The Battle of Crete Memorial Appeal is administered
and supported by the National Trust of Western Australia
Currently, no specific war memorial exists in Western Australia acknowledging the sacrifices made by Australia and Greece to the cause of freedom. We seek to honour and respect all those who participated in the campaign.
The significance and importance of this worthy initiative requires public support.
For Western Australia, the 2/11th Battalion and HMAS Perth played important roles in the Crete operation of May 20 to June 1 1941, which followed the Greece campaign (February to April 1941).
The German airborne assault would eventually force the evacuation of the main Allied force, but many men were captured, and others evaded the German invaders. Military personnel and civilians gave their lives resisting the enemy. For many Commonwealth troops left on the island after its evacuation, it was Cretan men, women and children, including clergy, who protected and saved them.
This fact was recognised by the late Corporal Geoff Edwards of the 2/11th Battalion Carrier Platoon who remembered the bravery and sacrifice of the Cretans, including monks, who helped him avoid capture. He built a Greek Orthodox church, St John the Theologian, on the hill above his seaside community and named his home in Western Australia, Prevelly Park, after the monastery at Preveli on Crete. It is a personal tribute by a Western Australian survivor of the battles on Crete in May 1941 to the heroism of the Cretan people and their bond with Australian soldiers.
Your support is required to ensure further recognition is forthcoming through the erecting of a designated memorial.
