大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Deena Campbell from CSV Action Desk on behalf of Mr George Edmund Long and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Long fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

Tilos is a small Island in the Dodecanese and lies 44mls to the west of Rhodes. I first heard of and made contact with Piskopi on 27th November 1944 during its occupation by the Germans. My adventure began when as a Wireless Telegraphist on board the fleet destroyer H.M.S Kelvin I was relieved during my afternoon watch keeping and told to report to the Bridge. There the commanding officer introduced me to an army captain and informed me that I would that evening be joining a landing party led by Captain Harden and made up of three British army soldiers, one Greek commando and a young sixteen year old Greek lad who was our guide for the purpose of observing and directing a Naval Bombardment by the Kelvin and eventually forcing the German Garrison of about 150 men on the Island to surrender. I was instructed to go below decks remove all badges from my uniform, retain only my identity tag disc , draw from the armoury a revolver and 29 rounds of ammunition prepare a portable W/T set, also an Aldis signalling lamp and batteries. Having never fired a revolver before, I requested a rifle instead as I had acquired considerable success in rifle shooting competitions. But this was refused and I duly signed the chit acknowledging the receipt of the revolver, twenty nine rounds of ammunition and accompanying gun belt!! In the early evening Captain Harden and myself were put ashore from the Kelvin on to the Island of Symi where I met the rest of the raiding party, and my first impression was that they would not have passed a shore leave inspection, but before the next twenty four hours were over, it proved that it isn鈥檛 the clothes that maketh the man. Before darkness descended on this beautiful bay around which the village clung, one of the soldiers who I remember had a heavily bandaged hand with a none too clean dressing, prepared a meal from a variety of tins over a fire which was constructed of petrol soaked sand and as the sun sank below the hills we tested the rifles of the party across the bay the echo from the surrounding hills making it sound like an artillery barrage. We then boarded a motor launch which was to take us to Tilos, an hour or so journey away. As we neared the shore, engines were cut and we drifted inshore, transferring to rubber dinghies for the final stretch to shore. All went smoothly as we landed near the southern end of San Antonio Bay in the north of the Island. We prepared ourselves for a long night and a long hazardous trek to our observation position which was to be on a high hill top over looking the German Camp located in the village of Livadia in the south; a trek that was to take in all about ten hours.

We had landed at nine o鈥檆lock in the evening and the bombardment had been planned to take place at ten o鈥檆lock the next morning. We had all been allocated various types of equipment to carry. I seemingly to have my fair share with the W/T set, Aldis lamp and battery, revolver and 鈥榮igned for,鈥� 29 rounds of ammunition, also a band of machine gun bullets draped around my shoulders, for some of the party were carrying a cumbersome Italian machine gun, more of which will be told later.

The going was very hard, struggling over rock faces; climbing up and down deep gullies, most of the time in complete darkness and silence, except for the occasional curse as someone slipped or wrenched an ankle. We had been travelling sometime when Capt Harden called a halt for in the distant murk we could see a building clinging on to the side of a deep ravine and was, according to our information a monastery. Leaving us pressed hard against the ground , the Capt. moved forward to check if it was occupied by the Germans and taking a couple of hand grenades he walked slowly down towards the walls. Much to our relief the place was empty and we continued on our way. After what seemed to be hours of walking, climbing , stumbling and occasionally crawling, we were told to take a rest and settled ourselves in a damp and cold crevice and tried to relax. Whilst we rested Capt. Harden said that he would take the Greek lad and do a little reconnoitring and see what he could find and they both disappeared in to the darkness returning an hour or so later as silently as they had left. It was at this point that I began to notice the coolness and correctness of the officer for he and the guide had actually penetrated the village of Livadia where the German garrison was billeted and had its HQ, had had a meal in the house of one of the villagers, and obtained a mine of information such as the size of the garrison, guns and equipment they had, where these were located and also the location of the Commandant鈥檚 house outside which was an armoured truck. We then set off for our final climb to the position over looking Livadia where we would set up our observation post. It was early morning when we reached the site, everywhere was still quite and we set about getting organized. The Captain surveyed the surroundings and decided on a plan of campaign for the bombardment. We settled in behind a stone wall, obviously a sheep pen. With a great deal of relief I put down my W/T set and prepared it for use. The army boys set up the machine gun in a small hollow a little way in front of the wall, giving them a fine view over the village and the camp. By this time life had begun to stir below, voices could be heard and the occasional burst of song would rise up from the camp.

At one time a voice sounded very near and there was a sudden sound from the party as bolts clicked on rifles and fingers were wrapped around triggers. The last thing we wanted was a 鈥渟tray鈥� to upset our plans. Fortunately it was an echo of a shout far below us. As it became brighter and the activity below greater, offshore we could see the Kelvin slowly steaming into position. I made contact by R/T with the ship, to check communications were ok. Captain Hardens plan was first to destroy the Commandant鈥檚 house along with the armoured truck as quickly as possible and then to direct the ships guns for a saturate bombardment. We then awaited the deadline of a thousand hours for the signal to open fire to be given. then the unexpected happened, there was a noise like a motor cycle, and to our amazement, a spotter aircraft has taken off from a small makeshift airstrip in the centre of the island, and was making straight for our position. To complicate matters, I was dressed in navy blue, a perfect give away against the barren surroundings. Luckily, before the plane reached us it veered off and disappeared, and we just hoped we had not been spotted.
We were relieved when the one thousand hours came, and I transmitted to the Kelvin, Capt. Harden鈥檚 bearing for the first salvo, and so precise were they, and the accuracy of the gun layers, the first shells obliterated the Commandant鈥檚 house and the armoured truck. As the shells continued to fall, chaos reigned below in the camp, and to escape the fury, the German troops ran into a deep ravine nearby. Capt. Harden then directed the shellfire into this ravine and as the troops began to run out towards the village, our army boys opened up with the machine gun and the fight became a little one sided. Following some minutes of this onslaught, the Captain ordered a cease fire, and said he would ask the Germans to surrender. Accompanied by one of the soldiers he fixed a white handkerchief onto a rifle and walked down the hill towards the centre of the village, and standing in front of the remains of the Commandant鈥檚 house, demanded the Germans surrender. The answer came quickly in the form of a burst of machine gun fire, and from the top of the hill the rest of us saw the Captain and his colleagues disappear into a cloud of dust as more machine gun positions opened fire, and we all thought the worst had happened. The sergeant of our party said as much and took over command. Naturally, our own position had become known, and we immediately came under heavy machine gun fire. Our own gunner was not slow to retaliate, returning fire until his machine gun jammed and the enemy had gained the advantage.
With bullets whistling all around and hitting the wall behind which we were sheltered, one began to wonder if we had reached the point of no return. This situation continued for some time. Whilst we were deliberating what to do next, Captain Harding and his colleagues suddenly appeared much to our amazement and relief, and he casually remarked that 鈥渨e must get out of this鈥�. To do this, I was instructed to ask the Kelvin to cover our breakout with a blanket bombardment of the village and camp so that we could make a dash across a narrow open stretch of land to the seaward side of the hill. I began to transmit this request, but the ship was having difficulty hearing me, and after repeating the request several times my transmitter failed completely, and we were left wondering if my message had got through. Obviously it had, for down rained the shells and our evacuation started. Two of us would go at a time and run the gauntlet. Captain Harden and myself were the last to go, he going first and I to follow. He got across alright, but every time I put a leg or an arm outside the wall my blue uniform made a fine target and it was a little while before I made the dash which I completed safely in spite of carrying the useless W.T set and Aldis lamp, but I had no intention of leaving them behind. So we had made our rapid descent down the steep hillside towards the coast. The first group were well on their way and I struggled down with the Captain, hoping that we would get down before the Germans climbed up the other side, for the odds would have been greatly stacked against us. Half way down the hill, the Captain pulled me behind an outcrop of rock for a rest and offered me his water bottle, even though my one thought was to get the hell out of it. Having not had a drink for many hours, I took the bottle and gulped the liquid down, only to realise it was neat rum! Not being used to drinking this stuff, one can guess its effect on me later in the day. But it quenched my thirst. We then continued our descent wondering if our prearranged pick up by motor launch would be too late. Then suddenly round a headland the launch appeared, obviously not expecting to see us, for she trained all her guns on us, probably thinking we were Germans. The quick response by Captain Harden, and the quick reaction from my trigger finger, I flashed a message with the Aldis lamp, requesting them to pick us up, and this she did, not before the Greek commando had collapsed exhausted, was carried the last few yards to the launch, and we sailed away to safety.
It transpired that all the action on the hill and in the village had been followed by the ship鈥檚 range finder and binoculars, and the worst had been feared, so much so, that my mess mated had already started to share my kit out, when I arrived back on board.
Following our safe return to the Kelvin, the ship did a sweep close in to Livandia Bay accompanied by two M.L鈥檚, and everything seemed to be quiet when suddenly the latter came under heavy attack from ashore, and once again the place was subjected to some heavy fire from the Kelvin. A little later whilst patrolling around the island, the spotter plane reappeared and an attempt was made to shoot it down. Unfortunately disaster struck, for on loading the aft 4.7 guns with acoustic shells, and the eagerness of the gun crew, the bearing brought the guns into close proximity of the multiple pompom gun, and the vibrations of its motor detonated the shells prematurely as they left the barrels, and the officer and the gunner on the pompom were instantly killed. And quite a few ratings were injured by shrapnel, but not seriously. This was sad blow to the crew, and a most unfortunate accident.
Although our raid did not achieve its planned result, the German garrison did surrender shortly afterwards as did many of the other Dodecanese islands due, without doubt, to the fire leadership, coolness and courage of the Captain and the members of his group. Having only been in their company for about twenty four hours, I did not know what unit or regiment he, or those of the soldiers in the party, belonged to, and we parted company as quickly as we had met. For me it had been an adventure that I was never to forget.
It was thirty-eight years later, when holidaying in Rhodes; I took a nostalgic trip to Tilos in 1982. Having a meal at the restaurant I was delighted to find the owner was a young guide on our 1944 raid, and remembered the occasion well. We reminisced and like me he wondered what had happened to the officer. After a great deal of research in 1984, I located and met on 19th September 1985 Captain Harden, who led our raid. It was then that I learned that I had taken an active part in a SBS (the seaborne arm of the SAS) raiding party on an island raiding operation in the Dodecanese for which I had never been trained to do.
It was a privilege to have had the honour of serving with such an elite force.
(The daily ship鈥檚 log of H.M.S. Liddersdale and Beaufighter aircraft captured the island of Piskopi in operation 鈥楥AVE鈥�. This force included a consignment of Ghurkhas led by a Sikh officer. Force of numbers had achieved success where we had failed!

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