Children’s writer uncovers Anzac tale of royal rescue
A new children’s book aims to keep the collective memory of the Anzacs alive by enthralling a new generation, but its author hopes adults will learn something from it too.
In The King’s Medal, 10-time awardwinning children’s author Maria Gill has brought to life a lost tale of how Kiwi soldiers saved the King of Greece, escorting him through mountains besieged by Nazi paratroopers. Gill learnt of the tale while reading soldiers’ journals as research for another book, Anzac Heroes, which won the Margaret Mahy Award in 2016.
Her latest book is about an aged man who tells his young grandson about his time on the island of Crete during World War II.
Adolf Hitler had been determined to capture King George II of Greece because he had not supported the Nazi regime despite having German relatives.
The only thing that stood between his majesty and Hitler’s revenge was a group of wounded Anzac soldiers who would trek for days through the snow-capped mountains.
By a stroke of good fortune, Gill had been at the National Army Museum when she came across the elderly son of a soldier who had been part of the daring mission to rescue royalty. He backed up most of the journal’s account and more.
He was also crucial for depicting the medals awarded to the Anzacs as records had been lost by the Greek government.
There were no photos taken during the rescue mission in 1941, so Gill visited Crete herself to accurately depict the scenery to her young readers. ‘‘My daughter had also turned 21 and decided to travel to Europe, so I said, ‘Why don’t we meet in Greece?’ ’’
Gill had a personal connection with Crete, having briefly lived there in her 20s. She found that even today the Cretans have a ‘‘fondness’’ of New Zealanders and recognise the assistance provided during the war.
Gill walked through the same canyon the Anzacs trekked through, imagining the guns of Nazi snipers glinting atop winding ridges.
‘‘What relief the Anzacs must have felt once they arrived at the other side and saw the sea and their passage to safety.’’
The soldiers who escorted the king were injured, so they would have slowly hobbled along dry riverbeds, although Gill’s daughter completed the canyon in four hours, she said.
The book has been illustrated by Ta¯ kaka-based artist Alistair Hughes. He chose the medium of watercolour for its ‘‘warmth’’.
Hughes said he had contacted the Manawhenua Ki Mohua trust in Golden Bay to help him find real people to base his illustrations on. An eager kuia volunteered her grandson and put Hughes in touch with Tahi Takao, QSM, who was a Korean War veteran.
‘‘They had such a great rapport . . . There was one particular pose where Tahi mimicked the use of a rifle in the kitchen, and it brought the story to life,’’ Hughes said.
The book is aimed at children aged 8 to 12 for study at school, but Gill hoped that grandparents and children could share the story.
The story is also one of the few ‘‘positive’’ tales to come out of the Anzac experience, which was largely defined by heavy tolls and misery in the trenches.
The King’s Medal was supposed to launch in October last year but was stopped by the Covid-19 lockdown.
This weekend Maria Gill will be in her hometown signing copies at Matakana Village Books. The book is available at major book stores and online at Mighty Ape.