Friday, August 03, 2012

Warrant-Officer Boulter escapes the Germans on 7 June 1941

Some of the men captured in the Peloponnese were able to escape from the Germans. One was Warrant-Officer Boulter. He had been taken prisoner at Kalamata on 29 April 1941 when the Germans pushed into the area. He was among a group of men who were moved to a prison camp at Corinth. He was told that there were about 10,000 British prisoners there. For some reason, the Germans had taken four to five thousand Italians prisoner who had been freed by the Greeks. At Corinth, the men had seen aircraft sent and return from the battle on Crete. Aircraft returned with bullet holes and broken wings. Starting on 5 June, the men were moved with the eventual aim of moving all the prisoners to Germany.

Warrant-Officer Boulter jumped into some bushes along the road where they were marching prisoners. This was on 7 June 1941. He lay there until after dark. He got in contact with Greeks, got into local clothing, and worked for his food and a place to stay for a number of days. They sent him to a village near Lamia where he met several other men. They walked to the coast by 22 June and then Greeks took them to Euboea. At Euboea they heard over BBC that Germany had invaded Russia. By the help of Greeks, he arrived in Smyrna on 25 July. He then was taken to Haifa. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

No comments:

Amazon Ad