In Arhanes and Anogia, following General Kreipe

In Arhanes and Anogia, in the footsteps of the kidnapped General Kreipe

On the morning of 21st of May 2005, five British men arrived at Heraklion airport. Five hours later I met up with them at Knossos, the former rural residence of 'Micky' Akoumianakis, who was the Heraklion chief intelligence agent of the Resistance against the German occupation army in Crete.

The group of Brits consisted of Alun Davis, Richard Cooper, John Ellis Roberts, Chris Pool and Tim Todd. Tim has visited Crete for many years now and is passionate and knowledgeable about the history and the actions of the British and Cretan Resistance Forces in Crete in World War 2.

The rest of the team was visiting Crete for the first time but they had come to honour it in their own unique way. They would walk on the mountains of Crete in the footsteps of the kidnappers of the German General Kreipe, commander of Crete 60 years ago.  Their walk started at Drosia, where the abductors abandoned the car of Kreipe, from there on to the summit of Mt. Ida and finally to Rodakino in southern Rethymno, where Kreipe was taken off in a British motor launch to Egypt.

Every one in the group had studied the kidnapping in great detail and was determined to follow every step and detail of the abductors, even sleeping in the same caves on Psiloritis (Mt Ida).  They carried a WW2 map, with detailed notes from Sir Patrick (Paddy) Leigh Fermor written on it. Paddy was the English agent who organised and executed the kidnapping of Kreipe.

My contact with the   English group is via Tim Todd, a friend of mine for many years. Tim had all the information for the retracing, so he and his companions made arrangements to meet with me, and agreed that I would accompany them for the first 2 days.

The first day (Saturday of 21 May) was dedicated to visiting Villa Ariadne, the residence of Kreipe, the crossroads on the way to Arhanes where the abductors disguised as German soldiers stopped the car of Kreipe and kidnapped him, and finally the town of Arhanes, where the headquarters of Kreipe were. Later that day the  group travelled to Chania in order to watch the 64th anniversary of the Battle of Crete in the Allied Cemetery in the Gulf of Souda. Roughly 35   British Veterans of Battle of Crete attended the ceremony, together with a large number of relatives and friends.

- Villa Ariadni, the house of Arthur Evans, built in 1906 in the area of Knossos -

- the team in front of the monument at the exact location of the abduction of Kreipe -

The next day, 22 May was the beginning of a long journey. The group of four, Alun, Richard, John and Chris, began their long walk from Drosia, the place where Kreipe and his abductors began their walk. Tim's roll was one of support. We would meet up again in Anogia and Tim would meet them at various points on their route to render any assistance needed.

The first walk was completed in the afternoon of the 22nd and and we all met in Anogia.   The day before, I had informed the Mayor of Anogia Mr Nikos Xilouris, and Father Andreas   Kefaloyannis, about the visit of the four British men and they were expecting all of us. 

- Nikos Xilouris, the Mayor of Anogia -                         - Father Andreas Kefaloyannis -

The community of this very historical village greeted the group with joy.   Alun  brought  a commemorative gift for the Mayor, as well as a letter  in the hand of Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor ,  who was connected with the history and the people  of Anogia during the years he spent in Crete as a member of the Allied Special Operations Executive  (SOE) and was known by the codename Philidem.   It was a special moment when  Alun handed his mobile phone to the Mayor, and it was with great surprise and emotion that he heard  the voice of Paddy Leigh Fermor speak to him from the other end of line.

With the Mayor and Father Andreas we spent the whole evening. They gave us a tour of Anogia; we visited the unfinished monument for the victims of the 2nd World War and they brought us in contact with persons that experienced first hand the war and the absolute destruction of their town from the Germans for the help they offered to the resistance party that kidnapped Kreipe.

- the order for the destruction of Anogia -

- After the execution of Stefanoyannis (Anogia, 13-02-1944), his family found shelter on the mountains of Crete -

We learned new undiscovered aspects of history and enjoyed the genuine, generous Cretan hospitality. In the eyes of my British  friends was so obvious the surprise from the warm welcome of the people of Anogia and I must say I feel happy because I had the chance to help them see and share with them this aspect of the Cretan soul.

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