Thursday, October 19, 2023

More action near Retimo on 22 May 1941

 Honner was sent along the road to the west. He was to keep blocking the road as the moved forward to the fork in the road at Perivolia. Honner's men had a captured German mortar as well as a mortar they had. Honner's company captured houses on a ridge that was half of the way to where they were headed. There was a downward slope beyond the houses. If they moved forward, they would be vulnerable to German fire from a position about a thousand yards ahead. The Germans were in buildings and in the St. George Church. They were also positioned behind stone walls. This was at the beginning of Perivolia. Honner's men were fired on by "mortars, mchine gus, and light artillery". Honner had about a hundred men. 

A runner arrived late in the afternoon with news that Captain Jackson's company coming to support Honner. In the 2/11th Battalion, Honner was the most senior company commander. given that news, Honner wanted to mount an attack after dark, using leap-frog tactics. "The two companies would stay between the road and the coast".  Between the road and the coast were three ditches that were about ywo feet deep. As darkness fell, Jackson's company moved forward to the second ditch.

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

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