In our hazardous 70 mile trek across Crete, which we accomplished in 3 nights and days, the last 30 hours was a nightmare. Before we reached the safety of the evacuation ship, members of our party had to struggle with stretcher cases over the precipitous mountain country to the seaport of Sphakia.
My group of four carried a wounded Royal Marine. He had been shot through the back and the explosive bullets had smashed his ribs into his lungs. Many times we had sudden drops and at others we had to drag the stretcher over the rough ground. Not once did he groan but he was conscious all the time. ‘I’m going alright’, he would say, ‘Just box on Diggers.’ (Source: 1B)
