The Cretan Runner
His Story of the German Occupation
New York, NY : The New York Review of Books, [2015]
Format: Book
Description: xi, 330 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm.
"George Psychoundakis was a twenty-one-year-old shepherd from the village of Asi Gonia when the battle of Crete began: "It was in May 1941 that, all of a sudden, high in the sky, we heard the drone of many aeroplanes growing steadily closer." The German parachutists soon outnumbered the British troops who were forced first to retreat, then to evacuate, and Crete fell to the Germans. So began the Cretan resistance and the young shepherd's career as a war-time runner. In this unique account of Resistance life, Psychoundakis records the daily life of his fellow-Cretans, his treacherous journeys on foot from the eastern White Mountains to the western slopes of Mount Ida to transmit messages and transport goods, and his enduring friendships with British officers (like his eventual translator Patrick Leigh Fermor) whose missions he helped to carry out with unflagging courage, energy, and good humor"-- Provided by publisher.
Series: New York Review Books classics.
Contents:
The battle and after. The Battle of Crete ; The wandering English; The first Germans in my village ; Three boys burn an aeroplane ; Commander Pool ; The march to Preveli Monastery ; A senior officer ill -- English espionage. The coming of Mr Jack Smith-Hughes ; The aeroplane with the stores ; The second drop ; At the cave of the winds ; Manoli and Vangelli ; Rumours ; Shifting the wireless station ; Colonel Papadakis and Mr Aleko (Xan Fielding) ; In the White Mountains and the arrival of Mr 'Michali" (Patrick Leigh Fermor) ; At Photeinou : Mr Tom Dunbabin's lair on Mount Ida ; The capture of our wireless operator ; The return of Mr Alko ; The Germans are after me ; The raid at the beehive hut ; Escape -- Flight into Egypt. To Alexandria and Cairo ; The beauties of Cairo ; A pilgrim to the holy places ; In the church of the All Holy Sepulchre ; At Bethlehem ; Other pilgrimages -- Back to Crete. The return ; From free territory to Crete in chains ; Crossing the White Mountains ; A small incident in the Samaria Gorge ; The fight at Tsilívdika ; Mr Pavlo (Dick Barnes) ; At Dyadé ; New bands of guerrillas ; An alarm in the hideout ; In search of a new lair, and the capture of our cook ; The mission ; The capture of the German general ; The theft of the gold ; A quick visit to the underworld ; The dark cave and sabotage ; The drop at Arkadi ; The burning of the Kedros villages ; All the Germans in Canea ; Trouble in Retimo ; In western Crete ; The changeover.
ISBN:
9781590179048
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
HISTORY War WWII Psy | Southeast | Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references and index.