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immediate allies. We were among friends.
Pendebury – Pedeboor Pembury – however it
was pronounced, eyes kindled at the sound.
We must go back to 28 May 1941, seven days
after Pendlebury’s death and the night of the
evacuation. The British troops were lining
up to board the ships that were to carry us
to Egypt. I was interpreter. Everyone felt
downhearted at leaving the Greek friends
who had fought beside us for the last eight
days. The battered and silent town smelt of
burning, explosions, smoke and fresh decay.
All at once, an old Cretan materialised out of
the shadows. He was a short, resolute man,
obviously a distinguished kapetan, with
a clear and cheerful glance, a white beard
clipped under the chin like a Minoan and
a rifle-butt embossed with wrought-silver
plaques. He said he would like to talk to the
‘General’. The Brigadier was a tall man and an
excellent commander, tanned by a lifetime’s
soldiering in India. The kapetan reached up
and put his hand on the Brigadier’s shoulder
and said, ‘My child,’ – ‘paidi mou’, in Greek
– ‘we know you are leaving tonight; but you
will soon be back. We will carry on the fight
till you return. But we have only a few guns.
Leave them all you can spare.’ The Brigadier
was deeply moved. Orders were given for the
arms and a Black Watch lieutenant led away
the kapetan and his retinue. As we made our
farewells, he said, in a kind but serious voice,
‘May God go with you, and come back soon.’
It was only later, looking at photographs, that
the old man was identified as Pendlebury’s
friend, Kapetan Satanas. He died the next
year, after handing his gun to a descendant,
saying, ‘Don’t dishonour it.’ Looking back, he
represents the innermost spirit of Crete. Ever
since, the two men have seemed to symbolise
the brotherhood-in-arms that brought our
two countries so close together and made
us feel that this season of desolation would
John “HE GOT TO KNOW THE ISLAND somehow, against all the odds, end in victory
Pendlebury
wearing the INSIDE OUT. NO PEAK WAS TOO and the freedom they were all fighting for.
traditional HIGH OR CANYON TOO DEEP FOR Ο Τζον Πέντλμπιουρι είναι σήμερα
Cretan μια σχεδόν μυθική φιγούρα – και θα
costume. HIM.” «ΕΜΑΘΕ ΤΟ ΝΗΣΙ ΣΑΝ ΤΙΣ
Ο Τζον μπορούσαμε να πούμε ότι, τρόπον τινά, mydaimoncom.blogspot.gr
Πέντλμπιουρι ΤΣΕΠΕΣ ΤΟΥ. ΚΑΜΙΑ ΚΟΡΥΦΗ ΔΕΝ πάντα ήταν. Όσοι έχουν κάποια σχέση
φορώντας με την αρχαία ή τη σύγχρονη Ελλάδα, κι
παραδοσιακή ΗΤΑΝ ΠΟΛΥ ΨΗΛΗ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΝΕΝΑ
κρητική ΦΑΡΑΓΓΙ ΠΟΛΥ ΒΑΘΥ». όχι μόνο οι συνάδελφοί του αρχαιολόγοι,
φορεσιά. γνωρίζουν τα πάντα γι’ αυτόν. Γεννήθηκε
172 GREC14N 2018