‘Duty’ to return to Crete
When the New Zealand Government decided not pay for 93-year-old Sandy Thomas’s trip to Crete as guest speaker at the 72nd anniversary of the battles for Crete in World War II, it sparked a public outcry.
Donors sent him money and a Government official told him 5000 calls had flooded in support, Thomas told The Press yesterday.
The reaction caused the Government to reverse its decision, and it even agreed to pay his fare for business-class travel.
The army officer from Motueka was awarded the Military Cross for continuing to lead his men when severely wounded in the battle of Galatas, Crete, 72 years ago.
He was captured by the Germans but escaped weeks later and rejoined his 23 Battalion in North Africa. He became the New Zealand Army’s youngest battalion commander there.
After World War II he joined the British Army and rose to the rank of general, Commander of British Far East Land Forces, based in Singapore.
The people of Crete have never forgotten him or the thousands of Kiwis who faced overwhelming odds in their effort to save Crete from German aerial invasion.
He recently received an invitation from the viceregional governor of Chania to visit as guest speaker for
Honoured: the 72nd anniversary on May 25. Thomas, who now lives in Australia, is adamant he must go.
‘‘The people of Crete opened their doors and hearts to us, even though they knew the Germans would shoot their whole families and leave them lying at the scene for three weeks,’’ he said. ‘‘ We owe them a hell of a lot. We should never forget them.
‘‘I honestly think there is a duty to go . . . They love the Kiwis. They treated us like gods.’’
Thomas wants to travel first class to make the trip bearable. On his last trip, he suffered swollen legs that required a three-day break at Dubai.
He expects the Government’s response to his request for first-class flights will be a shriek of ‘‘that bloody Sandy Thomas again’’.