at 7 General Hospital.

General Wavell flew to Crete on 30 April and held a conference with the senior officers of all forces to discuss the defence of Crete, it having been decided that it was vital to hold the island. General Freyberg was anxious to get the New Zealand troops to Egypt and there reform the Division, but the Commander-in-Chief decided that the troops on the island should all remain, and General Freyberg was appointed to take command as GOC Crete. The ill-equipped force, with an acute shortage of transport, faced immensely difficult problems in the defence of the island.

Crete is a long, narrow island running east-west for about 160 miles, with a maximum width of 40 miles. It has a backbone of mountains up to 8000 feet high running parallel and quite close to the southern coast, which has steep cliffs and no harbours. From the mountains the land to the north falls gradually, with valleys running in a north-south direction to the coast. The country is covered with olive groves, with some orange and lemon plantations at intervals.

The rich coastal plain of Canea is dissected by deeply cut riverbeds and surrounded by a harsher upland country whose slopes are covered with a thin, stony soil. These slopes made the construction of slit trenches and other field works difficult. Beyond the city of Canea and its villa-studded environs, western Crete is essentially a land of small villages and isolated farming hamlets, while the high uplands are peopled only in summer.

Roads are not well developed. The main road runs close to and parallel with the north coast, with many river bridges. There are four roads crossing the island from north to south, all narrow and over hilly country. The southern end of the Sfakia road, used for the evacuation, was very narrow and precipitous, being described as a “goat track”. There were no railways, except for two or three local Decauville lines.

Suda Bay, on the north coast, is the best natural harbour in the eastern Mediterranean. Other harbours, with artificial protection, are at Heraklion and Canea, although the latter had to be worked with lighters. Coastal boats can use Retimo.

Crete is less than 70 miles from Greece and a combined sea and airborne landing, supported by the Italian fleet and by the German and Italian air forces, threatened the island. On Crete there were six Hurricanes, sixteen other obsolete planes and no safe aerodromes, and there was no chance of improving the air position. The defending force was relatively large, but there were few real fortifications and an acute shortage of transport, artillery, armoured fighting vehicles, weapons of all kinds, ammunition, signal equipment, and medical supplies. Equipment and supplies had to come from Egypt. Ships bringing them were attacked by enemy aircraft and some were sunk. In spite of the anti-aircraft defence, ships unloading in the port at Suda Bay were attacked at their moorings every day by large formations of dive-bombers. In the end the force was dependent for supplies on what cruisers and destroyers could bring in after dark and unload before they left again before daylight.

Since the outbreak of war Crete had been considered by the British Cabinet as an important strategical position. Offers of help in the protection of the island had been made to Greece when Italy entered the war. When Italy attacked Greece a small force was sent to Crete, and this force was strengthened but was never very large, amounting only to about 5000 men. The function allotted to it varied from time to time between that of holding the island against attack to that of providing a base of operations against the Italian Dodecanese. The command changed several times.

Cretan recruits were withdrawn for the fighting in Albania and finally all Greek military equipment except 300 rifles was taken away, leaving the small British garrison as the only protective force. There were 15,000 Italian prisoners on the island and a large number of Cypriots and Palestinians, as well as young Greek recruits, unarmed and untrained.

The RAF found it impossible to send any but a very small number of planes to Crete. It developed landing grounds at Heraklion, Retimo, and Maleme, and although the administrative officers left the island at the beginning of May, the last planes were not withdrawn until the 19th—the day before the invasion began. This complicated the question as to what was to be done to the airfields to make them unfit for use.

It was originally intended that all troops from Greece should be sent to Egypt, and that Crete should be defended by fresh troops; but this was found to be impossible and General Freyberg was called upon to assume command in Crete and to use the troops recently evacuated from Greece for the defence of the island. These men were without any equipment other than what they had been able to carry from the beaches and so were severely handicapped in their task. The force at 20 May numbered 42,547 (7702 New Zealanders, 6540 Australians, 18,047 British, and 10,258 Greeks).

For defence, Crete was split up into four sectors covering the main vulnerable areas but not the whole island. These areas were—from east to west—Heraklion, Retimo, Suda Bay, and the Canea-Maleme area. New Zealand troops were allotted the defence of the Canea-Maleme sector, which included a long stretch of coast suitable for seaborne attack and areas suitable for airborne landings, particularly the Maleme airfield and a large flat area behind Galatas in the region of the prison. The 4th and 5th Infantry Brigades were available, and in addition there were some Greek troops, quite inadequately equipped, and a composite force (10 Infantry Brigade) of 20 Battalion, New Zealand Artillery, Divisional Cavalry, and NZASC personnel, all acting as infantry.

There was available in Crete before the arrival of the force from Greece two British medical units and a field hygiene section. The medical units were 7 General Hospital and 189 Field Ambulance, the latter without one company, which had been functioning in Greece. The general hospital had only been set up for a week before the arrival of our troops, although 189 Field Ambulance had been on Crete for a longer period. The 7th General Hospital was sited on the seashore just to the west of Canea, unfortunately in a position very vulnerable to both seaborne and airborne attack. The 189th Field Ambulance was sited in the vicinity of Suda Bay. Thus both were able to serve the New Zealand sector.

The New Zealand units available were 5 and 6 Field Ambulances and 4 Field Hygiene Section, all without the minimum equipment. When the ADMS NZ Division, Colonel Kenrick, was appointed DDMS Crete Force on 7 May and the CO 6 Field Ambulance, Lieutenant-Colonel Bull, became ADMS NZ Division, the administration of the New Zealand medical services was, for the first and only time during the war, completely under the control of its own medical personnel. The units worked in the utmost harmony with the British and Australian medical units and personnel, especially with 7 General Hospital, the major hospital unit on Crete. New Zealand personnel worked on the staff of 7 General Hospital and a surgeon was on the staff of 189 Field Ambulance, which also ran a large extemporised hospital during the campaign.

The medical plan as it affected our troops consisted in the servicing of 5 Infantry Brigade by 5 Field Ambulance and of 4 Infantry Brigade and the composite 10 Infantry Brigade by 6 Field Ambulance. Both field ambulances evacuated to 7 General Hospital, which used 6 Field Ambulance as a convalescent depot. Later, 189 Field Ambulance Hospital was used for the overflow from 7 General Hospital. A tented naval hospital, landed on 10 May and sited south of Canea, was also very actively employed during the campaign, treating mainly Australians and New Zealanders.

A reorganisation of the forces in Crete followed General Freyberg's appointment as GOC. On the medical side Colonel Kenrick was succeeded as ADMS NZ Division by Lieutenant-Colonel Bull, Major J. K. Elliott became DADMS, Crete Force, and Major W. B. Fisher, DADMS NZ Division.

British and Greek troops in the Heraklion sector were commanded by Brigadier B. H. Chappel, with Major C. R. Croft, RAMC, as SMO; Australian troops at Retimo were commanded by Brigadier G. Vasey, 2 AIF, with Lieutenant-Colonel L. E. Le Soeuf, AAMC, as SMO; Royal Marines and other British troops were at Suda Bay under the command of Major-General C. E. Weston, with Lieutenant-Colonel S. O. Dolan, RAMC, as ADMS; and in the Canea-Maleme area Brigadier Puttick commanded the New Zealanders.

The difficulties of medical organisation were enormous on account of lack of equipment, lack of transport, the mixed composition of the combined forces, and the general disorganisation following the evacuation of Greece.

In the New Zealand sector five tents and some medical equipment were obtained from 7 General Hospital and supplied to 5 and 6 Field Ambulances on 1 May to enable them to extend the facilities of their dressing stations. The 5th MDS was merely a protected area in a dry riverbed, with three tents set up and a tent-fly extended as cover for patients from 5 Brigade, while 6 Field Ambulance was similarly situated in providing medical services for 4 Brigade.

On 5 May the situation was relieved when the hospital ship Aba arrived at Canea Bay and embarked 602 patients, including 102 New Zealanders, by means of small boats. Loading was carried out without incident and the ship sailed for Egypt the same day.

In the second week of May small supplies of equipment became available, more especially personal clothing such as shirts and shorts, groundsheets, extra blankets, and underclothing. The weather was becoming more unsettled and all manner of ingenious forms of bivouacs were constructed by the men. Fifth Field Ambulance received additional tentage and medical stores and expanded the MDS, also making provision for an officers' ward.

The sadly depleted condition of the New Zealand medical units on arrival in Crete was ameliorated by drawing upon 7 General Hospital for both extra equipment—such as tents, stretchers, and blankets—and drugs and medical stores. It was fortunate that the hospital had such adequate supplies. Later, further supplies were sent from Egypt by sea and air.

A major setback occurred when the SS Rawnsley (which had previously taken the male staff of 1 General Hospital from Greece to Egypt) was sunk by enemy action with 25 tons of medical supplies aboard. (A further reverse was to be suffered on 20 May when the entire reserve of medical stores in a tent at 7 General Hospital was lost following a direct hit by a bomb and subsequent fire.) Local civilian supplies were commandeered and gauze and flannelette obtained from ordnance stores to fulfil requirements. The 7th General Hospital eventually resorted to using sheets for bandages. The DDMS 2 NZEF, Brigadier MacCormick, was responsible for sending extra medical supplies from Egypt direct to the New Zealand force, together with some very welcome medical comforts.

When the troops arrived from Greece there were eight motor ambulances available in Crete, six being attached to 189 Field Ambulance and two to the Royal Air Force. Later, some more ambulance cars were landed, making eleven all told for the medical units on the island.

Ordinary lorry transport was in even shorter supply and so could not be used to make up for the shortage of ambulances. Each field ambulance had to rely on one 15-cwt truck and had great difficulty in arranging for the transport of patients, which had to be carried out in relays.

The number of field telephones in the New Zealand sector totalled only about twelve so that inter-communication was exceedingly difficult. The lack of motor cycles or other vehicles meant that messages and orders had to be taken on foot. For instance, when movement by day came to be restricted by enemy aircraft, the ADMS NZ Division found it necessary to spend most of each night travelling across country on foot to visit the field ambulances, which had no telephones.

From 1 to 12 May the enemy air force had concentrated on shipping to and from Crete and on the port of Suda Bay. Then, on 13 May and onwards, with the completion of new airfields in Greece and on the island of Milos, the Germans increased the scale of their attack to include the airfields at Heraklion and Maleme. The enemy had a preponderance of fighter aircraft, which either carried out low-flying attacks or provided a heavy escort for the bombers and dive-bombers. Eventually our air force was gradually eliminated, and on 19 May the few remaining pilots and planes were withdrawn from the unequal struggle and returned to Egypt.

At dusk on 13 May enemy aircraft heavily “blitzed” the aerodrome at Maleme for an hour, and that evening several casualties were admitted to 5 MDS. Again next morning, from 5.30 a.m., further air attacks were made on the same area and two Hurricanes and one Gloucester were lost. The expected invasion was drawing steadily nearer.

With the dispositions of New Zealand units provisionally settled, 5 Field Ambulance was situated near the threatened coast at Ay Marina, between 4 Brigade around Canea in the east and 5 Brigade in the Platanias-Maleme area to the west.

At Ay Marina, in the coastal foothills of the western end of the plain of Canea, 5 Field Ambulance established its dressing station in a stream bed which was already dry, although it must have carried a considerable torrent of water in the winter. The operative section of the unit occupied the stream bed with A and B Companies settling on its slopes, some of which were steep and rocky. Early admissions before hostilities were treated in well-sited tents.

As the field medical unit attached to 5 Brigade, it was responsible for the collection of casualties in and around its sector, namely the Maleme airfield and the surrounding country. It was obvious from the outset that the main west-east road from Maleme through Platanias to Canea would be expected to carry most, if not all, of the military traffic. The back roads were few and very poor. It was also obvious that this road would be very effectively patrolled by the Luftwaffe, certainly by day, so that movement of most vehicle traffic would be impossible. (This proved to be so.) In addition, ambulance cars and other transport with which casualties could be evacuated were very limited. For these reasons Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg decided that alternative methods of evacuation would have to be seriously considered and that a thorough reconnaissance of the back country should be made. The country covered was from Ay Marina inland across to Modhion, and thence over hill and dale to the areas around Maleme airfield which had been allotted to 21, 22, and 23 Battalions.

Lieutenant-Colonel Bull visited the ambulance on 16 May and recommended a change of location of the MDS, as the site at Ay Marina was likely to prove untenable if active operations developed in that area. It was suggested that the valley of the Platanias River, about one mile west of Headquarters 5 Brigade, would be suitable. The CO 5 Field Ambulance made a reconnaissance of this area but found that it also might prove unsatisfactory, as the flat country was suitable for the landing of parachute troops. This appreciation of the problem was reported back to Headquarters 5 Brigade, where it was also learned that the intelligence services had advised that enemy landings by airborne troops might be expected at any time, probably on 19 May.

On 17 May, at a conference at Headquarters 5 Brigade, it was agreed that the location of the MDS at Ay Marina was too insecure and insufficiently protected by the troops deployed in the defensive positions, and that CO 5 Field Ambulance should reconnoitre a site in the region of the village of Modhion, where 5 Brigade units would be between the MDS and the coast. As a pillion-rider on a motor cycle, Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg surveyed the area and chose a site on the outskirts of Modhion, near the road running south from the main Canea-Maleme road. The distance in a straight line from Maleme airfield was about two and a half miles, and on the forward slopes of undulating hills troops of 7 Field Company, 19 Army Troops Company, and 28 (Maori) Battalion were dug in, a section of the Maoris also being to the rear of the location. To the south was a very old olive grove, with hollow trees and recumbent lower branches which afforded excellent and shaded shelter for staff not immediately required in the work of the dressing station.

A two-storied house, the police station, was taken over to accommodate the receiving and dressing sections and the more serious cases; further accommodation was made available in the basements of nearby houses and in tents. The unit moved in on the afternoon of 17 May after a march from Ay Marina. The unit's transport then consisted of one 15-cwt truck only, but vehicles of an ASC unit were also used to convey what equipment the unit had gathered together.

In the main the medical equipment was that carried out of Greece and consisted of some fifteen surgical haversacks and three medical companions, supplemented by sets of surgical instruments salvaged by various medical officers, and compressed dressings carried by all ranks. Some supplies of dressings had been obtained on the island, but these were very limited, and an allotment of Red Cross stores, mainly bandages and dressings, had arrived just a few days previously. Only twenty stretchers had been retained along with a proportionate quota of blankets, but these had been supplemented by some 50 stretchers and 100 blankets from 7 General Hospital, which also supplied bandages and dressings and an invaluable drum of plaster-of-paris. Upon the establishment of 5 MDS in the house at Modhion, this equipment enabled the medical officers to do major surgery.

The operating theatre at Modhion was a room of the house, the table a door on trestles and boxes. There was only one bowl, the other utensils being cut-down petrol and ration cans. There were two primus stoves on which instruments were sterilised. Water was boiled for the most part on open fires. The instruments carried from Greece were sufficient, but anaesthetics were short. Intravenous anaesthetics (including pentothal) were mainly used. The kits dropped by the enemy from the air contained some anaesthetics, mainly pentothal. These kits also contained some intravenous glucose saline, which was the only supply for transfusions and was very inadequate. There were no splints, so all fractures were immobilised in plaster, of which there were ample stocks. There were no rubber gloves, and records were made on latrine paper in single sheets.

At Modhion many of the villagers were organised by a young Cretan woman, Frosso Parasoulioti, into a hard-working team to make dressings such as many-tailed bandages and Red Cross signs for 5 Field Ambulance. Throughout the first two days of parachute landings and low-level air attacks they continued to make dressings and other essential comforts. The villagers also brought supplies of citrus fruit, sultanas, wine, and oil.

Sixth Field Ambulance continued to function as an MDS in tents in its original location below Galatas, to render assistance to 7 General Hospital by supplying staff, and also acted as a convalescent depot. Sharply conscious of their experiences in Greece, the staff dug slit trenches, which were made more comfortable and sheltered by the use of straw, branches, and other miscellaneous material.

The 4th Field Hygiene Section moved to Modhion with 5 Field Ambulance and set up in a neighbouring location under olive trees. The section had been doing a limited amount of hygiene work, the limiting factors being lack of sterilising agents for water supplies and lack of transport for inspection of unit hygiene conditions, which themselves could not be completely satisfactory with the shortage of spades and other implements. The Officer Commanding, Captain B. T. W. Irwin, traversed much ground on foot, discussed health matters with ADMS NZ Division, and organised a mosquito survey, taking appropriate steps to prevent the breeding of malarial mosquitoes where possible.

On 17 May all except a few of the ASC drivers attached to the field ambulances were marched out to join a composite battalion being formed as part of 10 Infantry Brigade. This new brigade was formed on 14 May under the command of Colonel Kippenberger,

Maj-Gen Sir Howard K. Kippenberger, KBE, CB, DSO and bar, ED, m.i.d., Legion of Merit (US); Wellington; born Ladbrooks, 28 Jan 1897; barrister and solicitor; 1 NZEF 1916–17; CO 20 Bn Sep 1939–Apr 1941, Jun–Dec 1941; comd 10 Bde (Crete) May 1941; 5 Bde, Jan 1942–Jun 1943, Nov 1943–Feb 1944; 2 NZ Div, 30 Apr–14 May 1943, 9 Feb–2 Mar 1944; 2 NZEF Prisoner-of-War Reception Group in UK, 1944–45; twice wounded; Editor-in-Chief, NZ War Histories.

The British hospital ship Aba made a return trip to Crete on 16 May. General Freyberg asked that 7 General Hospital be cleared as completely as possible in anticipation of enemy action. The loading of the Aba was no mean feat. It was not considered wise to bring the ship into Suda Bay where, because of the presence of warships and port installations, the risk of bombing was great. Therefore, the ship anchored in the open sea off Canea. The DDMS Creforce, Colonel Kenrick, who supervised the loading operations, arranged for 189 Field Ambulance to provide transport for the patients from 7 General Hospital to the loading point on the shore. From here 561 patients were taken out to the hospital ship in two caiques and two ship's lifeboats, the latter towed by a launch.

Fortunately, the sea was calm and within eight hours the patients were embarked, an operation which involved raising the ship's lifeboats from the water to deck level with patients aboard. Loading was completed by 6 p.m. without interruption from the enemy. The enemy carried out an air raid over Canea at 5.45 p.m., but although planes dived over the hospital ship, she was not attacked and sailed at 6.40 p.m. The next day, however, the ship was twice attacked by enemy aircraft, in spite of her Red Cross markings, and in the second attack at 6.40 p.m. dive-bombers hit her, causing considerable damage and some casualties, resulting in the death amongst others of one New Zealand soldier. The ship later reached port safely at Haifa.

On Sunday, 18 May, at 6.5 p.m., 7 General Hospital area was attacked from the air at low altitude, some bombs (four at least, possibly twelve) being dropped on the hospital area and towards the beach. Three British medical officers and two orderlies were killed, while another three orderlies were wounded. Among those killed was the surgical specialist; a New Zealand surgeon, Major Christie, was appointed in his place.

Arrangements were made on 19 May for 5 MDS to evacuate casualties to 7 General Hospital at 9.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily. This schedule could not be adhered to in later days, as convoys of ambulance cars and trucks were invariably halted on the road over very long periods while enemy aircraft strafed everything that moved. That very afternoon, as a prelude to bigger happenings next day, enemy planes flew to and fro over all areas occupied by troops, machine-gunning and bombing without restraint.

The usual blitz of Maleme airfield took place in the early morning of 20 May, but it was longer and heavier than usual, being directed especially against the anti-aircraft defences. Then, at 8 a.m. the sirens and bells from Canea to Maleme again sounded warnings and from that moment there was no “all clear” for the British forces on Crete. The invasion had begun.

Preparations for the invasion of Crete had been made from the beginning of April and aerodromes in Bulgaria and Greece had been allotted for this purpose. Parachute, glider, and mountain troops and large numbers of planes of all kinds were detailed for the operation. Altogether an original force of 22,750 men was selected and eventually about 23,000 Germans were landed. There were 650 bombers and fighters, some 500 transport planes, and 80 gliders.

Maleme airfield and the hospital area near Canea were the two primary objectives of the enemy's concentrated air attack, which persisted for an hour and a half as part of the “softening-up process”. The hospital was marked with a Red Cross, 30 ft by 20 ft, formed by red-painted stones laid out on the ground, as well as by Red Crosses on the roofs of the officers' mess, the cookhouse and another building, and a large cloth Red Cross on the ground; yet it was subjected to the same intensive bombing and ground strafing as Maleme. Wounded were machine-gunned in their tents by low-flying aircraft. When the blitz lifted, gliders crash-landed to disgorge more enemy troops. Then in came lumbering troop-carrying planes, from which hundreds of paratroops jumped at a height of about 500 feet and swung to earth.

The two main centres of these landings soon became obvious – Maleme airfield and the area to the west of it along the Tavronitis River,

Captain Stewart, RMO 23 Battalion, reported later that he visited the Tavronitis riverbed when a prisoner of war and found it full of crashed gliders and Ju52s. To the west for one kilometre on the flat ground were still more. He counted 100

This figure is now known to be too high—approximately 75 gliders were used in the invasion of Crete.

The men of 6 Field Ambulance were at breakfast when the blitz started and immediately dived to cover. While the bombers and fighters of the Luftwaffe roared incessantly overhead, the men lay hidden in their dugouts and slit trenches listening to the fury that was loosed above for an hour and a half or more. Some wards and the dispensary and medical stores at 7 General Hospital were seen burning after the attack.

Then, with the cessation of the bombing and strafing, came the paratroopers and the sound of voices. Coming out of their trenches the men found themselves faced with the muzzles of Schmeisser guns, and the grim, set countenances behind them. Lieutenant-Colonel Plimmer and Major Lovell,

Lt-Col A. A. Lovell; Tanganyika; born England, 10 Feb 1910; medical practitioner; medical officer, Fanning Island, 1940; 6 Fd Amb Aug 1940–Dec 1941; 1 Gen Hosp Dec 1941–Nov 1944; OC NZ Mil Hosp (UK) 1944–46.

The released medical group was then conducted to 19 Battalion lines about 6 p.m., and late that night reached 20 Battalion's positions near Canea.

The progress of the small party sent to 7 General Hospital was interfered with by a counter-attack by two tanks of 3 Hussars and a patrol from 18 Battalion, but they were eventually ushered into the RAP tent at 7 General Hospital, where they treated the wounded German. Later, a patrol from 18 Battalion recaptured the hospital area and escorted the ambulance personnel to Headquarters 4 Infantry Brigade.

It was then decided to set up an ADS in a culvert under the main Canea-Maleme road, about a mile and a half nearer Canea than the previous location. The site had been used as an RAP for 18 Battalion. In the afternoon 18 Battalion provided an armed escort for one officer and the two sergeants to return to the MDS to salvage as much medical supplies as possible. They found the area clear of the enemy and returned to the culvert with an assortment of medical supplies. Here the remainder of 6 Field Ambulance reassembled at 11 p.m. on 21 May.

With the coming of dawn they found they were on the seaward side of the coast road about half a mile from the beach. Through the centre of the area, which could almost be termed a valley because of the low hills on either side which swept down to the beach, ran a deep zigzag watercourse, dry and fairly wide. This passed under the road in a large concrete culvert, and over the greater part of the grass-covered area were the inevitable olive trees in their orderly rows. Towards the sea, at the edge of the olive grove, stood a small two-roomed cottage, and about fifty yards nearer Maleme was a larger one on the hillside; both were occupied by Cretan civilians. The culvert was “transformed” into an operating theatre and the watercourse into a ward, using scraps of salvaged canvas for cover, camouflaged with leaves and soil.

A camp stretcher, placed in the centre of the culvert, formed the table with just space enough on either side for the surgeons; there was little head room. A small fish kettle on a primus stove and an enamel plate formed the sterilising unit and was adequate for the few instruments salvaged from 7 General Hospital that were available. Anaesthetics consisted of a small stock of pentothal sodium and some Greek brandy and whisky provided by 18 Battalion. Blood was, of course, not available.

At 1 p.m. on 20 May the hospital area and the patients, with whom a small staff, including New Zealanders, had remained, was recaptured. The hospital was re-established immediately in large sandstone caves on the foreshore and an improvised operating theatre was functioning the same evening. In all, five large caves were used and as many as 500 patients accommodated. Four of the caves were used for surgical and the other for medical cases, and a great deal of work was very efficiently done there until the hospital was involved in the retreat.

New Zealand orderlies from the staff of 1 NZ General Hospital continued to be attached to the hospital and there was the utmost co-operation with New Zealand ambulance units.

Prior to the invasion the regimental medical officers set up their RAPs in the most convenient positions in their battalion areas. For instance, 23 Battalion RAP was sited in a dry watercourse under olive trees close to Headquarters 23 Battalion, on a side road branching off the main Canea–Maleme road about half a mile east of Maleme village. The stretcher-bearer section constructed some dugouts in the banks of this watercourse and dug a ledge in the dry bank to serve as a table for dressing patients. Until 20 May patients from the RAPs of 5 Brigade were evacuated by ambulances borrowed from the RAF at Maleme.

Few stretchers were available to the RAPs and medical equipment was very limited. It was impossible to bring any large medical panniers from Greece, although most RMOs had anticipated this and divided their kits into small first-aid outfits. The 23 Battalion RAP staff arrived in Crete with eight haversacks of shell dressings, gauze, and wool. The RMO had a small case of surgical instruments and two hypodermic syringes and needles. He found it difficult to get supplies from 7 British General Hospital. Later, two stretchers and two rubber-capped 10 cc. bottles of morphine solution, some dressings, iodine, and acriflavine were received from 5 Field Ambulance. In some cases, especially in 5 Brigade area, it was possible after the German attack to replenish supplies from medical equipment dropped with, or for, the German parachutists. Splints had to be improvised for the wounded and many men were transported in blankets used as stretchers. Little transport of any. sort was available.

From the beginning of the invasion the RMOs of 5 Brigade near Maleme had very few of the wounded cleared from their RAPs in the hectic and confused three days before the area was overrun by the enemy. Captain Hetherington, RMO 21 Battalion, who received about sixty casualties into his RAP (including Germans, but not including dead or those who died shortly after admission) was not contacted at all by the field ambulance, and could evacuate no casualties. He was painfully short of medical supplies and depended almost entirely on German equipment dropped by parachute. When 21 Battalion retired about 7 a.m. on 23 May some walking wounded went off, but the RMO and the medical orderlies remained with the more seriously wounded.

A stretcher-bearer party from 5 Field Ambulance under Lieutenant Moody was sent forward with a company of 28 (Maori) Battalion to 22 Battalion on the night of 20–21 May.

In Moody's words:

Captain Longmore,

Maj L. H. V. Longmore; Christchurch; born NZ 18 Nov 1909; medical practitioner; RMO 22 Bn Dec 1940–May 1941; p.w. 21 May 1941; repatriated Nov 1943; medical officer 1 Gen Hosp Apr–Oct 1944; Prisoner-of-War Reception Group (UK) Oct 1944–Dec 1945.

He had attended to numerous casualties, both at his tactical RAP and farther forward in the Fleet Air Arm encampment, when he received orders in the late afternoon of 20 May to move back, taking the wounded with him. Returning to his RAP he set out, guided by the Intelligence Officer, with 160 stretcher cases and walking wounded. Some of the wounded were carried on boards. After travelling up hill and down dale for about half a mile the party stopped to await further orders. By daylight no orders had been received; the Intelligence Officer had already left to bring help. He reached 21 Battalion's lines but decided that it would not be possible to bring the large party of wounded out over a ridge that was exposed to some enemy fire. In a clearing the RMO and the wounded waited. The German wounded in the party made a white circle from RAP gear and all the crowd sat inside it, being unmolested by the enemy planes that were active all around. Attempts to contact 22 Battalion or the RAP of 23 Battalion failed. At 5 p.m. on 21 May the group was surrounded and captured and taken back to a dressing station set up in Tavronitis village, where Flying Officer Cullen, an RAF medical officer, was already at work.

At his RAP on 20 May Captain Stewart of 23 Battalion received wounded mostly from his own unit, and early on the morning of the 21st he was able to evacuate thirty sitting and lying cases on two 15-cwt trucks which, escorted by a Bren carrier, were returning to Canea after bringing up ammunition. These wounded were taken to the MDS of 6 Field Ambulance. On 22 May Stewart treated a number of wounded from 22 Battalion, which had retired partly on to 23 Battalion's area and was then without the services of its RMO; from 28 (Maori) Battalion, whose RMO, Captain Mules,

Capt C. M. Mules; Dargaville; born Woodville, 24 Oct 1909; medical practitioner; RMO 28 Bn Aug 1940–May 1941; wounded 21 May 1941.

That day sixty walking wounded were evacuated under the care of the personnel from 5 Field Ambulance. Unfortunately, some of the walking wounded found the rough, steep track leading parallel to the main road over the hilly country to 5 MDS too much for them. These returned to 23 Battalion RAP in a desperate plight on 23 May after the RAP had been captured.

Early on the morning of the 23rd 5 Brigade and 20 Battalion withdrew to a position east of the Platanias River, the rearguard retiring at 7 a.m. Lieutenant Moody withdrew with 23 Battalion. There then remained at 23 Battalion RAP some sixty serious stretcher cases from 20, 22, 23, and 28 (Maori) Battalions and twenty Germans. With these stayed Captain Stewart, the padre, R. J. Griffiths,

Rev R. J. Griffiths, MBE; Waimate; born Gisborne, 26 Jul 1905; Presbyterian minister; p.w. 23 May 1941.

They had the unenviable task of informing the wounded, particularly personnel of the Maori Battalion, that no evacuation was possible and capture inevitable. Arms and ammunition left in the RAP area were destroyed or hidden and on the earnest entreaty of the German wounded, who realised the situation only too well, a large captured German Red Cross flag was erected. German patrols entered the RAP area at approximately 8.30 a.m. on 23 May without incident, except that steel helmets had hastily to be removed by the New Zealanders.

Longmore, Stewart, and Hetherington worked together in a dressing station in a stable attached to an inn in the Tavronitis valley, and they put through 500 to 700 cases with only seven deaths. The German field ambulances had ample and excellent equipment, including a water sterilising plant, and what they could spare they gave to the captured MDS. It was noted that our wounded suffered in the main multiple wounds inflicted by submachine gun, grenade, and mortar.

When the invasion began in the morning of 20 May many parachutists dropped in the vicinity of 5 Field Ambulance, followed by parachutes bringing equipment and stores. Throughout the morning this phase continued, and during this time the members of 5 Field Ambulance remained under cover, their only activity being to transfer the sick to the basement. A lull occurred about noon, but enemy activity was soon resumed. Almost total interruption of road movement resulted. The wounded from forward units could not be moved back in daylight. Casualties began coming in only from nearby units, and were supplemented by a number of wounded German parachutists.

No distinguishing signs identifying the site as that of a medical unit were displayed at first as it was considered undesirable to disclose the disposition of the fighting troops and their defensive positions. However, about two hours after the airborne landings had commenced, Red Cross signs were put out – one on the roadway in front of the MDS and another on the roof of the house. Thereafter, there was no bombing or machine-gunning in the immediate vicinity, although cooking fires were in full view of enemy planes and the staff went openly about their duties, though not wearing steel helmets. This latter point was most important – captured Germans had advised that steel helmets were likely to be taken as evidence of fighting troops and therefore it would be wise not to wear them. It appears that German protected personnel did not wear steel helmets in their dressing stations.

At 4 p.m. on 20 May casualties began to arrive, these including several German prisoners. The first convoy of wounded was evacuated by truck to 7 General Hospital at 6.30 p.m., but while the truck was en route there it was first learned that German troops had captured the hospital. A medical officer and reserve stretcher-bearer parties from 5 Field Ambulance had been sent forward to the RAPs, and the evacuation of casualties to the MDS was arranged during the night. Bren carriers of 23 Battalion convoyed some trucks of wounded through to 5 Field Ambulance. At 2 a.m. on 21 May 7 General Hospital got a message through to 5 Field Ambulance that the unit could then take serious cases, but that it would be advisable for all evacuations to be carried out during the hours of darkness. It was possible to evacuate only four stretcher cases before daylight owing to the limited transport. In many cases additional operative treatment was given to patients at the MDS, as it was obvious that there would be some delay in getting them back to the hospital. Battle casualties admitted in the twenty-four hours up to 7 a.m. on 21 May totalled 35, including six prisoners and two civilians.

Throughout 20 May hard fighting among the olive trees at Maleme and Galatas had held the German parachutists, although 22 Battalion's hold on the western side of Maleme airfield had been lost. Such resistance had not been expected by the enemy. Further attack from the air and the reinforcement of parachutists began at dawn on 21 May. Battle casualties streamed into 5 MDS, and surgical operations were carried out throughout the day and well into the night, extra accommodation for the patients being provided in tents, earlier obtained from 7 General Hospital.

During the day paratroops were dropped near 5 Field Ambulance and at 4.30 p.m. the advance of the parachute troops had brought them to slopes and ridges adjoining the valley in which the MDS was situated. The enemy were held by the Maori Battalion and 19 Army Troops Company, but such was their proximity to the MDS that the CO deemed it advisable to destroy all codes and secret papers.

It was not possible to make any evacuations from the MDS during the night of 21–22 May, and by the evening of the 22nd there were more than 130 casualties held, many of a serious nature. By this time medical supplies were getting very low. Throughout 21 and 22 May unit stretcher-bearers had continued with their task of evacuating wounded from the battalions, having a particularly difficult time through being subject to air attacks and attacks by wandering groups of paratroops, as well as having to make long and strenuous hand carries over uneven ground. Fortunately, the weather remained clear and fine.

The RMOs in the Galatas area suffered from the same deficiencies of equipment and supplies as did their fellow officers attached to 5 Brigade, and relied largely on captured German supplies when the fighting began. Captain Lomas of the Composite Battalion, however, had been able to procure adequate supplies from 7 General Hospital before the invasion, and after the hospital had withdrawn to the caves an abundant supply of stretchers and blankets was obtained from the abandoned site. The capture of 7 General Hospital and 6 Field Ambulance on 20 May upset evacuation arrangements. Instead of the field ambulance receiving casualties from the brigades, the position was temporarily reversed. Captain Dempsey of 18 Battalion had his RAP under a culvert on the main coast road next to his unit's area, and this culvert was given over to Captain Lovell for a dressing station for 6 Field Ambulance. The 19th Battalion was farther inland in rougher country, and Captain Carswell found it best to treat the wounded in trenches in the front-line positions. There were German snipers everywhere, in front, behind, and in between the New Zealand positions. In local positions it was estimated that German dead and wounded outnumbered New Zealand casualties by about twelve to one. After the first confused day German paratroops did not snipe at the medical officer or stretcher-bearers wearing Red Crosses. Evacuation of wounded was impossible by day, but was carried out at night in the single ration truck which visited the positions and took the wounded down the road direct to the dressing station. For lack of stretchers, the wounded had at first to be collected in blankets.

Captain Lomas had his Composite Battalion RAP at battalion headquarters, midway between Ruin Hill and Red Hill, in a ditch beside a track which ran from Galatas north-west to the coast. The wounded were brought in to this main RAP from the first-aid posts of the various companies of the Composite Battalion and 10 Brigade. This medical station, receiving as it did from the perimeter companies and battalions of 10 Brigade, was virtually an ADS, although owing to efficient evacuation by the truck drivers not much surgery was undertaken.

Headquarters 10 Brigade had two light trucks for all purposes, and these were used to evacuate the wounded. Later, the ASC drivers secured two more abandoned light trucks for the purpose. For several nights these drivers had to run the gauntlet of a machine-gun post manned by enemy paratroops, but they were never deterred and performed a magnificent task throughout the whole of the fighting in the Galatas area.

The days that were vital in the battle for Crete were 21 and 22 May. On 20 May the enemy had met with far more opposition and far less success than he expected. The next day there was a renewed air attack, and following that up at night was an attempted landing from the sea, when a force of some 1200 troops with heavy equipment got within 18 miles of Canea in small steamers and caiques before it was dispersed by the Royal Navy, with heavy losses. In the early morning of 22 May a second attempted seaborne landing was broken up, not without some loss to the Navy, whose ships were bombed by the Luftwaffe. (In a space of thirty-six hours the Navy lost two cruisers and four destroyers and had two battleships and two cruisers damaged.)

It was on 22 May that one of the bitterest battles was fought. The fate of Maleme – indeed, the fate of Crete – was in the balance. A counter-attack was launched by the New Zealanders in the early morning to recover ground lost the previous day when they were forced off Maleme airfield. At dawn, when success seemed almost within their grasp, the enemy's distress signals brought fighters and bombers to unleash a blitz which made the hard-won ground untenable. Regardless of casualties, the Germans poured in reinforcements by troop-carrier aircraft. Fifth Brigade was in danger of being cut off and started to withdraw towards Canea early in the morning of 23 May. By ten o'clock that morning a line was established along the Platanias River. At night it was found necessary to withdraw further – this time right through 4 Brigade's positions to the divisional reserve area just west of Canea. Maleme airfield had been lost with the first withdrawal, and the second withdrawal enabled the enemy to effect a junction between two hitherto separated forces – the force landed in the Maleme area and that landed in the Alikianou reservoir-prison area to the south-west of Galatas. In the other sectors at Heraklion and Retimo the enemy had paid a heavy price for small successes and was now precariously held. The balance of the battle had now turned in the enemy's favour.

From 5 Field Ambulance at Modhion some of the wounded were evacuated by ambulance car, and the first party of walking wounded and some of the staff of the unit set off on foot at 3 a.m. on 23 May for the former site of 6 Field Ambulance at the junction of the Canea and Galatas roads. The coastal road to the east was pitted here and there with small craters, littered with dead donkeys and telephone wires and the debris of shattered farm vehicles and of damaged houses in which isolated groups of parachutists had sought to control the road. Transport had been arranged by Headquarters 5 Brigade for the stretcher cases, but because of the bombing of the road some Cypriot drivers had abandoned their trucks or else had not proceeded to Modhion. An officer of Headquarters 5 Brigade, Captain Coutts,

Maj P. E. Coutts, MBE, ED, m.i.d.; Auckland; born Auckland, 4 Dec 1903; salesman; OC 1 Amn Coy Oct 1941–Jan 1943, Feb–Oct 1945; 18 Tk Tptr Coy Jan 1943–Mar 1944.

On 23 May the site of 6 Field Ambulance, along with surrounding areas, was subject to severe aerial attacks which lasted practically all day. Two of the members of the unit were killed when two bombs dropped on the site. At this stage the unit was using the concrete culvert under the road as a reception centre and a narrow, deep, and dry riverbed for accommodating patients. The location was in an olive grove, where concealment was almost perfect and Red Crosses were not displayed. The unit, however, was becoming an unseen target in the general attack by enemy planes on roads and troop movements, and during the night a move was made to one of two cottages in a cleared area two or three hundred yards away from the road.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, 25 May, the Germans attacked in force in the Galatas sector following intensive mortar and air bombing, which reached a terrific climax about 4 p.m. For more than two hours the New Zealanders held their line intact, but extreme pressure forced a fighting withdrawal and the Germans took Galatas. But as darkness fell the New Zealanders launched a counter-attack which drove the Germans out of the village, with heavy casualties to both sides. The troops, dog-tired after days of fighting and continuous bombardment, with their ranks thinned by casualties, were not in a position to follow up their advantage. During the night 4 Brigade withdrew through 5 Brigade, which had reformed and moved into a new line east of Galatas, alongside 19 Australian Brigade and also east of the hospital area.

On 24 May Captain Lomas, moving with Headquarters 10 Brigade, resited his RAP on the northern outskirts of Galatas. During the battle of Galatas many of the casualties from the Divisional Cavalry RAP run by Captain Stevenson-Wright

Capt E. Stevenson-Wright, MBE; Wellington; born Dannevirke, 16 Feb 1909; medical practitioner; medical officer 1 Gen Hosp Mar 1940–Feb 1941; RMO 2 Div Cav Mar–May 1941; p.w. May 1941.

The 18th Battalion had been moved forward to the west of the Composite Battalion on 24 May and from the fighting near Wheat Hill, west of Galatas, many wounded came in to its RAP, which was situated in a depression about 200 yards from Battalion Headquarters. Many were severely wounded by mortar fire, and Captain Dempsey thought the proportion of killed to wounded was abnormally high. The serious cases were loaded on to a small truck and rushed back to 6 MDS in daylight. The truck was strafed on its journeys and had to run off the road many times, but it was not thought that any of the wounded received further wounds. The walking wounded made their way back on foot.

When 18 Battalion retired behind Galatas, Captain Dempsey and Padre Dawson

Ven Archdeacon F. O. Dawson, MC; Morrinsville; born London, 23 Feb 1909; Anglican minister; SCF 2 NZ Div 1944–45.

Enemy pressure increased on this new line at Canea on 26 May and by nightfall enemy parties had infiltrated behind the lines. Further withdrawal was necessary during the night and a new line was established early on 27 May on 42nd Street – a dirt road running north and south about one mile west of Suda township. Enemy aircraft attacked the Anzac positions and ground troops began to work round the southern flank, threatening the road of retreat.

By 25 May the front line was only a few miles away from the medical units, which continued to receive casualties. During the day casualties from the air offensive were only moderate, but towards evening both 5 and 6 Field Ambulances began to receive a steady stream of heavy casualties from the fighting for Galatas. By evening, also, mortar bombs were falling within a few hundred yards of 5 MDS and machine guns were spraying the vicinity of the buildings with bullets. An endeavour was made to collect trucks which had been abandoned and five vehicles were obtained, one of them being set on fire by a passing aircraft. This was taken to be an objection to the numbers of vehicles collected together, or more likely as a hint to move farther back. Preparations for a move were continuing when Colonel Bull arrived at 7 p.m. with instructions for both 5 and 6 Field Ambulances and 7 General Hospital to go to the region of Nerokourou, south-east of Canea and some 7 miles away, where a site had already been prepared for the reception of casualties. It was reached by sunken lanes and rough roads across the outskirts of Canea.

The evacuation was planned so that all equipment and the stretcher cases in the dressing station would be moved by transport, which necessitated three trips in the vehicles available, but the situation was further complicated by the necessity of detailing one truck to collect more wounded from forward areas. Delay also occurred because the prepared site at Nerokourou could not be found in the darkness. Patients and equipment were offloaded at a church, and when dawn broke this was found to be exactly opposite the area where the tents had been pitched. Although the tents had been pitched under olive trees and were widely dispersed, they had received the attention of enemy aircraft the previous day and some had been destroyed by fire. This was largely attributable to bad concealment by the Cypriot pioneer company when preparing the site.

The three marching parties, comprising the more lightly wounded walking cases and most of the staffs of 5 Field Ambulance and 7 General Hospital, halted within 500 yards of the church, but the tentage by the roadside was not found till dawn though one party, unable fully to resist sleep at the halt, were within a hundred yards of it in the darkness. Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg and Captain Palmer and four or five others began to move stores to the selected site whilst awaiting the return of the transport. More tents were erected, Red Crosses displayed, and after hasty consultations the church was utilised as an operating theatre. The hamlet was deserted. Casualties soon came in, and those awaiting attention had, it seemed, the utmost faith in the Red Cross: none of the waiting casualties showed a steel helmet nor did they permit others to do so without protest.

At first many were reluctant to remain in the tents while aircraft dived above them, but after the third dive without incident confidence in enemy respect for the Red Cross was restored. There were no attacks on the MDS. Within the church, by late afternoon, twenty-seven operations with anaesthetic had been performed.

Through these unforeseen delays only two trips were carried out by the trucks before dawn. The first trucks left at 10.30 p.m. and were expected back for the second load at 1 a.m. on 26 May. When no trucks came, those remaining expected to be prisoners of war, and well they might have been had the Germans advanced during the night, as the New Zealanders withdrew from Galatas about midnight to lines in the rear of the hospital. However, three trucks returned at 3.30 a.m. and loaded all but some twenty or thirty seriously wounded cases from 5 MDS. Two medical officers, Major S. G. de Clive Lowe

Maj S. G. de Clive Lowe, m.i.d.; England; born NZ 27 Feb 1904; medical practitioner; medical officer 5 Fd Amb Mar–May 1941; p.w. May 1941.

As 7 General Hospital had had to leave 300 stretcher patients in their caves adjacent to 5 Field Ambulance and had detailed two medical officers and twenty men to look after them, the CO 5 Field Ambulance considered that an attempt should be made to evacuate the balance of his ambulance staff and as many of the patients as possible. The three truck drivers volunteered for this mission, but as a result of the air activity with the coming of daylight only one truck got through, the others being attacked and forced to return. The one truck, flying a Red Cross flag, was kept under constant observation by an enemy reconnaissance aircraft, which left it immediately it turned in to the hospital area. While preparations for departure were being made, a German patrol entered the dressing station and captured the medical staff and the wounded. The truck driver, Driver Jenkins,

L-Cpl B. Jenkins; Gisborne; born Gisborne, 3 Sep 1914; taxi proprietor; p.w. 28 Nov 1941.

At midnight the CO 6 Field Ambulance (Major Fisher) had received orders from the ADMS NZ Division to evacuate 250 walking wounded, and as the unit still possessed only a single light truck, the majority of these men also had to walk. They reached the naval hospital and most of them were taken off by destroyers on 26–27 May. Then, at 4 a.m. on 26 May, Colonel Bull met Major Fisher and instructed him to move his unit to Nerokourou immediately to establish an MDS along with 5 Field Ambulance. Some 150 stretcher cases were to remain at the ADS in the charge of a medical officer and twenty orderlies. Sixth Field Ambulance moved out at 4.15 a.m. leaving one medical officer, Lieutenant D. A. Ballantyne, a padre, H. I. Hopkins,

Rev H. I. Hopkins, m.i.d.; Temuka; born Dunedin, 30 Aug 1908; Anglican minister; p.w. 27 May 1941.

Lieutenant Ballantyne and his small staff at the old site of 6 MDS found it was essential to bring all the 160 casualties into the smallest possible area, for they were in the direct line of advance of the enemy. Before dawn on the 26th all cases, mostly lying, had been collected and transferred to a large house on a hill overlooking the sea and situated on the Canea side of a ridge which was held by 21 Battalion Group. All day long the Germans made unsuccessful attempts to take this ridge but were repulsed, and during the day more casualties arrived. Although there was machine-gun and mortar fire on all sides, and the building at times was hit by splinters, no one was injured. At dusk forty walking cases were sent off with instructions to make their way as best they could towards Suda Bay. Having organised the departure of these patients, Ballantyne searched the immediate area for transport. An abandoned truck refused to start, but a motor cycle was persuaded to function and Private Collett

Pte J. P. C. Collett, BEM; Nelson; born Australia, 5 Nov 1899; carpenter; p.w. Jun 1941.

About 8 a.m. on the 27th the German advance was resumed, this time unopposed, and about an hour later the medical staff and Padre Hopkins were rounded up at the point of tommy guns by excited German soldiers and marched over to 7 General Hospital. En route an ugly situation developed when an English-speaking enemy officer accused the prisoners of shooting from the hospital building on his men. However, after the enemy had stolen their wrist watches, they were marched on until they came to an enemy RAP established at 7 General Hospital, and there they met the captured remnants of 5 Field Ambulance and 7 General Hospital.

A short time afterwards Lieutenant Ballantyne and some of the staff went back to the dressing station and found that one of the orderlies had been killed and another wounded in the assault on it. Driver Hunt,

Dvr M. F. H. Hunt, m.i.d.; Auckland; born NZ 24 Aug 1912; labourer; p.w. May 1941; repatriated Aug 1944.

At Nerokourou 6 Field Ambulance cared for walking wounded and received any evacuations from the New Zealand line, while 5 Field Ambulance functioned as an MDS with ninety-four patients who had been transferred to the new site, assistance being given by Lieutenant-Colonel Debenham and his surgical team from 7 General Hospital.

At 6 p.m. on 26 May instructions were received from Colonel Bull to move at dusk to Kalivia, some 15 miles to the south-east, along the coast. The front-line troops were steadily falling back and a general move was being made towards the south coast, from which evacuation from the island was possible. For the move 5 and 6 Field Ambulances, 4 Field Hygiene Section, and 7 General Hospital were all placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg, CO 5 Field Ambulance. The more seriously wounded were taken by the available transport in two trips; the walking wounded were assisted over part of the journey, but the staffs of the units all had to walk, arriving at Kalivia shortly before daybreak on 27 May.

During the night 2/1 Australian Field Ambulance had, on receipt of orders from DDMS Creforce, established a temporary hospital in the school buildings in the village of Kalivia and received 100 cases from 5 Field Ambulance and stretcher cases and walking wounded from 6 Field Ambulance as they reached the village. This Australian unit was soon coping with 530 patients. Approximately 300 of these patients had to be left behind during the withdrawal, and Colonel Kenrick deputed an Australian medical officer and some medical orderlies to stay with them.

The New Zealand medical units proceeded to a transit camp about a mile and a half away on the Kalivia–Sfakia road and there dispersed under olive trees to lie up and rest, hidden from the air. However, there was a continual movement along the road of vehicles and men on foot, the latter mainly Greeks and Cypriots; and this attracted enemy planes which strafed the road and the shelter alongside. In the late afternoon of the 27th an order was received from the OC of the transit camp that all medical units were to move out at 9 p.m. and proceed by night as far as possible along the road towards Sfakia, on the south coast, and disperse and lie up at dawn.

At the same time all walking wounded were directed to proceed from 2/1 Australian Field Ambulance along the same route and to follow similar instructions in respect to concealment at daylight. Two trucks were made available to assist with the more seriously wounded walking cases with the unit, with medical equipment, and with any unfit medical personnel in the party. Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg in one truck returned to 2/1 Australian Field Ambulance to collect walking wounded and rations. Later, at Neon Khorion,

Two places with closely similar names, Nerokourou, south-west of Suda, and Neon Khorion, south-west of Kalivia, were both the sites of medical units during the withdrawal.

Between Alikambos and Ay Ioannis two trucks evacuating light cases from Khalepa, under the charge of Major Christie, turned off at dawn into a small valley at the side of the road. The wounded were dispersed among the scrub and rocks whilst the trucks were concealed beside some stunted trees. Signs were posted on the roadside.

The party was joined shortly afterwards by another vehicle, also carrying a capacity load of sitting wounded in charge of Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg. All the wounded were dispersed and, with limited means, dressings were adjusted and renewed, stimulants given, and a search made for water. The wells proved to be nearly three-quarters of a mile from the dispersal point. The only water available was what could be carried in water-bottles by those able to scramble to the wells. A truck was sent back for Colonel Bull but could not reach Neon Khorion as a road demolition had been prematurely blown south of Vrises. During the day it was found that there was considerable troop movement along the roads, and it was decided to try to proceed further by day with the wounded in these trucks. Red Cross flags were made from red blankets and white sheets, and, with these emblems prominently displayed, the two vehicles moved off, filled to capacity. This convoy successfully reached Ammoudhari (the location of Headquarters NZ Division) without interference from enemy aircraft, and later continued to the end of the road two miles from the beach.

In the later afternoon the party passed the divide and began to descend past Imvros, debussing all casualties in a new dispersal area about half a mile north of where the road commenced its final zigzag and spiral descent to the point at which it ended uncompleted some two miles or so from the village of Sfakia. Major Christie and Captain Palmer were instructed to continue down the road to a group of caves situated on a small ledge on which was a stonewalled well. Another well lay to the south. A narrow, deep ravine lay on either flank. They were to assist in the collection of walking wounded and to take charge of those who were to proceed to the embarkation point that night.

Other trucks from 5 and 6 Field Ambulances under the command of Major Fisher, CO 6 Field Ambulance, had proceeded beyond Imvros until they were in sight of the sea, and near the end of the road at Komitadhes, by 6 a.m. on 28 May. Here the patients were unloaded to disperse and shelter during the day. Major Fisher made preliminary arrangements with the British embarkation staff for the disposal of walking wounded and for the early embarkation of medical personnel.

About a mile south of Imvros Captain Lomas had established a walking wounded collecting post, where there were 400 to 500 walking wounded hiding up. He had the assistance of members of 5 and 6 Field Ambulances.

The trucks conveying the CO 5 Field Ambulance and patients arrived at the end of the road about 3 p.m. and there deposited the walking wounded at a walking wounded collecting post, under the charge of Captain A. C. Rumsey, RAMC, and a New Zealand staff.

At this point near Komitadhes the road ended abruptly at the edge of a 500-foot escarpment. From there a precipitous goat track led down for two miles to Sfakia, where there was a shingle beach. The difficulties attending evacuation were apparent, and Major Christie and Captain Palmer were sent to the beach to reconnoitre the route.

Immediately the walking wounded had been unloaded from the trucks, the vehicles were sent back along the same route to make contact with Colonel Bull and party should they have negotiated the road demolition south of Vrises. Alternatively, they were to pick up wounded.

Colonel Bull and his small staff of Captain A. J. King, AAMC, and eight NZMC orderlies remained at Neon Khorion on the morning of 28 May with forty-six seriously wounded men. Events during the morning provided a striking commentary on the extreme difficulties experienced during a retreat. Between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. an Australian battalion passed through the dressing station from the direction of Kalivia. Two officers informed Colonel Bull that there were still between him and the enemy two commando battalions which were not due to retire before nightfall. It was, therefore, somewhat of a surprise to him to find the enemy arriving in force about midday to capture the dressing station. (Later, it was learned that the two commando battalions had retired before dawn on 28 May.)

At 5 p.m., a small group, Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg and Major Fisher and some orderlies, established an MDS, on a previous order of Colonel Bull, in a church half a mile north of the embarkation control post at Imvros. As more of the road parties of 5 and 6 Field Ambulances and 7 General Hospital arrived they were added to the staff, and members of 2/2 Australian Field Ambulance who were located nearby gave assistance during the night.

As Corporal P. Curtis says:

This dressing station afforded a good example of what could be done by improvisation. The medical equipment which had previously been gathered together was in a truck that had since completely disappeared. This loss of equipment was very serious, for when the MDS opened there were only two surgical haversacks, an assortment of mixed dressings, and a German medical kit containing a few items which were suitable for use. The staff of 5 and 6 Field Ambulances had, however, by a careful search in vehicles and houses over a wide area, gathered together within a few hours a variety of medical equipment, bedding, lamps, timber, and other material, which fulfilled immediate needs beyond expectations. A problem that had always been of some concern, owing to frequent moves, was insufficiency of rations, but a supply, which included a box of tea and cigarettes, was obtained from abandoned vehicles on the road. An assortment of carpenter's tools was also found in the village and with these splints and splinting were made. It was found that arm rests of pews, the type peculiar to Greek churches, made excellent crutches. The MDS was very soon overwhelmed with patients, both walking wounded and many others of a more serious nature. At the outset all were given attention and food, but such was the concentration of men about the medical area that it was decided to open a walking wounded collecting post in a valley opposite the site of the MDS, and early next morning, 29 May, the CO 2/2 Australian Field Ambulance, Lieutenant-Colonel D. M. Salter, took over command of this post. Throughout 29 May the intake of fresh casualties was not great, although many walking wounded seemed to be wandering aimlessly about, a result of their experiences over the previous few days.

For those on foot the march across the island was a test of endurance even for the fitter members of the ambulance staffs, apart from the sick and wounded. They set off in small sections at intervals, and each man carried two tins of meat and vegetables. In the cool of the first evening, and while the road was still good, the pace was steady and most parties had made good progress by morning, when they halted and hid in obedience to orders that they were not to show themselves during daylight. On the second evening the going was harder as the road gave way to a rough track, only wide enough for one vehicle, which wound up into the hills in the interior of the island. During that night the groups began to break up as they grew tired and became mixed with other troops on the road. By daylight they were all dog-tired and a bit bewildered as to their whereabouts and destination. They kept on till forced by enemy aircraft to take cover. The surrounding country was extremely rough and rocky, mostly covered in scrub, but with small clumps of trees growing here and there.

Lying dispersed among the olive trees on the roadside during the day while the Luftwaffe raged continuously overhead, the troops moved on by night in a weary march through damaged villages and across the mountain pass, three thousand feet high, which barred the way to the south. Ten miles of winding hill road led to the pass and then the road turned down again into the Askifou basin. Food and water were both scarce, sleep was difficult during the day because of air activity, and everyone suffered from hunger, thirst, and fatigue.

Proceeding to the beach on the afternoon of 28 May, Major Christie and Captain Palmer, the two reconnoitring officers, found that Creforce Headquarters had recently been set up in a cave on the side of a deep gully on the way to the shore. In other caves there were one hundred patients and some medical officers from 189 Field Ambulance, which had established an RAP for the wounded, many of whom were in a state of collapse. Another party of one hundred walking wounded arrived under the charge of a medical officer of 4 Light Field Ambulance. All the wounded were held back in an assembly area two miles from the embarkation point, in order not to betray details of evacuation to the enemy, squadrons of whose planes ranged overhead all day, repeatedly bombing the road and surrounding ridges.

The Royal Navy's first evacuation from Sfakia took place on the night of 28–29 May. All walking wounded and stretcher cases, totalling 300, were sent forward from the assembly area.

At dusk all wounded able to walk – and it was amazing the determination which was shown to complete the journey – were led in three columns down the steep, dry gully among the scattered boulders and clumps of oleander bushes, to what in winter must have been the bed of a sizeable torrent. About three miles or less from Sfakia, on level ground, the columns were halted and strong efforts made to maintain both good cheer and cohesion. An unexpected delay so close to the beach tried the remnants of the patience of men who were tired, thirsty, and hungry. All were sick to a greater or lesser degree and many were in the early stage of diarrhoea and exhaustion.

There was little disturbance from the air. A light mist descended in the hollows. After what seemed a very long pause parties of fifty were allowed to proceed, but there appeared some hitches in communications over the three miles between the beach and the waiting columns. As the night wore on an urgent message came for another 200 to proceed, and then for as many as possible to get forward with all speed. The going was rough and the pace too slow.

Some time before dawn the remainder were instructed to go back and disperse in the original area. Some, however, reluctant to reclimb the steep hillside, elected to remain nearer the embarkation point. All but seventy of the wounded were embarked, as well as 800 British troops from the Suda Bay sector, before the destroyers Napier, Nizam, Kelvin, and Kandahar pulled out from Sfakia.

On the morning of 29 May Major Christie was attached to the staff of 189 Field Ambulance to assist with the treatment of wounded and Captain Palmer established an RAP in a cave used by RAF personnel, 600 yards from Creforce Headquarters, in order to treat other wounded.

At the MDS at Imvros the staff was also kept busy. During the twenty-four hours that it was open the dressing station handled 94 serious cases, and where it was possible to do so, some of these were taken nearer to the control points above the beaches so that they would have priority in embarkation. The medical staff in this area managed to hold together a large number of patients, numbering some 700, reassuring and cheering up those who were jittery during enemy bombing attacks. During the day rations and water, the latter always difficult to obtain, were taken forward by the transport drivers. By then 5 Field Ambulance had built up its transport from one 15-cwt truck to two ambulance cars, three 3-ton trucks, and one Buick car, all marked with Red Cross flags. On the Buick car Driver Burling

Dvr C. J. Burling, MM; born Upper Hutt, 16 Mar 1916; transport driver.

On the afternoon of 29 May walking wounded were transported in trucks, flying Red Cross flags, to the end of the road, where they were held until permitted by those in charge of the embarkation to go down to the beach. By late afternoon dispersal was excellent and all had more or less accepted the tedium of daytime concealment. The march down to Sfakia on the second night was more effectively organised than on the previous evening. The assembly point above the beach was two miles further on, whence it was easier to call forward parties as they were required. A long line sat down on the slope running down over the ridge near the village and waited their turn.

A hasty muster showed that some hundred more were in the column than had set out from the caves below the road end. With the naval guard, arrangements were made for a final scrutiny of the bona fides of all in the walking wounded party. Over 600 walking casualties had been passed through the collecting post above Sfakia in two days. These men had been scattered over an area of more than two miles and dispersed in small parties among the scrub and caves, the sole water supply being from the wells. These by the end of the first day were becoming foul, as many of the men were already suffering from an incipient diarrhoea, which was aggravated by drinking the fouled water.

There was some difficulty with the embarkation authorities on the beaches that night, as they were endeavouring to single out the fighting troops with first priority for evacuation.

The medical parties which had reached the beach, although massed together, had to be identified by Lieutenant-Colonel Twhigg before the beach master would allow them to embark. In the darkness and the confusion among the massed troops some members of the medical units who had strayed, or who did not report to the medical post at the beach, were left behind. A number of NZMC personnel, mostly belonging to 5 Field Ambulance, were embarked on the Glengyle, which took many wounded aboard. Altogether, some 550 wounded were embarked that night. All cases requiring treatment were cared for by the ships' medical staffs and army medical personnel, and officers and men of the Royal Navy excelled themselves in the attention they gave to the wounded.

About six thousand troops were also taken off that night by the naval force comprising, besides the Glengyle, the cruisers Phoebe, Perth, Calcutta, and Coventry and the destroyers Jervis, Janus, and Hasty. The convoy was subjected to several air attacks during 30 May, but all were beaten off, although HMAS Perth received a hit amidships, causing a fire. This, however, did not prevent her from continuing with the convoy, which reached Alexandria early on the morning of 31 May.

During the night of 29–30 May the staffs of 5 and 6 Field Ambulances and 4 Field Hygiene Section set off from Imvros along, the road to the beach, taking with them some more walking wounded. Some forty stretcher cases had to be left behind. An Australian medical officer and two New Zealand and two Australian orderlies remained with them, straws being drawn among the unmarried men to decide who should stay. By daylight on 30 May this marching party was still some miles away from the embarkation beach, having made slow progress during the night. The wounded were treated during the day in caves, which were machine-gunned from the air, and after dark on 30 May the party reached the beach, where an RAP was established for further treatment. On the night of 30–31 May few wounded and no medical staffs were embarked.

On the morning of 31 May arrangements were made with the embarkation authorities to evacuate those patients and medical personnel who had arrived overnight. At 4 p.m. eighty walking wounded were conducted to Sfakia, and taken on to the beach at 9 p.m. That night the Royal Navy with all the ships available – the cruiser Phoebe, the minelayer Abdiel, and the destroyers Jackal, Kimberley, and Hotspur – carried out the last organised evacuation from the beach. All the walking wounded were embarked in the early hours of 1 June. Fighting troops in organised units and wounded were given priority. A number of medical personnel, including a party of fifty whose embarkation had been arranged, had to give place to other units; and when the evacuation ceased, they, with a large number of British, Australian, and New Zealand troops, remained on the island. Most of these men became prisoners on 1 June, but a few escaped to live in hiding assisted by the Cretans, or to continue the battle in the hills. Odd members of medical units made a belated escape in landing craft used to embark the evacuees, and after a most trying voyage in these open boats reached the coast of Africa behind the British lines in the Western Desert.

When the evacuation of Crete was ordered it became apparent to those concerned that the Navy would not be able to embark the stretcher cases held in hospitals, even if these patients could have been transported some 40 miles to the south coast.

As the stretcher cases were left in the caves of 7 General Hospital and in the wards of other temporary hospitals, more than the required number of medical personnel volunteered to remain and become prisoners of war with them; so much was this the case that Colonel Kenrick had to issue an instruction that additional medical officers and nursing orderlies would not remain unless given a direct order by superior authority to do so.

With the ever-increasing gravity of the news from Crete, it became evident in Egypt towards the end of May that another evacuation was imminent. Once again it was doubtful what proportion of the New Zealand Division would get away and whether it would be possible to evacuate any seriously wounded. With 1 General Hospital out of operation as a hospital after its losses of staff and equipment in Greece, and with a high percentage of hospital cases expected among troops able to escape from Crete, it was likely that New Zealand hospital accommodation would be taxed to the utmost, or might even prove insufficient.

No. 2 General Hospital had also been receiving convoys of Australians from Tobruk during May, and by the middle of the month had patients in excess of its establishment of 600 beds. Authority was given by the DDMS 2 NZEF on 29 May for this hospital to expand to 900 beds, although official approval was not received until some weeks later. The erection of extra tented wards was pushed ahead on a half-acre field near the main building at Helwan.

Battle casualties from Crete were therefore admitted first to 3 General Hospital at Helmieh, shortly after the isolation period for 5th Reinforcement influenza patients ended. On 29 May 97 battle casualties were admitted and the following day 290, which brought the number of patients to 619, some having to sleep on palliasses on the floor. There were few seriously ill cases, as nearly all such cases could not be evacuated from Crete. If it had been possible to bring out all the severely wounded men from Greece and Crete it would have been impossible, as was the declared policy, to deal with all New Zealand patients in New Zealand hospitals.

The quota of hospital beds required by the War Office from 2 NZEF was 2400, plus a casualty clearing station. The arrangements for hospitals within 2 NZEF were for three 600-bed hospitals and no casualty clearing station. Before this time pressure had been exerted from Army Headquarters, New Zealand, for the combining of the three hospitals into two of 900 beds each, but the retention of three hospitals in 2 NZEF was wisely defended. The quota of 2400 beds was available when the arrival of equipment from England and reinforcements from New Zealand enabled 1 General Hospital to reopen in September 1941. The casualty clearing station was finally formed in 1942, after a long battle by DDMS 2 NZEF.

When information was received that evacuation from Crete had been decided upon, DDMS 2 NZEF made arrangements – similar to those in the evacuation from Greece – for emergency medical parties to be stationed at the ports of disembarkation and transit camps. Three parties were despatched from 1 Camp Hospital and 1 General Hospital staffs. Their duties were not heavy. The hospital ship Aba had cleared 602 cases of sick and wounded from Crete on 5 May and another 561 on a return trip on 16 May. The minor wounds of walking cases from the final evacuations had mostly healed in the intervening ten to fourteen days from the time of wounding, in spite of the men having marched 35 to 40 miles to the embarkation point.

A few of the more seriously wounded from Crete were admitted to British hospitals in Alexandria, but most of the wounded were admitted direct to New Zealand hospitals. There were 97 and 290 patients received at 3 General Hospital on 29 and 30 May respectively, and 60 and 382 at 2 General Hospital on 29 May and 1 June. A large proportion were battle casualties, and all showed signs of having passed through a very trying ordeal. On 13 May 114 walking wounded had also been admitted direct to 1 Convalescent Depot.

In spite of the severe bombing and fighting to which the troops had been subjected in Greece and Crete, there were comparatively few cases of anxiety neurosis. Acute symptoms of panic cleared up with rest, care, and good food.

In the very early stages of the occupation of Crete the food ration was only four-fifths of the normal scale. In the latter stages heavy bombing of the port of Suda Bay made a further reduction to two-thirds of the normal scale necessary. In the last few days, because of the difficulty of distribution, some of the troops went without rations altogether. At first oranges, eggs, and bread were available locally to supplement the rather scanty ration, but the supply of these soon became exhausted. When the flour mills were destroyed by bombing and a ship with a cargo of flour was sunk, the bread supply was cut off altogether.

An adequate water supply was available in most areas from wells, but some of these became fouled owing to poor water discipline. In the withdrawal water was not readily available and some of this was contaminated, but lack of individual water sterilising tablets prevented purification. At the time of evacuation cases of dysentery became manifest.

On their disembarkation at Alexandria from Crete the medical-units along with other troops were moved by rail to Amiriya Camp. Here they were rested and received issues of fresh clothing as well as chocolate, cigarettes, and toilet hold-alls provided by the New Zealand Red Cross Society and National Patriotic Fund Board. From Amiriya the troops went to Helwan Camp, where considerable reorganisation of the Division was carried out.

The campaign in Greece had resulted in considerable losses in medical personnel and the battle for Crete added substantially to this depletion. About half of the medical personnel on Crete became casualties. One medical officer was killed, another wounded, and the acting ADMS NZ Division and seven medical officers were taken prisoner.

Lt-Col W. H. B. Bull, acting ADMS NZ Division, Major S. G. de Clive Lowe and Lt R. F. Moody of 5 Field Ambulance, Lt D. A. Ballantyne of 6 Field Ambulance, Captain O. S. Hetherington, RMO 21 Battalion, Capt L. H. V. Longmore, RMO 22 Battalion, Capt R. S. Stewart, RMO 23 Battalion, and Capt E. Stevenson-Wright, RMO 2 Divisional Cavalry Regiment, were taken prisoner. In addition, Lt-Col Plimmer, acting CO 6 Field Ambulance, was killed, and Capt Mules was wounded, losing an eye.

In the short but fierce battle for Crete the medical units were called upon to treat large numbers of wounded. Fifth Field Ambulance admitted 1274 patients and 6 Field Ambulance 1400 (half of the latter being casualties from Greece), and in most localities urgent surgery was done by surgical teams attached to the main dressing stations, with a limited amount of medical equipment and supplies. The staff of 4 Field Hygiene Section gave assistance at 5 Field Ambulance, to which they were attached, and the party from 1 General Hospital, in the words of the Registrar, “worked admirably” for 7 General Hospital, to which unit 6 Field Ambulance also gave valuable help.

In a survey of all the medical services on Crete, Colonel Kenrick remarked that to him the outstanding points were: firstly, the amazing fortitude displayed by the walking wounded under the most ghastly conditions; and, secondly, the universal courage and devotion to duty shown by all ranks of the medical services under conditions of warfare such as had never before been experienced by our troops.