The Australians were able to move back onto Hill A and onto the coastal plain. Because of that, they were ble to take possession of the two tanks. The 2/1st Battalion had men who were accustomed to driving tracked vehicles. These men were the crews of the carrier. They had one tank that they found early on 24 May. The tank was undamaged and they figured out how to drive the tank. Lt. Mason of "the Royal Army Ordnance Corps" was instrumental in recovering that tank. They used that tank to drive to the Olive Oil Factory and look it over. Some time later, they drove the tank past the factory to a house occupied by Germans where Germans were arriving. The Germans were using the house to provvide them cover and they stayed in the house.
That night, Campbell sent the tank down the road to the road junction past Hill B. Campbell provided the tank to Sandover. Sandover would have the tank so he could use it in an attack on Perivolia. As there was light, the tank moved foeward. The driver was inexperience and when a British Blenheim bomber flew low over the tank, the driver was frightened so he accidentally drove over a culvert and ended up in a creek. They quickly provided "camouflage" to keep aircraft from seeing the tank. That evening, they recovered the tank.
This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long
No comments:
Post a Comment