Evening star., 1941-04-23

proclamation by King.
King George made his fateful an
nouncement in a lengthy proclama-
tion in which he appealed to the
Greek people to keep up their cour-
age even during this painful mo-
ment of our histories"
The right of our struggle and God
will help us to secure by all means
a final victory in spite of the trials,
pains and dangers which we shall go
through" the sovereign concluded.
Remain faithful to the idea of
united and undivided free country,
intensity your will, oppose Greek
pride to enemy force and enemy
temptations. Have courage-good
days will come again. Long live the
nationl"
The Kings statement in full said:
The hard destinies of war COM
pei us to get away from Athens to-
gether with the Crown Prince and
lawful government of the country
and to transfer the capital of the
country to Crete. whence we shall be
able to continue the fight which is
the will of the nation and the duty
OF safeguarding the independence
and integrity imposed upon us and
undertaken after unprovoked ag-
gressions of which we have been the
object by two empires.
Our will, the Will of the govern
ment and of the Greek people hav-
ing been manifested in various ways
so far mean resistance to the end on
the part Of Greek troops, which, de-
spite the unequal fight. particularly
after the German invasion, have
Stubbornly fought beside the Eng
lish allies who rushed help to us and
are still fighting on Greek territory
for the sake of the right cause.
"Heroism Inconceivable."
"Our troops. exhausted from the
hard and victorious war which they
had been waging for six months
against much stronger enemy and
having written the most glorious
pages of our military history, con-
tinued the fight against the Ger
mans with inconceivable heroism
I'VE do not yet know in what con-
dition exactly our army of Epirus
has been found and signed an arm
istice with the enemy without our
knowing it.
This act in no way binds the
free will of the nation, the King
and the government, which consists
of a continuation of the struggle
with all remaining forces with a
view to securing the supreme ma
tional interests.
Being compelled to proceed to
Crete, I do it only in order that
freely and from Greek territory we
may be able to continue to fight
against the invaders until the final
victory, which will crown full the |
great sacrifices of the nation.
do not lose your courage, Greeks, !
even during this painful moment of
our history. We shall always be
among you.
The right of our struggle and
God will help us to secure by all
means final victory in spite of the
trials, pains and dangers which we
shall 60 through in the meantime.
Remain faithful to the idea of a
united and undivided, free country.
Intensity your will, oppose Greek
pride to enemy force and enemy
temptations. Have courage-good
days will come again. Long live
the nation"
Addressing the nation as he and
other members of the government
prepared to follow King George to
Crete, Premier Emmanuel Tsouderos
called Italy a "cowardly colleague"
of Germany and told the Greeks to
"be sure that soon brilliant ma
tional day will break"
In this so hard but so great
moment" his proclamation said in
part, g" I feel obliged to say
that I am really proud of this ma
tional political unity, which
manifests the steadfast will of all
of us not to surrender to the in
yader."
Battle Centers at ThermOpylae.
Meanwhile, in the lower Greek
peninsula a modern battle of plung-
ing tanks and chattering guns CEN
tered at historic Thermopylae while
swarms of Stukas smashed at
Southern Greece's ports
The Germans apparently were
timing their new onslaught against
the re-established allied right wing
in the Lokris Mountains with an
all-out attempt to isolate Greece
from overseas contacts by pounding
ports and showering bombs on every
type of shipping off the coast.
Athens alone mad seven alarms in
the "a hours up to midnight last
night; anti-aircraft fire and bomb