THE BATTLE FOR GREECE AND CRETE - Army Museum of South ...

The grave of L/Cpl Barnes
Plaques in the Memorial Walkway Australian War Memorial Canberra

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Nominal Rolls Provost Corps

1 Australian Provost Company

Personnel Remarks
Captain Henry Lewis Officer Commanding
VX7482 Captain John Hazel MID 2IC – former 7939- CSM 18th ASC WWI
VX36662 L/Cpl Albert George Barnes KIA 29/3/1941
SX5599 Sgt (Capt) Thomas Blackmore
Sgt Goss Trans to14 Ind Bde GP Provost Platoon
VX31217 Cpl John Graham KIA 27/5/1941
VX6009 Cpl (Lt) James Grey
VX40256 Lt Lester Gaffney KIA 23/4/1941
VX15471 L/Cpl Roy Matthew Jerrom Trans to LHQ
L/Cpl McGregor
L/Cpl Moon Trans to 9 Div
VX43184 L/Cpl Hance Monk
VX25038 Cpl (Lt) Bernard Patton
VX26543 Cpl Thomas Peterson
L/Cpl Rousel
VX24444 Cpl (Lt) James Preece
VX30911 Cpl Ira Vender Smith
VX26035 Capt Aubrey Smith

WO I.F. Harris
Dave Prion
Fred Munday
Robert (Bob) Jones
Charles (Charlie) White
L/Sgt Jon Hurford
6th Division Provost Company

Personnel Remarks

SX4121 Capt (Maj) William King Officer Commanding

VX9778 Maj Thomas Duncan Cunningham Enlisted Militia V81362)- Vic Police Officer

Capt (Major) Godfrey Hawker DAPM 6 Division

Capt Robert Forsyth

WX1501 S/Sgt (WO1) Thomas Osborne MM

Sgt Hicks

Sgt Kerr

Sgt Phillips

Dvr Nott

Sgt John Taylor

Colour Patches worn by Provost Companies Greece/Crete Campaign

1st Australian Corps Provost 6th Division Provost Company 7th Division Provost Company

Company

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7th Division Provost Company Remarks
Officer Commanding
Personnel
NX12506 Capt. (Lt Col) John Grimshaw MC Taken POW
SX5597 Lt Stewart M Jones KIA 12/1/1943 New Guinea

L/Cpl Batenby
L/Cpl Barnes
Cpl Barrington
L/Cpl Clarke
Cpl Delaney
Sgt Finch
Sgt George
Sgt Harris
L/Cpl Hurst
NX18016 L/Cpl Kenneth Laughton
Cpl Robert McPherson
Cpl McEvoy
Cpl H.J Murray
Sgt Maddern
NX27366 L/Cpl Harvey William Mallyon
Cpl Pearce
L/Cpl Potts
L/Cpl Swinfield
NX14771 Sgt (Lt) Edwin Trench MM
Sgt Walton
NX21614 Cpl Norman Mc Farland
Other involved in the Campaign
Major E. J. Lane DAPM
VX29226 Major Alexander Forster

Recruiting poster painted by Sir William Dargie of Senior Sergeant Tom Osborne MM
directing traffic at Lamia during the withdrawal from Greece the picture depicted
the Military Police in their combat role.

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Recollections of an Australian/Greek Veteran –Sgt Michael (Mick) Doulis 2/1st Field Company
Engineers
In the words of Mick Doulis as a boy growing up in Australia I thought that the learning of Greek ‘was
a waste of time’. He was to find that his ability to speak Greek would be most helpful during his
service in Greece and Crete during the occupation of these countries during World War II.
Mick was to remain behind in Crete after the withdrawal of the 6th Division in 1941 and was to earn the
distinction of being one of the few Australian soldiers to remain on active duty during the occupation.
During his thirteen months on Crete he was working for the British Intelligence Service one of his roles
was liaising with the Cretan Resistance.
Whilst the locals were able to tell he was not a local due to his accent the Germans were unable to tell
the difference when he was dressed as a Greek and was able to produce Greek identity papers. He was
able to achieve his function of obtaining information for British Intelligence by volunteering to work
for the Germans when other Greeks would not the Germans thought that he was pro-German. One of
his roles was to locate the German ammunition and fuel dumps pass the information on to the British.
The Resistance would then blow them up using their own explosives.
During his time in Crete he was captured twice and escaped both times. When he was finally
evacuated to the Middle East he realise how valuable he was as the Germans had placed a bounty of
one million Marks on his head.

Mick Doulis

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Bibliography
Australian Corps of Signals – Story of the Australian Corps of Signals – AWM 1953.
Baker Kevin- Paul Cullen – Citizen and Soldier Rosenberg Publishing 2005
Beevor Anthony – Crete the Battle & the Resistance – Penguin Books Australia 1991
Department of Veterans Affairs A Great Risk in a Good Cause- Australians in Greece & Crete

April & May 1941 – DVA 2001
Hellenic- Australian Memorial Park Rethymno-Crete DVA 2001
Edwards Geoffrey. The Road to Prevelly – E.G. Edwards- 1989
Firkins Peter. The Australians in Nine Wars- Waikato to Long Tan – Rigby Ltd 1971
Johnstone Norman. ‘Dearest Geraldine’- Letters from a soldier. – Norman Johnstone -2003
Kokanas N.A. M.D. - The Cretan Resistance 1941-1945 - The Official British Report 1945
N.A Kokanas Crete
Laffin John. Anzacs at War –Castle Books 1982
Liddel-Hart B.H. History of the Second World War - Pan Books 1973
Long Gavin, Australians in the War of 1939-1945, Greece Crete & Syria- Australian War Memorial

1953
Macdougall G. K. Australians at War – Pictorial History – Five Mile Press P/L 2002
Odgers G. Army Australia – an Illustrated History - Childs & Associates 1988
2/4 Aust Infantry Battalion Association White over Green – A History of the 2/4 Battalion.

Angus & Robertson 1963
Wahlert G. The other Enemy? – Australian Soldiers and the Military Police. Oxford University

Press Melbourne 1999.
Walsh Matthew – Personal Oral Interviews conducted with Veterans.
After the Battle No 47 Battle of Britain Prints International Ltd. London 1985
Wartime – The Australian Experience of War- Issue 15- The official magazine of the Australian War

Memorial 2001.

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The author
Matt Walsh JP. MLO ALGA (MCAE), Dip Bus & Corp Law (CPS)
was called up for National Service in 1957 and received a deferment, by late 1958 he had become tired
of waiting and enlisted in the local Citizen Military Forces (CMF) Unit, 19 Company (Tipper) Royal
Australian Army Service Corps (RAASC) at Ashfield. He was to later find out that this was the same
unit that his grandfather had served in during World War I.
In 1959 he was finally called up for National Service serving with the 13th National Service Training
Battalion at Ingleburn on completion of his full time service he was posted back to 19 Coy RAASC,
until the cessation of National Service in 1960.
In 1961 he re-enlisted in the CMF with 5 Field Squadron Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) in 1963
transferred to 1 Division Provost Company (Military Police) and then to 2 Division Provost Company,
he took his discharge in November 1969 with the rank of Sergeant.
He has served on the Executive Committee of the Defence Reserves Association (NSW), the Military
Police Association of Australia and the NSW Military Police Association, the Joint Committee for the
Commemoration of the Battle for Crete and the Greek Campaign, the Reserve Forces Day Council, the
Ashfield RSL Sub Branch and the NSW National Serviceman’s Association and is a Director of The
Army Museum of New South Wales Foundation.
He has been awarded the ’Australian Defence Medal‘ and the ‘Anniversary of National Service Medal’
in January 2006 he was awarded the ‘Australia Day Achievement Medallion by the National Australia
Day Council in 2007 he was appointed a “Member of the Order of Liverpool” by the Council of the
City of Liverpool. . In 2002 he wrote the “History of Ingleburn Military Camp” which now forms
part of a Schools Military History Program which he developed and is being used in the New South
Wales Schools and in England (City of London) the Canadian Education system and two Schools in
Greece and Schools on the Somme in France..

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