Now For Something Completely Different, The Dreadnaught Averof

I have long had a great interest in naval history and one of my hopes of this trip was to make it to the Greek Naval Museum in Paliofaliro.

The main attraction there is the Averof

The Battleship Averof [really a heavy cruiser] is the last 'dreadnought' heavy cruiser of its kind in the world.

The first dreadnought [a category of ship named after the first of its kind HMS Dreadnought] was built in 1906 and marked a change in naval architecture.

The Averof was built in 1910 and thus features the early form modern battleships took.

Through the years the great battleships, with ever bigger armament , ever thicker armour and faster speeds, were the masters of the oceans.

This evolution would culminate in the great battleships of early WW2 when the world learned how vulnerable these ships were to air attack.

The Averof has a history of humour and distinction.

For many years it was it was the greatest weapon platform in the Aegean.











It almost single handed won two great naval confrontations against the Turks in the First Balkan War [1912-13] .

This gave the Greeks uncontested control of the Aegean following the First World War until 1941, and this ship was the reason.

It's main armament were 4 - 9.2 inch guns that could hurl a 1000 pound shell accurately over 20 miles.











This is the exterior of the magazines where the shells and propellants were stored. On the black rails, hanging from the ceiling, the munitions were run to elevators that lifted the explosives to the turrets, three decks above.

I could barely stand up in this space and had to take care not to whack my head. That door was a real challenge to get through. The further into the ship I went the more claustrophobic I became. Unbelievable that men could function here.







After surviving the Battle for Greece and the Battle for Crete [1941] the Averof served as an escort ship for convoys in the Indian Ocean.
















It remains in active service today. It is assigned to 'long term repairs' at its birth where it is a proud symbol of Greek naval ability where it also serves as a museum.

On the humorous side of this ship's history is the story of when it sailed to England for the coronation of King George V. The Greek crew was served blue cheese. They had never seen such food. They rioted- causing a near mutiny. I might rebel as well- I do not care for rotten cheese either!

This is the crew's mess. Note the bags hooked on the wall- these are their kits where each stored his entire personal belongings.







These are the officer's dinner service.

Doesn't compare very well does it?

Such was turn of the century life. Remember the Titanic where the difference between first class and third class represented world's apart.

This is how the crew's beds are arranged for sleeping.

Note the table and benches have been attached to the ceiling.

This is how it was at the turn of the century- the 'old world' separation of officer and sailor was a gulf across which few ever crossed.







Recently a wealthy Greek shipping tycoon and actress used the ship for a wedding reception, without permission, causing a scandal.

Some things never change!

This is the officers mess-

no beds in sight here-

they each had their own room!










A senior officer's  room










                               



An officer's 'head'














The captains's quarters. This space appears to match the space of all the others combined!

This was part of the disaster of WW1-

old habits, old ways, entitlement, and family hierarchy against a new world of mechanized killing that 19th century outdated values simply had not adapted to.

As a result- millions died.

The Averof represents a living example of the past rarely experienced anymore. Most all of these great ships have been destroyed in war or laid to scrap long ago.

War Memorial Cemeteries Visit

I visited the graves of 5 young Canadians killed in the Battle of Crete in 1941 today. The bottom of this marker says "missing but never forgotten".  He was 20


They are buried in the Commonwealth War Cemetery located at the end of Souda Bay.











They were all airmen, mostly pilots, serving with the British Air Force.

In this case these two men, one Canadian and the other British,  crewed together, died together and thus are buried together. He was 21 and from Trail BC. When I lived in the interior of BC before moving to NB, I lived just up the hill from his home.


This is another mixed crew, British and New Zealand airmen similarly, having served together, buried together. 

The Souda Bay Cemetery is the final resting place for the remains of 1527 soldiers, mostly from Britain, New Zealand and Australia.

I walked every row of this cemetery twice searching for the monuments to our five Canadians here. I found three. There is no guide book in this cemetery, as often found in others, to aid in finding a specific grave.

What gave me pause as I began my search, is that well over half of the makers indicate this is a "soldier known unto God"

Note the inscription on the top of this stone, "Believed to be..."








Every time I visit one of these cemeteries the incredible waste of life confronts me.

The Battle for Crete is one we Canadians know little about. It came towards the end of that long struggle at the beginning of WW2 when the allies were having a hard time stopping the Germans anywhere.

The Allies lost this battle. 12,000 were captured. 18,000 were evacuated by the British Navy and about 2000 died, many of whom were never found. 




This is the gorge the Allies fought their retreat through. It is steep, harsh, rugged. It is unimaginable to me what it might have been like.

This map depicts the naval battle for Crete. Each white marker is a British ship sunk. The British desperately wanted to keep the island in order to limit German ability to exert power, but after heavy loss of ships and damage to many more, England simply could not afford the cost to keep Crete. The main war effort to stop the Germans then moved to North Africa and the Battle of El Alamain.

Last Saturday I visited the German Cemetery on the western part of the island at Maleme, one of the main paratroop landing fields. Many young Germans were slaughtered in the first phase of the land battle. 

Over 4000 Germans soldiers are buried in this site on a ridge overlooking the main drop zones and the sea. This was the first time in history a large paratrooper attack was ever attempted.

Hitler was so horrified by the heavy losses that he ordered the paratroop divisions disbanded and never to be used again.

Here is a marker to German unknown soldiers. In this cemetery, each flat stone has two names on it.

This is a Cretan wedding dress made from the silk parachute lines from German parachutes retrieved after the battle. I came across this dress in the Naval Museum in Chania.

The Cretans have various ways to acknowledging their victory over oppression. This is one such gesture we may find hard to understand, but neither are we a people oppressed for centuries by one power or another.

Another example are the head coverings worn by Cretan mountain men in the villages. Each tassel symbolizes a man this man killed. Most would be German.

The British, Canadian and Americans took notice of this parachute attack and concluded this, although very risky and extremely costly in lives, could have enormous benefits. Thus the paratroop regiments and divisions were born that would be so successful later in the war.



On the same day I went to Maleme, I visited this lonely mountain top memorial overlooking the sea and the German drop zones. It is dedicated to the youth of Crete who also joined in the battle to protect their homes from the Germans.

Note the ancient Greek shield on the right of the top monument






On another hill I came across this memorial site that appears to honour soldiers and freedom fighters who fought for their island dating back into the 1800's.

This memorial stands beside the harbour in Chania and is dedicated to the 267 Jewish men, women and children who died when a British submarine torpedoed the ship they were on. It sank just outside the harbour. No one survived. They were on their way to northern Europe to be killed in the extermination camps.

It all serves to remind us that when someone offers a war...

... everyone dies.