大象传媒

Having rested we then continued our journey farther into the mountains till we were far enough away from a metalled road along which the enemy could rush lorried troops catching us before we could get away. I must admit that at this point we were quite demoralised and went about our tasks mechanically. We were on a very steep 'learning curve'.This was 'training by doing',those that came after us,at Hereford, would benefit from our experience.
But now it was off to what was to be our Operational Area.By now we had become used to the tricks of the mules used to have a little skive,and so made sure the loads were doublely tightened. Having loaded up,we'd then quietly walk away,the mules then let all the air out of their lungs which they had been holding in so as to make them appear bigger.We then quickly turned and grabbing hold of the loose surcingle hauled it up really tight.There'd be no shedding of loads today. Poor old mules,but still they took it all in good part Unless you got too close to the Greek mules,for in spite of their heavy load of ammunition they'd still nearly stand on their heads in order to give the unwary a nasty kick. They'd only perform that trick early in the march,after a few hours they were to weary to try,and quite frankly we were too tired to get out of the way if one did let fly. The Italian mules were much more placid,no doubt taught by their Italian bosses.Though those Italians lucky enough to be enrolled in our party, did seem to have some affection for them. Ah! Well,there's our 'Off' signal,a cry from the front 'Embross' we were on our way again.How far? the usual I suppose. 'Oh! six hours!' (well,we knew we could double that,and a bit more)We only knew we were heading north-east,well us country boys did the Townies among us didn't know where we were half the time. This was going to be a peaceful journey as we were in what was quite seriously called 'Free Greece',covered by the 'ELAS' that is the military arm of 'EAM' the Communist Party of Greece.We did not know but we were heading into a political morass ,a normal condition in the Balkans.We arrived there in the late afternoon,having crossed the snow-line which was quite a novelty for some of our lads from South Africa.It was'nt without incident,not for me,of course.The mule in front of me staggered off course.This course was a narrow hollow cutting in the snow by those that had gone on ahead,this blasted mule decided he wanted to cut his own path,unfortunately the snow was so deep that he could'nt pull his front legs out to put them forward before the load on his back started to move onto his whithers so that his sedate walk,became a stumbling run,then a gallop before he went head over heels finishing up on his back with his load still intact underneath.
How was I to sort that out.Luckily Mick Bean came along just then.Mick was an absolute treasure to us new-comers,one of those who invaded Greece with the regular army in 1941.He got left behind and had been sheltered by the Greeks as did so many others.
He soon saw what was needed and between us we got the mule and it's load back on the track.In the meantime the rest of the party had moved on and we had to catch up.But I felt safe with Mick,we were on our own but for him it was just like his own back-yard,properly dressed in battle dress and boots with a Aussie slouch hat whereas,I half-frozen as I was still in Tropical Kit! Anyway we made it.People wondered where we had been.
We've got to do something about having a rear sweeper,no longer trusting that people will keep up.If it had'nt been for me when we ran into that ambush as we entered the Pindus,we would have, as did 'A' Battery, have lost all our equipment.
However by the time I arrived my Mortar team had been allocated our billet which was with an American expatriate,Terry Kassos.He was one of those mountain Greeks,who,following the custom, had married and the dowry was the fare,for himself to go to the USA to make his fortune.This did'nt always work out but in Terry's case it did.He had returned on two seperate occasions,so he had two children and he had either come for a third and been trapped by the war or he had intended to retire on his earnings while in America, as a good many did,for they could live the lives of Lords in the village where everybody else was as poor as the proverbial church mouse.That was another thing we learned, just how poor people could be and still live.Practically every thing in the village was done as it had been for centuries past
To call Penalophos a 'village,conjures up a picture far different than anything we had encountered so far. It seemed as if 'houses' were built on any piece of land which was flat enough to hold the foundations. So there was no suggestion of streets just a jumbled up mass through which you had to wend your way.There was an open space that one could at a pinch describe as the village square,and it was from there that one got one's bearings if you had to set off any where. The one recognisable track led out towards the river Aliakmon,passing through another collection of houses known as Damaskinia. It was fromm there that we set off on our first job,the blowing of the bridge to Grevena. Another disaster.Another story!.

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