World War 2, Middle East, 2/11 Battalion, GREENWAY, MITCHELL 1941

George James Greenway was awarded the Military Cross: On 1st June when our troops surrendered in CRETE Lt. Greenway made his way to the South coast with two other officers and twelve O.R's, in the hope of finding craft to leave the island. A Blenheim flew over them and though their signals were answered and rations dropped it was the last British plane they saw and they spent the next two months avoiding German patrols in the hills and signalling out to sea whenever they could get on to a beach to do so. On the night of 28/29 August one of H.M. submarines approaching the shore saw their signals and after small parties of escapers had been collected from the district; they swam out to her and were taken to ALEXANDRIA which they reached on 1 August 1941. Undaunted by his hardships when GHQ ME called for a volunteer to go back to CRETE in November to evacuate escapers Lt. GREENWAY at once offered his services and finding this scheme had been abandoned agreed without hesitation to go to the Greek mainland instead for the same purpose. From the 15th Dec. when he reached CYPRUS till his return on the 27th March, Lt. GREENWAY did courageous work as a member of the small team of volunteers who made a series of trips through the Greek islands in order to establish a line of communication between the islands and TURKEY. They established seven bases i.e. dumps of food and fuel enroute, useful contacts and collected much useful information. The whole operation was carried out under the nose of Axis patrols with whom contact was made on more than on occasion. They had to contend with obstruction lack of co-operation (they were told the Italians knew all their plans and it was madness to go back to the islands) and even open hostility from the TURKS - who fired on them on one occasion - and with very bad weather which forced them to places where they were in constant danger of capture by the Italian posts in order to land on the islands and establish dumps and obtain information. Italian E boats, planes and various craft were constantly patrolling among the islands so they could only travel at night. Once they narrowly escaped capture as they met heavy head winds and were caught in broad daylight eight miles off IKARIA. They headed for a small islet however and shortly afterwards a fast naval caique came from LEROS and carefully searched the adjoining island. They had been seen from IKARIA and reported by wireless but the patrol had searched the wrong place. Lt. GREENWAY'S final task of evacuating Greek refugees from TURKEY was highly praised by his commander, Capt. PARISH who paid the following tribute:
"For the entire period half of which was spent in enemy waters he carried out every command I gave him with efficiency and his practical knowledge of seafaring was of great assistance. He lived abroad H.M.S. Evangelistria a small Greek caique of seven tons; for over seventy days without once applying to come ashore, which I think in itself deserves considerable praise. Finally I placed him in command of H.M.S. Agian Demetrius a Greek fishing trawler of some twenty tons with orders to proceed from CHESME, a small port in North West Turkey, to CYPRUS, carrying seventy-seven Greek refugees making in all with his crew eighty-three men on board. This he successfully accomplished and thereby saved these Greeks from starvation and possibly death from the Germans had they been shipped back to their islands, and also what is perhaps of more importance from the point of the war effort he produced seventy-seven soldiers for the Allied armies.
Lt. GREENWAY not only showed spirit and initiative in volunteering to return to Greece, but carried out his task bravely and efficiently". He died on 4 October 1980 at WA, Australia, at age 77.4