(c) crown copyright

Catalogue Reference:cab/66/60/16

Image Reference:0001

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTVS

Printed

for the War Cabinet.

December 1944.

The circulation of this paper has been strictly limited.

for the persona! use of

GOYERNMENT

It is issued

-^J^^r^Ar^.
'7

T O P SECRET

Copy No.

W.P. (44) 766.

31s? December, 1944.

WAR CABINET.

GREECE.
N O T E BY THE P R I M E M I N I S T E R .

MY colleagues should read the attached report by the Military Censorship

Authorities, handed to me by Field-Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, on letters
written in the week ending the 16th December by British troops in Greece.
W. S. C.

10 Downing Street, S.W. 1,

31s? December, 1944.

[28919a]

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF H I S BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT

TOP SECRET.

C E N S O R S H I P S U M M A R Y FOR W E E K E N D I N G 16TH D E C E M B E R , 1944.

Mail read
Mail released

728.
1,830.

General.
If the main object of last week's writers was to impress people at home to
disregard press and wireless news, more in order to quieten them down, develop
ment of events, here and at home, show in this week's mail a definite stand against
anything connected with the press and news. " From close observation there has
been a lot of distortion and misrepresentation in the press." W h a t the papers
are writing about is simply regarded ' ' as rubbish '' and '' the nonsense they seem
to produce is making us boys out here simply m a d . " " W h a t the press is actually
doing is nothing but encouraging the rebels that we are not backed by the people
at home."
The consequence of this outburst is a full backing-up " in this c a s e " of
Mr. Churchill's policy. His speech has " bucked up the boys no end." M.P.S in
Parliament talk ' ' about things they know nothing about '' and some of them
"would make better road-sweepers than M . P . s "
Hope is expressed that some of " our brilliant M.P.S come to Greece, knock
these meek little brigands' heads together and tell them to be good boys and have
a proper election."
" ChurchiU's vote of confidence was a great pleasure to u s . "
Whilst
blaming him for '' upholding the K i n g and p u t t i n g us all in a position with
regard to Greece," it is realised that " he knew a sound thing from a bad one."
Many comments are t h a t '' these
have been stocking u p the ammo
we dropped to them to use against Jerry, and that, instead, they waited for this
chance for 3^ years, whilst opinion is also -strong t h a t Germany and Bulgaria are
behind this show. All the more reason to fully approve '' our actions as absolutely
right and as the only possible course open to u s . "
Without lowering the morale of the troops, the strain is felt by many involved,
more or less, in this situation. The approaching Xmas, which they expected to be
the best, after the good reception, may apparently be the w o r s t " b u l l y and
biscuits, if not unlucky "leaves traces of nostalgia in their letters.
Yet, in
true Christian spirit, they feel sorry, not only for themselves, but also for " these
poor people heresuch a pity after the terrible years they have been t h r o u g h , "
since the majority of the people are still regarded as intensely pro-British.
An Officer : " My final word is that I hope Britain will never find herself in
such a position as Greece."
1

1. From an N.C.O.
" I'm not going to give any facts re the present fighting because I believe
it's all in the communiques from General Scobie, which are in the papers at home.
It's certainly not, shall we say, pleasant, but not anything t h a t a member of
His Majesty's forces m u s t n ' t expect. Your papers at home seem to be p r i n t i n g
a lot of high political ideas and lots of people seem to be shouting about something
they know absolutely nothing about. Don't you go d r a w i n g any conclusions,
darling, because on what you read in the papers you have no chance of grasping
the true position. Mr. Churchill is nearer the m a r k than anyone." (H.Q.,
3 Corps.)
2. From an Officer.
. . . From what I can gather here, the fact that some of the newspapers are
talking such nonsense about the position has caused less attention to be drawn
to this affair, and t h a t is all to the good. I have not met anyone here who does
not think that Churchill is taking the only step p o s s i b l e ^ a n d they are a long
Greece )
supporters generally." (M.L., H Q . ,
m

b e i n g

[28919]

p e r

c e n t -

3. From an Officer.
" As you must know by now, we are having a spot of bother here, and while
it is not possible for me to divulge much concerning the situation here, I can say
from very close observation that there has been a lot of distortion and misrepre
sentation of many facts in the press in particular. A p a r t from the main political
problems, and I am not in a position to write about the rights and wrongs of any
particular side, the fact remains that ' Elas ' and their henchmen have started
a fight, and are carrying it on in such a way that the maximum of hardship is
being imposed upon the civilian population of Athens. The general strike, the
closing of shops and bakeries (bread is now 1-^ a loaf), indiscriminate firing of
all arms which has resulted in large-scale civilian casualties, all confirm the belief
that the people who are taking p a r t in this are far from being liberators.
I quote one example : One particular sniper hit seven people in one day
two British soldiers, who were slightly wounded, and five civilians, one of whom
was a woman of 50 who was hit in the chest and died on the way to hospital.
The civilians were Only out on the street trying to scrounge a little food from
somewhere or the other." (13 B.C.P.O.)
4. From a W.O.
' ,
" I think the news you had at home in the early stages was a little vague,
but in the circumstances it was largely unavoidable, as for the few days it was.
rather vague here as well, but we all know where we are now, and, believe me,
Mr. Churchill and his speech bucked us no end, we know now what we are fightino
for, and against, it is obviousy a Hun element behind all this trouble, it is stereo
typed." (690 Coy. R.A.S.C.)'
0

5. From an Officer.
" The thing that is making all the boys out here as mad as hell is the way
the thing is being misrepresented in the press at home. This is a thing that must
be donebelieve me, the beggars are in the minority, and the terrorism that goes
on is-not to be-believedmost of these folks do not want to fight the British any
w a y . " (1 Dis. M.L., Greece.)
6. From an Officer.
" The news from Greece I imagine is none too good, but w h a t annoys us
most is the rubbish which the papers seem to be producing. W h a t Churchill said
is partially correct, but there is quite a lot left out. The press are doing much
to hinder us by encouraging the rebels to think that we are not backed up by the
people at home or America. I ask you. could we stand by and do nothing while
rebels shoot down defenceless people, women and children, blow up their houses,
cut their heads off and such acts of barbarism? Are we to allow them to shell
one town and then say, ' Now. chaps, don't do t h a t ' ? I say that it is impossible.
There is only one answer to a band of armed terrorists and that is force. We
don't-like it, but I maintain that it is all p a r t of the rot sown by the H u n . You
may ask, why should our boys give their lives to settle Greek political differences,
but are they only Greek political differences? I say no, it is all p a r t of the war
against the Hun, and we must go on and exterminate this rebellious element."
( H Q . . 3 Corps.)
7. From an Officer.
" I don't suppose you'll get this for some time and everything will be all over
by then I expect, but even so, you will be in the picture regardless of what
The Times correspondent seems to think from the despatches he sends to London.
. . . . E.L.A.S., as the other armed party became to be called, became more and
more political and even more sharply Left. So there were two different guerrilla
armies fighting in Greece. Ostensibly both anti-German, actually E.L.A.S. had
quite different views, they were training and arming for quite a different purpose.
We, the British, supplied both armies with food, arms, gold, clothes, in fact, any
thing, to help foster the spirit of resistancein an ignorance or stupidity. . - - Scobie, quite rightly has backed the constitutional Government, t h a t was his
brief. . . . . E.L.A.S. and E.A.M. are Communists of the most virulent type,
aggressive and murderous, without any atom of patriotism and it. is nothing hut
their doing that things have come to such a pretty pass. When the police fired
at them they were justified, in my opinion. I was sorry, they were young girls: ana
boys that were killed, but they were placed in front as protection, a very low tonu
of fighting.

The last couple of days have been pretty poor, I ' m so sorry for the 80 per
cent' innocent, who are suffering and will suffer more as Ave can'" get the food in.
But still we are knocking hell out of them with tanks, planes and guns, but w h a t
a terrible fate for lovely Athens. Will a better world for the Greeks come out of
this holocaust or will they never recover % I don't know.
We are' partly to blame for arming these bad types, so it must be our
responsibility to put things right for them even if it takes years. I like the
80percent." (M.L., H.Q., Greece.)
8. From a Bombardier.
" The situation in this country seems to be causing quite a stir a t home, and I
believe the British Labour P a r t y is administering a first-class rocket to the
Government because of its policy here. Well, I don't always agree with the
things the Government does, but I must certainly back it up in this caseand
I'm pretty sure that almost all the British troops here feel the same way.
However, I suppose t h a t ' s not our pigeon and the powers-that-be will work things
out in their own sweet w a y . " (H.Q., 3 Corps.)
9. From an N.C.O.
". I t is all the saddest comedy that was ever. The enemy as we call them, the
guerrillas as the B.B.C. calls them, are wanting to enforce anarchy by the nastiest
of Fascist methods, and they have induced a lot of perfectly nice Greeks who have
suffered terribly in many ways, including such as having missed even their
normal mite of schooling, to do their bidding from motives that were altogether
excellent. Most of the Communists and Socialists in the bunch are deluded into
thinking the millenium is at hand but can only be got by liquidating everybody
else, who are highly coloured by propaganda as traitors. They believe they a r e
the real patriots and they are the tools and victims of the real traitors. I t could
not be more horrid.
As ever there has been virtually no other thought or subject or interest
except the situationso I ' m at a complete loss for anything.to say. Churchill's
vote of confidence was a great pleasure to us.
He is to blame, I think, for
upholding the King and therefore putting us all in a position with regard to
Greece, but I realise now that he knew a sound thing from a bad one and was
right about E.A.M. Any smile we bestowed on Royalist partisans was wrong,
and so it is now, because they, by their existence, make a political p a r t y of the
Throneand its only excuse is to be the stable factor above p a r t y politics,
especially here where it is rather an extravagance unless it yields well by pro
viding votes for law and order." (F.S.S.)
10. From an Officer.
" I was vainly hoping for a very good Christmas here, but it looks like
being most depressing unless some of the soldiers one sees walking about do
something. Alternatively, we are hoping for some of our brilliant M.P.S to come
to Greece, knock these meek little brigands' heads' together, and tell them to be
good boys, and have a proper election. W e would get a good laugh to see them
trying, anyway.
Roger must have given you a pretty detailed account of all this nonsense,
but I may say t h a t I think his views are, if anything, too mild. My reactions a r e
slightly more violent, and if I had my way the first to feel the repurcussions of
the action I would like to take would be the reporters. By their incompetence
and misrepresentation they have managed to give the wrong impression to the
whole world." (M.L., H.Q., Greece.)
11. F rom a Private.
" Well, I suppose you are wondering what is happening out here. Well, all
I can say is that they are idiots like the fools (Labour) in the Government who
caused the Premier to offer to- resign, when one stops to think over some of the
things the M.P.s say about things they know nothing about, I begin to think
some of them would make better ' Road S w e e p e r s ' than M.P.S." (4 Bn.
Para. Regt.)
[28919]
E 2

12. From an Officer.

" I wonder if you've been worried at all over the news. From afar it must
appear most unu*sual, but I can assure you that the British authorities know v,'hat
things they're doing and Churchill was well informedyou may have heard, or
read, his speech in the House of Parliament the other day. I t ' s a most unhappy
business because the ordinary townspeople are absolutely starving again,
ft
means that our relief planthat is, food and clothes distributionis at a stand
still." . ( H Q . , 3 Corps.)

13. From Rank unknown.

" The guerrillas are dug in some little distance away, and all day we can
watch the A i r Force and a couple of destroyers bash away at them. Somehow I
cannot imagine them keeping this farce up much longer, needless to say the devils
have been stocking up the ammo t h a t were dropped to them to use against Jerry,
the crafty devils have waited 3^ years for this chance, but as you know it has back
fired on them, they never expected that we would intervene, but apparently they
did not reckon on their methods being j u s t the ones we are fighting this war for.
I heard the results of the debate in the House of Commons, and"believe me the fools
who had the cheek and ignorance to criticise our methods in dealing with these
brigands (they are little more and have been outlaws in the hills for years), want
to'get out here and learn the true facts." (No unit stated.)
14. From an Officer.
" Once more I am on the spot to see history in the making, this is tragic
but inevitable, and in my opinion we are absolutely right in our action, one might
call this the 2nd liberation of Greece." (M.L., H.Q., Greece.)
15. From an N.C.O.
" I have told you most of the happenings during the past week in my letter
card, although you may find it rather patchy and not perhaps very interesting.
Of course you will have what the B.B.C. give you, so do we, but the least said
the better! I t is difficult to realise that we only arrived a few weeks ago as
so-called ' liberators ' and now all this trouble is going on, and we are in it.
Army life has made me a lot harder than I was when I left home, but believe
me all this has increased my feelings in this respect. To me now the talk about
the beauties of Greece do not mean a thing, because if I had my way there would'nt
be any in a very short while. The methods of the fighting of these people.are of
the lowest, and that I do not like one scrap. If one has to fight, a t least fight
the clean way. I do not suppose it would do to write of some of the methods
just yet, but still, they will keep until the days when I do relate my varied
experiences to all and sundrv. This is p a r t of it I will never forget." (HQ.,
"
3 Corps.)
8

16. From an Officer.

" Soon, however, the difficulties became apparent. No one had any work, and
the industrialists, some of whom had stocks, feared to start enterprise owing to
the political situation. I n Athens E.L.A.S. had fallen under the influence of the
extreme Communist element (K.K.E.), who staged non-stop demonstrations which
the populace were compelled to attend.
Young men from the roughest areas
dressed in plain clothes, but armed to the teeth, maintained control by means of
a highly organised party machine backed by terrorism. The central Government,
which had been brought over from Egypt, was rather weak, especially in its
failure to deal with collaborationists, and a few weeks ago the Left-wing members
withdrew when it became obvious the extremists were going to force the issue.
The Government had issued an order that arms in the hands of private individuals
must be surrendered by the 10th December, after which various age groups would
be called up to create a national army. The country is full of arms, these having
been sent in by us during the occupation period. I n few cases, however, were
these arms used against the Germans, for they were reserved with a view to use
to obtain power politically after the H u n had departed. So the scene was set for
the revolution." (H.Q., 3 Corps.)
17. From an Officer.
" The situation here is absurd. I do not know how much has been said at
home about Greece and the Greeks, but there is no doubt in my mind that the very

large majority of the people are really friendly to us, and it is these few extremists.
who have, by well-organised terrorism, built up quite a formidable army. . . . .
There were one or two' rather awkward moments when there were conflicting
statements between Eden a n d the reported statements of the military leaders
here. However, we have weathered t h a t through and we had a pretty sticky trip"
out as we were surrounded and had to come the hard way." (514 Fd. Survey Coy.)
18. From an N.C.O.
" At "first I felt very sorry for the people, and I was eager to see everything,
but now all this trouble has started my feelings toward them has changed
considerably, we gave them food and helped them on their feet, and now they're.
shooting us, it would probably done them good if we had left them with the
Germans, still that isn't for me to say, they're not all alike, and I hope this
trouble will sort itself out soon." (T.S.B.O. Sect. D.T.S.)
19. From a Sapper.
" I feel really sorry for the people here who are having the place more
smashed up now by their own countrymen (and us) than they had during the rest
of the war. Besides this they are short of food and are ever asking us for water.
It is difficult to realise the change t h a t has come in a few days, and i t will certainly
be a long time before they can ever reach that standard again." (514 Fd. Survey
Coy., R E . )
20. From an.Officer.
" Such excitable folks the Greeks. But I can't help liking them, in spite of
all t h a f s happened, and I hope this horrible business will soon be a t an end.
Field-Marshal Alexander turned up here the other day r i g h t in the middle of a
first-class battle, so he can't have any illusions about what is happening here. I n
the words of Winston, the atmosphere is one of ' sober confidence,' and I hope
the day isn't far distant when I can walk round this wonderful city again without
some silly ass trying to hit me with a bullet. I t ' s a comic opera war ! Look after
yourself and for goodness sake don't worry." (A.F.H.Q., British.)
21. From an Officer.
'' As for us, I can see we have taken the only possible course open for
us." (1244, C. E. Wks.)
22. From a Driver.
We have got to be careful in this country. There is plenty people all for
us, and there is a bloody lot who is all out for making trouble. I can't write
much about it, but things isn't going too well; we have to keep our rifles handy
anyway." (118/31, Fd. Regt., R.A.)
23. From a Sapper.
" As you say, it's awful to think of all the killing, after what these people
have been through, and, believe me, what they are fighting for now is no small
thing; i t ' s something they are ready to die for. If the people at home who are
running this thing think they can smash it with armed force they have another
think coming; it might kill a few thousand, but that won't stop them. This could
have been settled in a civilised way between us and the parties here befoi-e it
got too big; what makes me so sure of this is t h a f s how it will have to finish in
the end, and if it can be done afterwards it could have been done before."
(514 Fd. Survey Coy., R.E.)
24. From a Private
" The place where we are is right.in the centre of all the trouble. I can tell
you we have not had much sleep for the last few weeks.. T h a f s what we get from
these people after alb we have done for them. I hope they shoot the whole lot of
them." (R.A.S.G/E.F.I.)
25. From an Officer.
" I must say that our lads are behaving splendidly. They are not losing
their tempers, and have still retained their sense of humour, and consider it an
ironical fact that we are being fired at with weapons which we supplied for use
against the Germans." (13 B.O.P.O.)

26. From an N.C.O.

'' Having given you such a glowing picture, and no doubt made you quite
envious, I needn't add how much shaken we were when this trouble started. I
had some narrow escapes myself the first few days, but now we live in H Q .
Building and it's literally living on one's job. I t ' s very boring actually, and us
being clerks, don't know how we're fixed. Working all day, guards a t night,
and ready for any emergencies. I feel quite fatigued at times, but on the whole
I ' m bearing up and getting by. Snipers are a beggar and, like you, I've seen
some of the exploits of the Airborne Boys." (M.L., H.Q., Greece.)
1

27. From (no rank stated).

" All this trouble is a pity, as everything was beginning to run smoothly
and the work was slowly getting under control and we looked like being able to
get out a bit more . . . . The people here are still all for us, it's these rebels
that are causing all the trouble, they are using horrid methods of terrorising
the people and causing such a havoc, even the Greeks are disgusted with them.
So much for that,.the rest I will tell you when I get home." (M.L., H.Q., Greece.)
28. From an Officer.
" H a d my first sleep of six hours since Sunday last night. I t ' s a heck of a
lifetrying to sort out the bloke with a gun who's out to kill you, as distinct
from a bloke with a gun who is on your side. I've been in some queer positions
in my short lifetime, but I think this beats everything. Make no mistakes about
it, and for goodness sake assure all British folk you know t h a t Churchill and
Eden gave the absolute truth to the House of Commons when they said a
minority of gangsters was trying to rule Greeceand they are not Greeks; the
red enemy hand is plain, and already we've captured Germans, Bulgarians and
I t a l i a n s . ' ' (M.L. H Q . , Greece.)
29. From an Officer.
" I fear this will be my worst Xmasbully and biscuits if not unlucky."
(M.L. H.Q., Greece.)
30. From an Officer.
" The trouble would be over by now but for the fact that the people engaged
in the sniping, & c , are mostly dressed in civilian clothes, and it is very difficult
to round them up. I think the majority of people in Athens and Pirseus are glad
this has taken place. They have been terrorised long enough by these armed
gangsters and it is time they were suitably dealt w i t h . " (Balkan Relief Unit.)
31. From an Officer.
" These poor people do not look like having a very happy X m a s ; such a
pity, after the terrible years they have been through, to have to suffer more because
of the plottings of a few gangsters." (M.L. H.Q., Greece.)
32. From a Driver.
" I suppose you will hear quite often on the wireless how things a r e going
here. I t is to be hoped that they get all this trouble cleared u p shortly . . . . It's
a great pity t h a t things are so bad here as we are so near Christmas, not only for
the troops but for the people, as thev are certainly having a hard time."
( H Q . , 3 Corps.)
33. From an Officer.
" My final word is that I hope B r i t a i n will never find herself in such a
position as Greece is to-day. While I c a n ' t tell you the exact position, it is not
what most people (i.e., leftists) think it is. One thing I can say is that 98 per cent,
of the population is intensely pro-British. The reception we get in the villages
is quite unbelievable." (2 Camerons.)
(Signed)
C.M.F., 19th December, 1944.

J. B. G I B S O N (Captain),
Head Censor.