World War Two - Part 8

Greece Syria and Lebanon Palestine Germany

The King's Dragoon Guards' advance party arrived in an LST At the Piraeus in Greece on 19 December 1944. As the ship entered the harbour a Greek tug flying the royal flag preceded it, only to be shelled by a communist ELAS gun. The tug fled back to sea, whereupon a Greek submarine entered the harbour and shelled the gun. The LST then berthed and disgorged its load of troops, without any interference from the ELAS they were arriving to suppress. The staff had allotted the KDG an open field, but Colonel Lindsay was not prepared to accept such treatment and moved the regiment into some empty bomb damaged villas around the edge of Kalamaki airfield. The next day the KDG moved to billets in Glifadha two miles to the south, and near to Phaleron.

The War Diary described the local station:

The whole military set up is very queer, and the politics even queerer. The opposite army is ELAS, who are in fact a fairly orderly Radical party, now being run and dictated to by KKE, which is allegedly a thoroughgoing anarchist party. As they do not wear any uniform, and rely chiefly on furtive sniping, one cannot tell who is who, or where they are. We have a fair body of troops in Athens, but there is no sort of front line, as ELAS infiltrate all round and behind them. The main road to Athens from the sea is only safe to armoured cars by day, but by night convoys of supply vehicles go through unmolested.

Many British military installations had been sited around Athens in what had seemed to be the most appropriate places, without any thought that they might find themselves in the midst of a civil war and in hostile territory. On 21 and 22 December 'B' Squadron rescued REME workshops sited in a foundry in the Imittos district of southeast Athens. A blown bridge and roadblocks were dealt with, resulting in three ELAS being killed and three being taken prisoner, but 240 men and 130 vehicles were brought to safety. Over the following days a number of patrols were carried out: one by Lieutenant Dorell to Voula resulted in three more guerrillas killed and three captured, as well as one of their headquarters being destroyed; other patrols escorted Mr Churchill, Mr Eden and Field Marshal Alexander to Athens.

On Boxing Day ELAS attacked Kalamaki airfield, slightly wounding two KDG sentries and blowing up an armoured car on prepared charges, which wounded all three crew members. Patrols to the guerilla strongholds of Vari and Koropi resulted in a Daimler armoured car being blown up on the 26th, and two Daimlers and a Dingo on the 29th, all luckily without any casualties. On 31 December another rescue operation was successfully mounted to bring to safety 120 men of the 50th RTR, stationed ten miles east of Athens at Pallini wireless station, which provided the only direct link between Athens and London. Several roadblocks covered by sniper fire had to be cleared, resulting in fourteen ELAS killed and three prisoners being taken.

The hostilities had completely disrupted food supplies to the starving civilian population, and every squadron set up soup kitchens, with 1,000 meals being served each day. On 4 January 1945 a major raid was carried out on the ELAS stronghold of Peristeri: 'A' Squadron cleared roadblocks and captured a bridge intact, while Spitfires gave close support in strafing the enemy. 'C' seized another bridge , and then 'C' and 'D' dashed into Peristeri as the Elas soldiers, making themselves easy targets for the Spitfires, fled to the hills. Six lorries, forty-four rifles, 500 lb dynamite and boxes of ammunition were captured, and at least fifty casualties inflicted on the enemy.

By early in January ELAS had been expelled from Athens. At dawn on 6 January the KDG, with a squadron of the 40th RTR, the 2nd Beds and Herts, and supporting troops under command, set out for Thebes, to clear the whole of Attica of ELAS. 'D' Squadron, leading, had an easy run until reaching the Bay of Elevsis, where the road had been blown along a causeway and the point was covered by mortar and small arms fire. Eventually two troops found a way round by difficult tracks, taking the defenders in the rear, killing some and capturing eight prisoners. The two troops then moved back to the road to cover the RE's repairing the damage, before 'D' Squadron moved on to Aspropirgus, which was full of the enemy, who were promptly chased out into the hills. The rest of the regiment had entered Elevsis, where there was opposition from every direction. A sweep was made by the armoured cars and tanks, which collected a number of prisoners, but systematic clearing by the infantry was left to the morrow. 'B' Squadron was sent on to clear the villages of Mandra and Magoula and encountered resistance. A Sherman from 40th Tanks blew up on a mine, blocking the road behind two of 'B' Squadron's troops, which were only extricated after dark, when another tank came up to tow away the disabled Sherman. Colonel Lindsay decided to leaguer for the night on Elevsis aerodrome outside the town,; as the War Diary relates, it was 'much to the disgust of the Americans there', who tried to keep aloof from the operations in Greece.

On 7 January 'C' Squadron took the lead, 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade having arrived to clear Elevsis, and met no opposition driving through hilly country for the first fourteen miles. At the village of Oinoi the leading troop surprised a number of ELAS, while three support troops cleared the high ground. Both activities inflicted casualties on the enemy. Half a mile further on, at the entrance to the pass of Dryoschephalae, the road was blown at the entrance to a gorge, and the holdup was covered by fire from positions around the old fort of Eleutherae which wounded Sergeant Wait and a Sapper. In spite of a deterioration in the weather, RAF Spitfires gave close support, and with all the armoured cars and tanks shooting up the Communist positions, the ELAS soldiers incurred many casualties but hung on most bravely. When the pass was eventually forced, there was little daylight left and Colonel Lindsay decided to retire to Elevsis for the night, taking back thirty prisoners.

On the morning of the 8th 'A' Squadron found the pass undefended. The Greek Mountain Brigade came up to picket the hills on either side of the road, leaving the KDG to enter Thebes at 2 p.m. to a tumultuous welcome. 'A' and 'B' Squadrons spread out over the plain of Asopus, meeting some opposition and shooting up numerous retreating bands of guerrillas, but mainly collecting the now dispirited Andarte soldiers of ELAS - the bag for the day was 250. Civilian hostages were freed in Thebes and huge quantities of ammunition and explosives were captured. The following day 'B and 'D' Squadrons were dispatched to chase the enemy; 'B' reached Levadhia, and 'D' Khalkis, with both inflicting more damage on the fleeting enemy. 'B' picked up M. Partsalides, and 'D' M. Zevgos, both ELAS delegates sent south to ask for an armistice, and both were immediately escorted back to Athens. The KDG were then relieved by the 4th Reconnaissance Regiment, commanded by Colonel Delmege, himself a KDG.

On 9 January the KDG were ordered to return to Athens, making a sweep to the east en route. 'C' Squadron, leading, shot up 200 ELAS in a village but the Regiment made slow progress over very bad roads and several 'blows'. Marathon Dam was visited to ensure that it was still intact, and at Nea Zoryiani more arms and ammunition were discovered. The regiment arrived back at Glifadha on the 10th, having captured 470 prisoners, killed at least 222 ELAS, and taken 9 vehicles, 8 guns, 10 machine guns, 150 rifles, 75 tons of ammunition and explosives, and a bomb dump containing 195 bombs, varying in size from 50 to 1,000 kilos.

On 13 January The King's Dragoon Guards moved from Glifadha to excellent billets at the resort to Kifissia, ten miles north east of Athens, each squadron having a complete hotel to itself. On the 14th Major Macartney, returning from Athens, failed to hear the challenge of a sentry and was shot, dying from his wound. A few days later Trooper Pickles was shot dead by a Greek sentry.

On 21 January 1945 The King's Dragoon Guards held a parade church service on the Areopagus, by the Acropolis, on the spot where St Paul preached to the men of Athens. The band of the 4th Hussars played, and the Revd Macmanaway officiated. Although at the time the regiment could not know it, its wartime service had come to an end, and the Areopagus provided a fitting tribute to those KDG who had died or been wounded, and a thanksgiving for those who had survived.

The King's Dragoon Guards remained at Kifissia for the next three months, during which time 350 KDG who had served overseas for more than five years returned to England under the Python scheme. Python meant that the regiment was to lose ten of its senior officers and all its NCOs, with the exception of five sergeants and twenty corporals. On 18 April 1945 the KDG embarked at the Piraeus in the troopship Neuralia, bound for the Middle East, arriving at Beni Yusef camp outside Cairo on the 23rd. The regiment was re-equipped with Staghound armoured cars. Throughout May 1945 250 reinforcements were absorbed, replacing the men going home, and intensive training continued. On 23 May The King's Dragoon Guards left Egypt, driving north to Syria and the Lebanon, where trouble had broken out between the French and Arabs.

Syria and the Lebanon had been French Protectorates, but the Arab inhabitants, looking for independence, resented French attempts to restore colonial rule. As a result the French had reacted with force. The War Diary described the role of the KDG as 'to restore order in the event of trouble'. Over the next few months the regiment was spread over a huge area, with squadrons or troops at one time or another at Beirut, Damascus, Tripoli, Latakia, Tartous, Tel Kalakh, Soueida, Baalbek, Palmyra and Raqqa.

By 10 June 1945 'D' Squadron was patrolling Beirut and on the 12th 'A' Squadron went to Baalbek in the Bekaa valley. On 2 July 'B' Squadron was sent to Tel Kalakh near Tripoli to succour a French garrison which had been cut off, and where the situation remained extremely tense throughout the month. On the 3rd two troops of 'A' Squadron encamped on Damacus race course, their task being to escort high-ranking French officers who were otherwise unable to move about the town safely. Two troops of 'B' Squadron, known as Mannforce, went on the 6th to Latakia where the French had fired at a crowd, killing nineteen. The KDG then provided an escort for the victims' funerals in order to prevent further trouble. Mannforce, together with the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, was called to Banias on 10 July when the French opened fire on the town with mortars and machine guns; later Lieutenant Mann took a party to the Turkish froniter to bring back the horses and French officers of a French Tchekass Cavalry unit, whose men had deserted; on the 14th another detached troop went to Tartous where more trouble was expected. Throughout July there was trouble at Latakia, Banias and Tripoli, when numbers of the locally recruited Troupes Speciales constantly deserted, causing the French to fire on them and the Syrians to return fire, with the KDG holding the ring in between.

Early in August 'B' Squadron went to relieve the 3rd Hussars at Raqqa, in the northern Syrian desert east of Aleppo and on the River Euphrates. On 1 September 'C' Squadron had to intervene at Tartous when some Syrians opened fire on a party of Frenchmen, killing an officer and wounding two sergeants. At the beginning of October the KDG squadrons came together and moved to Palestine. They were first stationed at Lajjun before being distributed over northern Palestine, RHQ and 'B' Squadron at Rosh Pinna, seventeen miles north of Tiberias, 'A' at Tiberias, 'C' at Haifa and 'D' at Acre. All squadrons were fully engaged in an internal security role, which included establishing cordons around settlements, road blocks, searches and escort duties. By November squadron situations had changed: RHQ was still at Rosh Pinna and 'A' at Tiberias, but 'B' had moved to Camp 260 near Nahariya with the 3rd Grenadier Guards, and with two troops stationed in Jerusalem as the High Commissioner's escort; 'C' remained at Haifa, while 'D' were now at Rosh Pinna with two troops at Metulla.

With the surrender of all the German forces in Italy, The Queen's Bays moved on 15 May 1945 from south of the River Po to Monselice north of the river, and then on the 20th to Pegi on the River Isonzo to be a part of the occupying force taking over Venezia Gulia from the Jugoslavs During August another move was made - to Sagiletto, south of Palmanova, where the 2nd Armoured Brigade was concentrating before sending home time-expired men. On 26 August 225 time-expired men of the Bay's left for England. Young reinforcements arrived to make good this loss of experienced and battle-trained soldiers, and the time was spent in bringing the newcomers up to regimental standards. A threat from Communist Italian partisans caused the Bays to move to Valdagno, north west of Vicenza, in September, where they remained until 13 June 1946. On 6 March 1946 Lieutenant Colonel Sykes took over command of the regiment from Lieutenant Colonel Asquith.

On 13 June 1946 the Bays moved to the Italian barracks in Palmanova, taking over from the 7th Hussars. Their role was to support the Cameron Highlanders in any show of force that might be needed in the face of Jugoslav designs on Venezia Gulia. This move was meant to be temporary but, as so often with Army life, became rather more extended. The regiment remained at Palmanova for a full year, sailing for Egypt on 13 June 1947. On arrival at Port Said the Bays went into a tented camp at Fanara, and were told that they were to be reduced to a cadre of 33 officers and 146 other ranks. A parade on 13 September 1947 saw the disbandment of 2nd Armoured Brigade. the following day Lieutenant colonel Savill arrived to take over command of the Queen's Bays from Lieutenant Colonel Sykes. The tanks were handed in on 29 September and drafts of men were sent to The King's Dragoon Guards, the 4/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, the 3rd Hussars and the 15/19th Hussars. On 30 November 1947 15 officers and 187 other ranks embarked at Port Said in the SS Samaria, disembarking at Liverpool after being played in to the quayside by the band.