23 replies to this topic

[Karl]

I am writing a book about Crete, and need some information. I took the attached photo of a World War II memorial in 2000. It is in a small village the Nomos of Chania, but I have never been able to find it again. Can anyone tell me where the statue is to be found?

Åõ÷áñéóôþ ðïëý.

 Dancing_Warriors_4.jpg   42.75KB   136 downloadsMy attempt to upload the photo failed. I will try again, but in case it doesn't work, it is a photo of four Cretan men, each holding a rifle, dancing on the body of a dead enemy. It is in the Nomos of Chania, but I have not been able to remember or locate the village it is in since I took the photo in 2000.

[Wim]

Hi Karl,

Maybe this site can be some help to find out about the war in Crete and the resistance.

[Tim]

New one to me, would be interested to know more about it too.
Tim

[Karl]

I finally figured out wher the photo was taken. The word Panayia appeared at the head of a list, but what immediately preceded it was not in the photo, and I thought it was a refenrence to Ayia Panayia (a church, or simply a dedication). But I ultimately realized that it might be the village of Panayia, and confirmed it by finding this web page:

http://users.otnet.g...tis_pangias.htm

The page commemorates the Battle of Panayia, 12-14/11/1944. The statue itself is to the resistance as well.

I think everyone who tried to help me find the location.

[harribobs]

Hi Karl

yeah i'm pretty sure it commemorates the german attack on the ELAS HQ at panayia

Tim,
we looked into this on interkriti but didn't have a picture of it at the time, i think i dug out some information from god knows where..possibly the british official report on the war in crete, i'll have a look

chris

[harribobs]

this is a good source of information btw

Attached Files

•  PN_38_crete.jpg   186.99KB   47 downloads

[poppypiper]

We Englishmen are constantly confused with the Greek use of thre letters 'y' and 'g'. The mystery of the dancing warriors is just one exammple. In my September pilgrimage to Crete I will be playing my pipes in tribute to at the less well known civilian memorials. Instinct tells me the Panag(y)ia memorial I will visit is on the road from Chania to Theriso .................
Bill Jenkins
Liverpool UK

[poppypiper]

Hi Karl,

Me again. The lone piper. It's not easy is it ? I know there is a memorial in ZAROS but can I pinpoint it ?????
I am struggling with a website written in German at the moment and have finally mastered the transpaltion BUT although it mentions some twenty memorials there is no mention of Zaros. Another frustration is a Gooogle sight which reads NEWER SIGHTS: WAR MEMORIAL-CRETE. TOURNET. When I log on I get a few seconds of a list of villages with war memorials. The site flashes off and I am left frustrated to know that there is what I am looking for but it is snatched away befor I can read it. Any ideas. Can anyone get this site and email it to me ?????

[poppypiper]

Hi Dave

Thanks for the try. Your information was spot on BUT exactly the same result. Page comes up for a few seconds and then dissapears. I know I am a nuisance (can't spell either) but can anyone give any more suggestions >????

Bill Jenkins

[harribobs]

Newer sights war memorials

* Village of Kandanos add/remove 'Village of Kandanos' to/from my brochure Location of area on Crete Map Area Kandanos
In the Greek and Roman periods a city called Kandanos or Kandania flourished here. Its position is not certain, but most people believe that it was at the...

* War Monument add/remove 'War Monument' to/from my brochure Location of area on Crete Map Area Arvi
At the top of the road descending to Arvi there is a war monument to the men, women, and children the Germans executed in reprisal for the Resistance in t...

* War Memorial add/remove 'War Memorial' to/from my brochure Location of area on Crete Map Area Kato Simi
At the entrance to the village is a war memorial dedicated to the 358 men from the nearby villages executed by the Germans for resistance activities durin...

* War Memorial add/remove 'War Memorial' to/from my brochure Location of area on Crete Map Area Laki
Further on the road to Omalos is a memorial plaque to World War II resistant fighters killed by the Germans. The New Zealander Dudley Perkins (Kiwi or Vas...

* Elafonisi Islandadd/remove 'Elafonisi Island' to/from my brochure Location of area on Crete Map Area Elafonisi
This lovely islet was the site of a massacre of 850 women and children by the Turks in 1824. The women and children were hidden there and as the Turks cam...

* War Monument add/remove 'War Monument' to/from my brochure Location of area on Crete Map Area Vrises - Apokoronas
A monument of a Cretan fighter in the centre of the village commemorates the revolt of 1897 that led to the autonomy of Crete.

[harribobs]

Elafonissi



Kandanos

[poppypiper]

Thanks for all your help. I am now able to plan my journey through Crete. Some thirty locations on my list now. I know there are more but I will try my best. VATHI has a special attraction for me but more of that later. I can not plan my accomodation and will take it as it comes. I am packing a sleeping bag just in case I get stuck somewhere. It won't be the first time I have slept under the stars ........................

[Wim]

BOB are you aware of the text on the Kandanos "memorial" ?

I translated it for you: literally.

Due to the bestial killing of German
Paratroopers Mountain Riflemen and
members of the Engineering Corps (Pionieren)
by men, women and children
together with the ...P.a.er? as well for
resisting the Great German Empire on
3-6-41 KANDANOS
was razed to the ground never
to be rebuild

The II. Battalion - which was intended as the regiments reserve - parachuted as planned into the area east of the Spilia and encountered no opposition. One reinforcement platoon had been dropped further west near Kastelli, and came down amongst two Battalions of Greek troops and large bands of armed civilians - the parachutists were almost annihilated; the odds were too great for the thirteen survivors who had to surrender. Their lives were saved by the intervention of a New Zealand officer in charge of the Kastelli sector. The bodies of the missing were found later-badly mutilated.

This is the original German text. I wonder who is responsible for the text on the marble tablet in the former thread for it is far more provocative towards the people of Kandanos.

This is the memorial site in Kandano.

And this the village as seen by Paratroopers...



For more info check this site
Gebirgs Jäger

[harribobs]

thanks Wim, i did a rough translation of it some years ago but i don't know where it is now, my german is just about good enough to get the meaning without the detail

could the missing word be " priest"? or something on that line? the group that carried out the ambush on the Germen troops at Floria were lead by a father from Paleohora

i don't know if this answers your question about the marble tablet



chris

[Wim]

Yes Bob, it could be "Pfarrer" which is the German word for pastor. So the next text is a translation from the marble plate at the right, in plain English.

Kadanos was ruined as
repayment for the bestial
murdering by men, women,
children and a pastor of
Paratroopers and Enginineers
as well as for resisting the
Great German Empire
on 3-6-41.
To never be rebuild again.

However the original one placed by the Germans and the copy in the memorial reads: translated into plain English

Kadanos was ruined
as repayment for the bestial
murder out of an ambush by
armed men and women on
a platoon Paratroopers and
a half platoon men of an
Engineering Corps

The man who copied the original must have been a German prisoner of war who thought that no one could tell the difference.

[harribobs]

and perhaps adding a little colour to it!



father stylianos frantzeskakis of Paleohora

[poppypiper]

Here I go again. Nice to get people to discuss events that some would rather sweep under the carpet. This way we can get our kids to know what really happened. I have been the cause of panic in high places with my 'pricking of conciences'. Example: 2007 standing outside British Emassy in Nepal playing my pipes and demanding to know why 'they' had cancelled Remembrance Sunday ? Eventually ir was UNCANCELLED and The Ministry Of Defence wrote to assure me it would not happen again.
Another line for discussion now - What happened to the chilren of VATHI ????? I will be visiting the village in September but it wiould help if I knew the facts.
Bill J
Liverpool

[harribobs]

vathi? is that the village in kissamos?

[poppypiper]

Yes. It is near ELOS. There is a memorial and I believe there were, among others, three children burned alive in their home.

Bill J

[Wim]

Hi Poppy,

Is it possible to copy pictures of all your adventures, like the one in Nepal e.g. in this forum (or a blog?). I think we all love to see a poppy playing the bagpipe.

Do you by any chance know Piper Heidsieck?



Also some info in your members profile would do great. Than at least we know whom we're "writing" with.