I haven’t had much of a chance to skim through the news pages this week because I have been on holiday on the Greek island of Crete. Packed with places to visit, from the Minoan palace of Knossos to Byzantine castles and Venetian fortresses, the island is steeped in history.
But at a large number of these sites a more recent historical event looms. The German invasion of Crete in 1941 dominates the historical scenery of Crete. Fortresses and castles were damaged in the fighting as caves and gorges became bases for resistance. The story of one man during the war stands out from the rest. George Psychoundakis was a true hero, known around the world as the Cretan Runner whose story is filled with bravery, tragedy and an unconquerable sense of humour. Perhaps the most interesting twist to the Pscychoundakis story is that he went on to become the caretaker of the local German war cemetery, which he kept immaculately tended, despite the hardships that he faced under German occupation.
I got the chance to visit both the German and Commonwealth cemeteries in Crete, both poignant monuments to bravery and a reminder of the scale of human tragedy in war. But perhaps the most touching monument to the resistance to German occupation of Crete strangely stands in a small town in Western Australia. The chapel in Prevelly Park is dedicated to the monks of the Preveli monastery in Crete, who despite the threat of recrimination from the German occupiers, sheltered hundreds of Commonwealth troops, allowing them to be evacuated by submarine. I personally haven’t seen a monument that is a more moving tribute to heroism in war, but has anyone else visited a war memorial that stood out as a tribute to the bravery and tragedy of war?