Band of Brigands (Special Ops) Crete 1941

[PADDY]

Bottom left with dog, my Uncle Joe and his team from SOE (Special Operations Executive. Winston tasked them with "setting Europe alight!"). As you will see, we Middleton's love our faithful furry friends (even with Jerry around the corner!). Just acquired this pic and others from my mum in Ireland.
I know they look like pirates or gangsters living out of caves, but desperate times take desperate measures, as we all well know with the international situation today, people adapt to the needs of the times..for better or worse. Hope you enjoy this little snap of my personal family history

 

[BellyTank]

Hi Paddy, nice to hear you're in good spirits.
I love Crete, spend a bit of time there off and on- it's always very cheap to get there and it's a fantastic, unique place. When I was there last, I bought and read "Ill met by moonlight", the true story of allied SO agents on Crete plotting and executing a plan to kidnap the occupying German General- exciting stuff.
If you haven't read it, you must.
Belly.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Here's another Crete Resistance photo:

There are a lot of photos of guys in the Cretan Resistance posing like this - and this has puzzled me. It seems to me that the Gestapo would have loved to get hold of those.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Here are some more photos:

 

[up196]

Am I seeing things, or what?

Paddy, first, its good to see you're doing better.

Now, in your first picture, two of the men hold Thompsons, and, if my eyes don't deceive me, the third, on the right, is aiming a United Defense Model UD 42! Not the most common WWII weapon, but the guy in lower left of the middle picture posted by The Mad Hatter appears to have one, too.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

The following website provides a history of the Cretan Resistance:

http://www.preveli.org/files/battle/enindex.htm

Many of the photos I previously posted came from this site.

 

[harribobs]

Here are some more photos:

QUOTE]

thats two very famous people in the middle photo, billie moss and paddy leigh fermor, the two british officers who kidnapped general kreipe

a pair of grade one real heros

 

[Flitcraft]

Paddy:
Thanks for sharing the photos, the family history and the links.

 

[harribobs]

There are a lot of photos of guys in the Cretan Resistance posing like this - and this has puzzled me. It seems to me that the Gestapo would have loved to get hold of those.

these guys lived and fought in the mountains, the gestapo couldn't get up there. if the german amry tried to go in (up) in force, they slipped away

the germans took their revenge by destroying villages and summary executions of civilians

 

[PADDY]

In the steps of "Ill Met by Moonlight" to capture a general...

NOT sure if I mentioned this guys. But a few months back, an former British Army officer contacted me to say that he and his number had been inspired by the book, "Ill met by moonlight" about the kidnapping of a German General on Crete during the war. A long story I'll avoid here, but he tracked me down to speak about my uncle's role in it. He and his pals (who enjoy adventure holidays) were going to march the same route as the SOE and Cretens who captured the general, from the point of kidnap when the car was hijacked, over the mountains and eventually to a little bay where the general was whisked off to Egypt. My uncle was radio op to Major Paddy Leigh-Femor (who is in one of the pics above). Well Major Paddy is still alive and well in Greece and in his 90s!! He gave the intrepid group his original 1940s maps to use on the journey, along with a letter of introduction in Greek to be used in the villages!! I was invited to go too, but work committments prevented it. Will try to post some pics and stories, as and when I get them. They carried some RAF mementoes of my uncles over the Crete with them!!

 

[harribobs]

NOT sure if I mentioned this guys. But a few months back, an former British Army officer contacted me to say that he and his number had been inspired by the book, "Ill met by moonlight" about the kidnapping of a German General on Crete during the war. A long story I'll avoid here, but he tracked me down to speak about my uncle's role in it. He and his pals (who enjoy adventure holidays) were going to march the same route as the SOE and Cretens who captured the general, from the point of kidnap when the car was hijacked, over the mountains and eventually to a little bay where the general was whisked off to Egypt. My uncle was radio op to Major Paddy Leigh-Femor (who is in one of the pics above). Well Major Paddy is still alive and well in Greece and in his 90s!! He gave the intrepid group his original 1940s maps to use on the journey, along with a letter of introduction in Greek to be used in the villages!! I was invited to go too, but work committments prevented it. Will try to post some pics and stories, as and when I get them. They carried some RAF mementoes of my uncles over the Crete with them!!

i met them in the south of crete in late may!!

and i saw the map and the letter of introduction from 'philedem'

 

[PADDY]

Letters from Crete...

Thanks for the PM! Hopefully I'll be talking with Alun (the Welsh ex army chap) about how it went and maybe get some pics. Well you would have met me then if I'd managed to have got across, but it was all too last minute for getting the leave at work. Strange how the whole thing fell into place, as if it was meant to be!! I thought the whole expedition was hugely exciting, a real shame my uncle died only a few years back. I'm sure he would have had plenty of stories to contribute to the experience.

I just cannot believe it is such a small world with you finding this thread in the middle of the internet!! Have you had any feedback on the trip, or anything to tell about it..?

 

[harribobs]

i'm still surprised at finding you on this forum myself!

i can't add much more than i've said already, i wasn't involved myself but my friend was, so each evening we'd get a report of how they'd gone on and what problems they'd had and whether they'd solved them.

the trek was difficult to start off with and then trying to follow a route that had totally disappeared for a large part. the shepherds paths that were used sixty years ago have been replaced or totally grown over ( that can happen in a year in the mountains) but they got there in the end, some more blistered than others

i believe Alun and a few others are meeting Paddy LF later in the year to thank him and give him the full details, hopefully we all should know some more by then

i believe your uncle must be Sgt Joe B.....y, ( not knowing if you want his full name published) and i understand he had quite a full career in the RAF after the war. you must be very proud of him

 

[PADDY]

Sgt Joe Bradley...

Well Harribobs (sorry, I don't know your first name!), Joe Bradley was my uncle. He was shot down while flying in a Halifax out of Palestine and bombing Kastelli airfield in Crete. (In fact tomorrow, due to my own research I am meeting up with the flight engineer of the Halifax that was behind Joe's on the bombing run. He is 84 now, but is going to a squadron reunion at the former officer's mess at RAF Middleton-St.George, now a hotel at Teeside Airport. Reg knew Joe and saw the Halifax being attacked by several ME 109s! He saw the engines getting hit and fire spreading along the bomber. He also tells me that he saw a couple of chutes deployed. None of them knew whether Joe survived the war after seeing the bomber go down. Joe (a welsh lad from Blaenau Ffestignog) was one of only 3 lads who bailed out (the others perished under horrific fire conditions). Joe was picked up by a young shepherd lad before the Germans arrived. He was carrying his mate who had smashed an ankle on landing. He then linked up with Cretan resistance fighters and SOE personnel (Paddy..et al). By default, he was 'locally recruited' into SOE as a radio op to Paddy L-F. Alun told me that Major Paddy remembers Joe well and sent his love and best wishes to my family! Joe worked for several months on Crete before extraction by either boat or submarine to the middle east. For his work on the island he received the Military Medal from King George VI and also a DFM (He had been involved in bombing the Tirpitz with 10 Sdn, before going out to the middle east. Got a commission and eventually rose to Wing Commander.
My mum remembers the Cretan jacket and cap and signalling lamp that Joe brought back with him.
One story I remember as a child was Joe hiding in the attic of a Cretan house around Xmas time when German soldiers commandeered the house for a few days unaware that he was in the attic. From hearing them singing "Silent Night" in German during their stay, he had a hate for that hymn/carol all his life! When are the boys likely to go to see Paddy L-F? I really must get speaking to Alun about this. Shame I missed their trip, as it's the type of thing I enjoy doing (I'm not a 5 star cruise or hotel type of guy!).
Kindest Regards, PADDY (M)

Joe is front left with the dog!

Joe is centre in pic (RAF Leeming 1941/2)

 

[BellyTank]

As I've mentioned before- I'm a big fan of Crete- been there a few times and always eager to go back. I read 'Ill met...' one time I was there and saw a few of the places in the book. I've always fancied trekking across from the north coast up and through the mountains to the south coast.

I love that isle...

Don't forget the 1957 movie (loosely)of the book aka Night Ambush- Dirk Bogarde, etc

One day Paddy huh...we'll go and walk across Crete, North to South?

Some fantastic images of German forces on Crete in WW2 can be seen here-
http://home.online.no/~vestil/crete/
B
T

 

[harribobs]

Hi Paddy

i thought i had seen a similiar pic to your cretan one, what do you think about this one?

[/IMG]

i also thought that everyone might wish to read this from the official british report of the cretan resistance ( was his code name siphi?)

i hope you enjoy meeting up with your RAF mate, i am sure he'll have some stories to tell



bellytank

great film, shame it wasn't filmed in Crete!!!

you should walk the island it's a fantastic place and still relatively undiscovered, we walk all day in the hills and seldom see another soul

 

[harribobs]

interesting site, thanks

i liked the now and then photos, here's a now pic for you, the bridge at tavronitis next to maleme airfield

if you look at the stone pillars, you can still see the pock marks ffom the bullets and shrapnel

 

[BellyTank]

I have spent a bit of time there over the last 10 years- do you live on Crete, or what?
B
T

 

[PADDY]

That photo Harribobs...

ALL the same guys, bar my Uncle Joe! So guess who was probably taking the picture? that's amazing!!

 

[harribobs]

I have spent a bit of time there over the last 10 years- do you live on Crete, or what?
B
T

we usally spend around a month there every year generally on the south coast but we do travel around, with the intention of living there when it's possible

ALL the same guys, bar my Uncle Joe! So guess who was probably taking the picture? that's amazing!!

when i looked at your pic at first, i thought i recognised that guy waving but i was wrong, that is pavlos veradakis ( good cretan name) and the guy at the end is geoff barkham, joe has got to be behind the camera

regarding the site bellytank posted, fantastic images but i'm having a little spat with the owner regarding some 'untruths' posted there

what fun!

cheers

chris