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The Cretan Runner – New York Review Books The Cretan Runner – New York Review Books

Dear, I. C. B.; Foot, M. R. D. (1995). The Oxford Companion to the Second World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866225-9– via Archive Foundation. Born in 1920 in the tiny village of Asi Gonia high up in the mountain passes of western Crete, George Psychoundakis grew up poor. He and his three siblings only had a rudimentary education. His parents Nicolas and Angeliké worked hard, but the family was still one of the poorest in their village. George got his real education as a shepherd. And as it turned out, this high mountain learning would serve his nation and others very well. A photo of George Psychoundakis (left) and a comrade in WW II – H.M. Government The author goes on to describe the worn clothes and patched boots George wore, and of his unshakeable humor. In the midst of all the harshness of war, and of everyday life under the harshest conditions, Psychoundakis exemplified the Cretan spirit. Crete can be a foreboding place in Summer and Winter, and the resistance fighters were constantly in the elements.The nature of the resistance to German and Italian occupation was quite different to elsewhere in the Balkans. Characterized by cunning and speed (flexibility), it suited the Cretan character and mentality. German military activity in North Africa – led by Rommel – had precluded any major diversion of arms and supplies to Crete; the enemy occupation of Cyrenaica made sea transport to Crete difficult. Cretan morale plummeted as the scale of German occupation grew. The team moved to a cave system in the mountains above Kastamonitsa village, the hideout of a local resistance group. [19] The SOE team was joined by Antonios and Grigorios Papaleonidas, Michail Akoumianakis and Grigorios Chnarakis. Akoumianakis' house was located across the road from Kreipe's residence, the Villa Ariadne, in the village of Knossos. [20] Leigh Fermor disguised himself as a Cretan shepherd for his trip to Knossos. After traveling by bus with Akoumianakis, he reconnoitered the vicinity of the villa. Enclosed by a triple wire barrier (one of which was rumoured to be electrified) and guarded by a sizeable garrison, it was deemed too well-fortified for a direct assault. It was decided to seize Kreipe during one of his frequent trips from his residence to his divisional headquarters in Ano Archanes, some 5mi (8.0km) away. Surveying the route, they discovered a T-junction where the road from Archanes joined the main road to Heraklion, forcing cars to slow down to almost a standstill; the location was subsequently named Point A. The owner of a small cottage outside Skalani ( el), some twenty minutes travel time from the abduction point, agreed to collaborate, turning the building into an observation point. [21] Owing to the heavy traffic on the main road, the operation had to be undertaken at night. [22] Interesting document of WWII guerilla warfare, by a participant indigenous to the occupied region (as opposed to an adviser, or member of the opposing force). Ill Met by Moonlight (1957)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017 . Retrieved 16 October 2020.

Kidnapping of Heinrich Kreipe - Wikipedia Kidnapping of Heinrich Kreipe - Wikipedia

Likewise, reading The Cretan Runner, the volume of short tales, events, of fighting the Germans as Cretan resistance seem repetitive at times, but the reader feels guilt jumping, avoiding the narrative. The actions of these brave, resisting individuals have led to comparative freedom for much of the western world for the past seventy years – albeit high dependency and impoverishment in many developing countries, as well as within the so-called advanced economies. George Psychoundakis was born in Asi Gonia ( Greek: Ασή Γωνιά), a village of a few hundred people high in the Mouselas valley in western Crete. The village was not serviced by a road until the 1950s. He was the penultimate son of Nicolas and Angeliké. One of the poorest families in the village, they lived in a one-room home with an earth floor. After a minimum of education in the village school, he became a shepherd, tending his family's few sheep and goats. He developed an intimate knowledge of his part of the island. Psychoundakis’s effortlessly poetic account reflected a passionate love of his homeland and its people, a geologist’s and botanist’s eye, chortling bemusement at the habits of the upper-class British agents, and deep comradeship with his fellow resistance fighters.

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Plowman, Jeffrey (2013). War in the Balkans: The Battle for Greece and Crete 1940–1941. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-78159-248-9. Koliopoulos, Ioannis (1977). "Η στρατιωτική και πολιτική κρίση στην Ελλάδα τον Απρίλιο του 1941"[The Military and Political Crisis in Greece in April 1941] (PDF). Mnimon (in Greek). 6: 53–74. doi: 10.12681/mnimon.174 . Retrieved 15 November 2020.