The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

look pretty tough after all these wars, as witness this new picture made in his native Ethiopia. the docks, fired & Greek munitions ship, machine gunned every yard Of road and every acre of ground, hew out to sea to attack ships.
 With the early evening came word that transports were on the way. We walked four miles In a winding col- uinn of British, Australian and New Zealand troops and air force men.
 We reached the shore where we were to embark and stood by as one of the three transports in our con- voy tried to get itself out of the mud in which 1t had grounded. At last the grounded ship was left to get off as best it could and the Ill., 800 men and women in our group crowded into two transports, which were surrounded by cruisers and de- stroyers.
 We watched the signalmen wig wag signals among themselves and watched for German planes. Moth. ing happened and we left on sched- ule.
 Officers Saved Them
 Just before we left, one of our barges overturned. Two of the ships officers diVed and rescued the heavi- ly accoutered troops who fell from 1t.
 Our own authorization was corn- paratively eventless but many of the troops fought right to the beaches.
 The rear guard fought through a hail of bombs and machine gun fire, and through parachute troops, to board fleets of motorboats, barges and Greek fishing boats which the British navy had assembled to take them of.
 Many reached the beaches one mile and a half ahead of over- whelmingly strong German forces, and got away safe.
 With one part of the rear guard were 150 Australian and New Zea:: Ind nurses. Forty of the nurses had volunteered to remain with the wounded. The general commanding their contingent ordered them to leave.
 The nurses spent two hours in a wheat field near Corinth, and nine hours crouching behind gravestones in cemetery, to escape the bombs and bullets of German dive bom- bers.
 An anti-aircraft major told us that four of his five guns were put out of action by the dive bombers and the fifth ran out of ammouni. ton.
 Sergeant Was Bridge
 A Royal Afr Force officer de- scribed how some wounded were taken off In row boats to big flying boats. One husky sergeant lay with his legs in the boat and held on to the seaplane, forming a bridge With his back over which the wounded were passed in Stretchers.
 The officer silid the wounded were kept moving until the ships avail- able were filled. Then they would be taken on to the next beach. The last 52 were put Into seaplanes.
 Dutch naval officers whose ship was sunk by a dive bomber said that they had 2,000 men aboard.
 Every man was sayed.' one Of them said. "The ship sank In 75 minutes. Destroyers and life boats came alongside and took them off to other craft. It was marvellous to see how cool the soldiers were"
 On the voyage over we fought off German planes but our convoy was a big one. At one time we could see 23 British warships on the horizon, including battleships and an air. craft carrier.
 Gorrell who had been i'll of Ma laria, collapsed as he embarked. He was put to bed and tended by a nurse who stood by with life bel: on.
 The ship trembled as destroyers around 1t dropped depth charges at intervals to blast any lurking sub- marine.
 You couldn't swim now, but nev- CT mind-you're with the navy" the nurse commented.
 The warships drove off two fleets of dive bombers and brought down one, aflame.
 The convoy steamed on, on its 8 hour voyage, zig tagging to escape submarines and planes, It's anti-air- craft guns roaring.
 The ships were crowded to the rigging. But in the lounge of ours, a British Tommy started playing the piano. Australians and New Zea- flanders, and 8 group of British chil- dren, gathered round.
 Children Gleeful
 It was daylight now. The sum- mery blue sky was marked by fleecy clouds and puffS of smoke from eX- 'ploding shells. Some of the children watched from the port holes,, shout ing with glee. The guns died down, and the children at the port holes joined those at the piano. The Tom my at the piano started playing Rule, Brittania," and the soldiers and the children shouted out, Brit ons never shall be slaves"
 There were many children in the toddler stage aboard. A tin-hatted Australian nurse, trim and efficient looking, brought up the youngest, a baby of 10 months. It had been three days and three nights in an open boat with its parents.
 Blue eyed, flaxen haired, called 'pinkie" by those aboard, it lay in the nurses arms, one thumb in its mouth. It played with a button on McMillan's correspondent uniform and opened its eyes wide as a Brit ish fighter plane, which had taken off from an aircraft carrier, spiraled near us, its motor roaring deafen-