Focus

and the Lost Campaign

Trevor Fisher

North Africa. But victories in the desert Following the successful filming could not compensate for expulsion of his book ‘Charlie and the from the European continent or Chocolate Factory’, Roald Dahl has counteract the disasters in Norway an international reputation as a and France. When Mussolini decided children’s writer. There is, however, to invade Greece through Albania in a macabre dimension to his writing October 1940, this seemed to Churchill’s underlined by his successful TV series government an opportunity to take ‘Tales of the Unexpected’. Dark the fight against the Axis back on to episodes in Dahl’s highly successful European soil. career touched his life with tragedy. The decision was at least in part This is clearly the case over his war designed to bolster confidence that experiences as a fighter ace in the Britain had the ability to fight alone darkest hours of World War Two. against the Axis. Alas, the Greek experience was as negative as the In his early twenties, Dahl was an previous campaigns. Consequently RAF fighter pilot in the Near East. historians have tended to regard the He joined up late in 1939 at a time Greek Campaign as nothing more than when British forces were fighting the a blind alley. A J P Taylor, in the Oxford Axis alone. After commissioning History of England, for example, argues he was ordered to North Africa to the campaign was launched “on political fly against the Italians. Before he and sentimental grounds,” not military had a chance to fight, he crashed ones, devoting only a paragraph to its in the desert and was temporarily genesis and development. blinded. After a painful recovery he Yet to the men who fought in Greece was retrained and sent to Greece. His the disaster was something more than first actual combat was in the Greek a side show best forgotten. Despite campaign which was a wholesale realising the campaign was doomed, disaster. Though Dahl wrote about they fought with courage, skill and his experiences even his fame has not determination. Even before the British lifted the veil which has shrouded actually engaged the Germans, it was British intervention in Greece and abundantly clear to men in the front line which deserves to be lifted. like Dahl that the Greek expedition was destined to be a lost cause. This did not shake their resolve. n the period following the Dunkirk Ievacuation, the British took comfort Dahl’s introduction to Greece from successes against the Italians in Dahl had volunteered for the RAF in November 1939, training to fly Gladiators. On being commissioned on 5 October 1940, Dahl was posted to 80 Roald Dahl in RAF uniform, 1941. Squadron, then on the Libyan-Egyptian Images reproduced courtesy of RDNL border. His first attempt to join his

22 The Historian / Autumn 2007 squadron ended in disaster. Given the naval power led them to believe they Battle of Britain had made him a wrong location, he ran out of fuel and could maintain an expeditionary force veteran. Coke took Dahl under his crashed with such force that his face in the peninsula against the Germans, wing, outlining the differences between was smashed and he was temporarily and 60,000 troops were earmarked for the Battle of Britain and flying in blinded. Luckily he was picked up by Greece. They were totally outmatched Greece. Over Kent, the RAF had had soldiers from a British regiment and when Hitler diverted a force ten times radar and efficient radio telephone. taken back to where he was the size of the British forces to prevent The Commanding Officer flew with given the best surgery available, and the British gaining a foothold in the his pilots and new men were paired patched up ready for battle. . Once the Germans attacked with experienced flyers. None of this Dahl was fit to fly again by March on 6 April the British were applied in Greece. There were no radio 1941. The Italian offensive in North setting a very puny David to fight a very communications with the ground. Africa had been blunted and the British large Goliath. A pilot had to fight his way out of felt they could open second front in When Dahl arrived in Greece, trouble alone and, against the Junkers Greece after the Italian invasion of British troops were already retreating. 88 bomber, the RAF was at a distinct October 1940. The Uptton cartoon in The British airforce in Greece, some disadvantage. The Germans were using The Daily Sketch underlined the British 200 planes, had achieved great success tracer shells so they could see where belief in sea power and, while British against the poor quality Italian airforce. they were aiming. The Hurricanes fired aid was initially confined to outdated But the strain on the outdated planes bullets and, if these did not get an engine aircraft, by the time Dahl joined the had been considerable and when the instantly, the attack had failed. When conflict the decision had been made to German attack began, only 80 were attacking a Ju88 the attack had to be send a major force of troops and more serviceable. Dahl thought a large made from well below or the Hurricane modern aircraft to counter the threat of number of modern planes were to be would be exposed to devastating fire. a German invasion. Events were to prove sent to bolster the handful of Hurricanes Coke outlined a survival strategy. that sea power was not enough against a already in Greece. He was mistaken. He Despite Coke’s good advice, when superb modern army. was the sole reinforcement. Dahl made his first attack two days later Dahl was ordered to retrain on When he landed at airfield he forgot not merely what Coke had Hurricanes and rejoin his squadron in near , he was confronted by an told him, but the elementary rule that Greece. It was at this point that Dahl unpleasant reality. Already suffering attacks were made out of the sun. In began to grasp the inadequacy of British physically—at six feet six inches tall, the excitement of his first attack, Dahl preparations to fight in the Balkans. Dahl contracted severe cramp if strapped went straight for six Ju88s in line, at He was allowed only two days to train into his plane for any length of time the same height and with the sun in his on the new plane and, after a little —ground staff added mental discomfort. eyes. All six bombers were formed up over seven hours practice, without any They told him that the Germans had in line abreast, allowing the six German preparation on combat tactics for an 1000 modern planes in Greece, while the gunners to aim at Dahl simultaneously. aircraft much more complex than any he RAF had only 80 planes that could fly. Only the fact that flying into a gap in the had flown before, he was sent to what he Greece was a disaster in the making to mountains forced the German pilots to quickly realised was a military disaster. rival those of 1940, but Dahl later noted go back into line saved Dahl from being that: subject to a lethal hail of bullets. By good The situation in Greece luck Dahl hit one of the engines of the The Italian invasion of Greece the it was not receiving the publicity that bomber bringing up the rear, downing previous October had triggered British Dunkirk had received because it was a the plane and forcing the aircrew to bail support for the Greeks. Churchill military bloomer best covered up. out, but he knew he had a miraculous promised their leader Metaxos that survival. “We will fight in a common cause and The failure in Norway had toppled The following day German fighters share a common victory”, but this was Chamberlain’s government. Dunkirk had arrived to defend the bombers and the little more than bombast. Britain was gone down in history as a heroic retreat. odds against him and his colleagues struggling to maintain an army in North But Greece was a disaster best ignored. became astronomical. After attacking Africa after the disasterous losses of Curiously Dahl was unfazed, being a second Ju88 he was chased by 30 or equipment incurred during the Dunkirk young enough not to feel fear, though 40 Messerschmitt 109 fighters and only evacuation, and initially the Greeks did he calculated the odds against his escaped by flying below tree top height not want British military support for fear surviving were 50 to 1. Dahl found thus daring the enemy to risk crashing of provoking a German invasion. his Commanding Officer impossible into local buildings. The Germans pulled Metaxos knew that the Germans, to talk to, saying that the man was out, knowing they were within striking then taking over the crucial oil rich state overwhelmed by the task before him, but distance of the Greek airfields and need of Rumania to the north, had the most he related easily to David Coke, a pilot take no risks. The next couple of days formidable army in Europe. The Greeks officer with whom Dahl shared a tent. were a blur in Dahl’s memory as the only wanted to fight Mussolini and When Coke discovered that Dahl had German Blitzkrieg swept south towards needed air support to bolster their forces no combat experience, he was horrified. Athens. The Times Correspondent on the Albanian front. The British sent Dahl was equally horrified when he was reported on the 19 April Blenheim bombers and Gladiator told that there would be no chance to bi-planes. These elderly machines, learn by flying with an experienced pilot: For two days I have been bombed, flown by gifted and determined pilots, he would be thrown into combat the machine gunned and shot at by all and did sterling service in the grim Balkans next day, alone, to sink or swim. sundry. Stukas have blown two cars winter of 1940-41. from under me and strafed a third…. However, when Metaxos died Sink or swim The Germans are using a fantastic suddenly a new and inexperienced Coke had been born as an aristocrat, amount of aircraft, more than I saw Greek government called for military being the second son of the Earl of in Norway under similar conditions of aid. The British over-confidence in Leicester, but his experiences in the terrain. Goering must have a third of

The Historian / Autumn 2007 23 Focus

his air force operating here, and it is to get airborne to relative safety, that Bill Vale. The others, who Dahl had bombing every nook and cranny… night the squadron had to evacuate to hardly come to know to any real extent, an emergency airfield on the coast. The simply vanished from sight. The bombing onslaught was relentless pilots argued they should clear out of Dahl understood from the start and the RAF was overwhelmed. Greece altogether and head for Crete that the Greek mission was doomed. Significantly, Dahl’s log book for the where the German fighters could not Few could have thought otherwise. Greek campaign is incomplete. Although reach them: but, despite the likelihood of The initial response of the British had a pilot had to keep the details up to annihilation, they were ordered to give been justified caution, with Winston date or face disciplinary action, for the cover to the Army to allow evacuation Churchill appreciating the dangers. At a Greek campaign the aircraft numbers are by the Navy. The consensus among the dinner party in December 1940 he had missing, indicating that the log book was pilots was that they were being sacrificed talked to his guests of a mythical future filled in later by which time Dahl had so that the propaganda machine could history which “denounced the criminal forgotten which planes he had flown. In argue that the gallant RAF “fought to the gambler who sent the divisions which Greece, nothing mattered but fighting last pilot and the last plane”. might have turned the scale against the and surviving. The situation was surreal. While German invasion at home, or… sent to By 20 April as the Germans stormed the commander in charge of the RAF Greece the aeroplanes which could have towards the Greek capital, the situation in Greece, Marshall d’Albiac, arrived to turned the North African campaign demanded an attempt to bolster Greek order them to another airfield 50 miles into a success”. However, he left the final morale. The British rallied the forces away at Argos, an ME 110 scouted the decisions to men who had been to the still left to them, merging the remnants camp and called up fighters to strafe scene and could make judgements at first of 33 and 80 Squadrons to bring every the airfield. Five of the Hurricanes hand. It was these men who threw Dahl Hurricane in Greece to bear under the managed to get airborne before the and his companions into the fray. command of the legendary squadron Messerschmitts attacked to destroy the Chief among these were Anthony leader Thomas ‘Pat’ Pattle, but this rest. They then fruitlessly looked for the Eden, the Foreign Secretary, and Sir totalled less than 20 planes. No one army they were supposed to be covering, John Dill, Chief of the Imperial General The failure in Norway had toppled Chamberlain’s government. Dunkirk had gone down in history as a heroic retreat. But Greece was a disaster best ignored. could doubt either the futility of the not realising the evacuation was further Staff. Both visited the Middle East exercise or the courage of the men who down the coast. The Germans had got and Eden travelled to Greece to meet carried it out. Pattle’s skill was legendary: this message, and were bombing with the leading politicians before backing but he was leading sadly inadequate systematic fury but 80 Squadron did not the expedition. The Chiefs of Staff in forces. see a German all day. That night Dahl the Eastern Meditteranean had been The conflict on 20 April became and Coke discussed their chances of sceptical initially, but their doubts were known as the , and it surviving and calculated they were nil. overcome in part because of the success stood out in Dahl’s mind when his other of Operation Compass in January 1941 memories blurred. The previous three Evacuation and disaster in rolling back the Italians in North days he had flown eight missions, and The authorities now accepted the Africa. Alas the plight of the Italians the squadron had lost 3 planes and their situation was hopeless. That evening only impelled Hitler to send Rommel, pilots, but while these missions were a the five most senior pilots were deputed who arrived to set up the Afrika Korps blur, the four missions he flew that day to fly the surviving five Hurricanes to in February. Greece became a side show. were different with the first being “a Crete. All the remaining pilots—and The British forces landed in Greece sheet of flame in my memory”. The tiny around a dozen fliers who had arrived were too few and the battle plan too group of fighters flew over Athens in from other parts of Greece—were to ill-conceived and badly co-ordinated to formation led by . They reached be flown out to the Western Desert. To have any chance against the Germans. 9,000 feet when they were attacked by Dahl’s relief he escaped to without The Germans had been planning their some 200 German ME109 and 110s. further trouble. When they arrived, the attack for months, and launched massive The formation broke into dozens of surviving pilots hitched a ride in a truck air forces against Yugoslavia and Greece, individual dog fights in which only going to Alexandria, and for Roald Dahl followed in classic Blitzkrieg fashion the sheer number of German planes the Greek episode was over. by overwhelming land attack. The air saved the British from annihilation as It was not over for the Army and the offensive was sustained and supremely the Germans got in each other’s way. Navy or the remnants of 80 Squadron effective while the British had inadequate Dahl’s plane was hit and he lost his left in Greece and Crete. The five forces to counter it. The RAF could rudder, but was able to limp home along remaining Hurricanes became involved muster only 80 serviceable planes to with David Coke. But five Hurricanes in the battle for the island of Crete, cover the whole of Greece, but calculated were destroyed and their pilots killed, whose loss was the final catastrophe that in the Balkans overall the Luftwaffe including Pat Pattle. for the British in the Balkans. The had 800 planes, with the Italians 310. In There was no respite. As Coke and strategically vital island had been fact the Germans had over 1250. Dahl stripped naked and washed in garrisoned when the Italians had Even as Dahl arrived in Greece, the cold water, a of Messerschmitt invaded Greece, and with the resources retreat had begun. The 17th Australian 109s strafed the airfield and only a lucky wasted on Greece could have been Brigade was the last to arrive, but on shot from a Bofors gun hitting one of held. Instead, it was lost to an airborne 16 April Wavell cancelled the orders the attackers drove them away. While German force. Dahl knew of only one for the Australian 7th Division and the remaining Hurricanes managed pilot from 80 Squadron who survived, the Polish division to go to Greece,

24 The Historian / Autumn 2007 recognising they were needed to fight British that command of the seas Bibliography Rommel’s offensive in North Africa. and efficient military expertise did Roald Dahl, , Puffin 2001. On 17 April a working party from the not guarantee successful military Roald Dahl, Logbook, kept in the Joint Planning Staff in Cairo began intervention against Germany on land. Dahl Museum in Great Missenden, planning the evacuation. And on 18 Command of the air was now essential. Buckinghamshire. April the new Greek Prime Minister And for the decision makers concerned, Roald Dahl, Over to You, Penguin 1973. Koryzis committed suicide. On the 19 primarily Anthony Eden the Foreign The Meditteranean and the Middle East April Wavell went to Athens to find his Secretary, it should have revealed the Vol II, Major General I S O Playfair with commanders calculating that perhaps pitfalls of military intervention in the others, HMSO 1956. only 30 per cent of the British force Eastern Meditteranean. Fifteen years John Terraine The Right of the Line could be saved. In the event, the British later, in the Suez crisis, Eden as Prime The RAF in the European War 1939-45 managed to save 50,000 of the 62,500 Minister would show that he had learned Hodder & Stoughton 1985. combatants who had eventually arrived nothing from the attempt to override Christopher Shores and Brian Cull, with in Greece. 200 aircraft were lost plus two geo-political reality with force. For Eden, Nicola Malizia, Air War for Yugoslavia, warships. Worse, the strategically vital command of the seas was sufficient in Greece and Crete, 1940-41. Grub Street island of Crete was now vulnerable and itself to allow military intervention. It 1987. was subsequently lost. was as though Greece 1941 had never T H Wisdom, Wings Over Olympus, The Dahl and his fellow flyers knew little happened. story of the RAF in Libya and Greece, of the precise odds against them but After Greece, Dahl and Coke fought George Allen and Unwin 1942. knew their chances were derisory. The in Syria against the Vichy French, with Charles Cruikshank, Greece 1940-41, ‘Official History’ laconically sums up Dahl suffering recurrent problems Davis Poynter 1976. the situation at the Battle of Athens by with his head injuries which led to him Winston Churchill, The Second World saying: “On 20th April a large number being invalided out of the RAF. He was War Vol II Their Finest Hour, Cassell of bombers and fighters attacked the appointed Air Attache in Washington 1949. Athens airfields. Greatly outnumbered, and there discovered his talent as an E C R, Baker, Ace of Aces, M St John the 15 remaining Hurricanes went up author. He derived inspiration initially Pattle, Crecy, 1992. to intercept. Five were shot down and from his war experiences, writing A J P Taylor English History 1914-1945, most of the others damaged, as against a series of short stories which were Oxford University Press 1965. the Germans’ recorded loss of eight published in 1946 under the title Over destroyed and two damaged. After this to You. Two were based on the Greek gallant fight very few Hurricanes were fit Campaign, one of which, the story Special thanks for help from Liz to fly, and the German airforce could do Katrina, is clearly autobiographical. Williams at the Roald Dahl museum in very much as it liked”. Katrina is the story of a Greek Great Missenden, and Graham Laurie, Dahl’s memory gave him a child who is orphaned after a German ex RAF, with Dahl’s log book. somewhat more romantic view, arguing bombing raid flattened her village. She is that the observers on the ground saw adopted by Dahl’s squadron and displays Trevor Fisher is a writer, biographer and five Hurricanes shot down but they also an aggressive but impotent hatred of lecturer on literary and social figures “saw twenty two Messerschmitts shot the German invader which is clearly and topics in modern British history. down during the battle, though none of symbolic of Greece as a whole. There His most recent book Oscar and Bosie, us ever knew who got what”. Alas the is no happy ending. Dahl never wrote a Fatal Passion (Sutton 2002). He has real total of Germans shot down was about his Greek experiences again till also written on Victorian scandals, much less, despite the skill and gallantry the second volume of his autobiography. Prostitution in the Victorian era. He is of the RAF pilots. But while Roald The war was in the past, and in his currently researching the cult of celebrity Dahl overestimated the success of his subconscious. with reference to Oscar Wilde and fellow pilots, he had no illusions about Dahl never doubted the rightness Audrey Hepburn. the folly of the expedition. He wrote of the cause for which he fought and, objectively about his experiences in his though he was clearly aware that over autobiography, making no attempt to Greece someone had blundered, he romanticise the Greek intervention. did not analyse the reasons why. Like the Light Brigade at Balaclava, duty Lessons unlearnt dictated obedience to orders, and Dahl Astonishingly, Churchill’s government carried them out without question or did not learn from the debacle. Two recrimination. years later, after the victory at El Historians can take a wider view. The Alamein in 1942 had shown the British Greek Campaign was folly, born out of could in fact defeat German troops, illusions about sea power and the ability Churchill ordered another attack in the of the British and Commonwealth forces Eastern Meditteranean after the Italian to fight alone. The Greek intervention surrender of 1943 to capture Leros and was a chapter in the decline of the the islands of the Dodecanese. The RAF . It was a tragedy in its and Navy were again overstretched, and own right. For both reasons, it deserves defeat left most of the Aegean under to be remembered. German control. Lessons had not been learnt and Churchill persisted in the face of American opposition. Where Greek was spoken, Churchill was fatally attracted. Greece was a bitter lesson for the

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