Pictured after the service are, from left, Te Awamutu, Cambridge and Hamilton RSA presidents, Daniel van der Hulst, Graham Johns, and Bruce Gillespie respectively, guest speaker Richard Cato, Te Awamutu RSA’s Lou Brown, Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger, Te Awamutu RSA vice-president Don Ramsay, Te Awamutu RSA committee member Adan Te Huia, president of the NZ Battle of Crete Association Stewart Gradon, and RNZRSA district president Jon Broadley. Photo: Viv Posselt
Fifty-five minutes on a recently discovered family tape led Te Awamutu man Richard Cato on an emotional journey of his father’s experiences in World War Two, including in the 1941 Battle of Crete.
It also added much to last Saturday’s memorial service at the Te Awamutu RSA, held to commemorate the 85th anniversary of that operation, often described as one of the most dramatic battles of the Second World War.
On display was this painting of the Battle for Crete, commissioned in 1998 by DB Breweries to commemorate the centennial of the 6th Battalion (Hauraki), Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. Photo: Viv Posselt
The well-attended event drew RSA leaders and members from around the North Island, among them RNZRSA district president Jon Broadley, Te Awamutu and Districts RSA president Daniel van der Hulst, Cambridge RSA president Graham Johns, and Hamilton RSA president Bruce Gillespie.
The event shifted to Te Awamutu RSA following the closure of Tauranga RSA, which has held annual commemorations of the Battle of Crete for some years.
Richard gave a presentation that included playing part of the taped messages recorded by his father Sergeant Colin Cato. He also showed images of the area, some taken decades ago and others taken by Richard and his family when they visited Crete last year. They found they matched the geographical descriptions in his father’s tape.
Guest speaker at the commemoration, Te Awamutu’s Richard Cato, holding the picture and medals of his father Sgt Colin Cato, who was involved in the Battle of Crete. Photo: Viv Posselt
Sgt Cato headed No. 3 Platoon of the 27th Machine Gun Battalion of the first echelon of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He fought in North Africa, then Greece and Crete.
The Battle of Crete began on the morning of May 20, 1941, when thousands of elite German paratroopers descended from the sky in what was said to be the first mainly airborne invasion in military history. For 12 days Greek and Commonwealth troops – the latter including New Zealanders, British and Australians – tried to repel the assault. Any attack had been predicted to come from the sea, and it was close to the beach that Colin was stationed.
Those packed into the Te Awamutu RSA listen intently to committee member Adan Te Huia. Photo: Viv Posselt
Richard said the cost of the battle was massive.
“More than 1700 British, Commonwealth and Greek soldiers were killed, and 15,000 captured. There were 670 New Zealanders among the dead, and 2180 Kiwi prisoners of war – that is in addition to the 1800 captured after the campaign ended in Greece,” he said. “More than 6000 Germans were killed or wounded and the German Airforce lost more than 350 aircraft.”
Among the Kiwis evacuated was Charles Upham and Alfred Hulme, both of whom won the Victoria Cross for their actions on Crete.
Kei Mitchell of Papakura, 94, pictured with her partner Tex Chapman, left, and Te Awamutu RSA committee member Adan Te Huia, is believed to be one of the last surviving widows linked to the 28th Māori Battalion. Her late husband Kara Mitchell, served in the WW2 Battle of Monte Cassino. Photo: Viv Posselt
Once back in New Zealand, Colin was among 25 men who were selected to train troops at Trentham for an anticipated Japanese invasion. He later returned to farming in the Te Kuiti area, from where he originally enlisted.
Three years before he died in 1976, Colin recorded his wartime memories. When Richard acquired the old tapes his father had made, he found one of them hadn’t been restored because it began with music. Once it was processed, he found it contained his father’s accounts of his time in Greece and Crete.
In it, Colin said … “the sky behind me became black with planes coming from all directions … then the planes opened and the sky was full of parachutes. There were men dropping everywhere”.
Officiating Saturday’s service was Cambridge’s Jim Goddin. He said, “as the years pass it has become more important that we gather like this to remember those who served”.
Down from Auckland for the event was Brian How, president of the 28 NZ (Māori) Battalion Auckland Association, and Papakura resident Kei Mitchell, who at 94 is believed to be among the last surviving widows connected to the 28th Māori Battalion.
Te Awamutu RSA’s Lou Brown with guest speaker at the memorial service, Richard Cato. Photo: Viv Posselt
Among those who attended was Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger. She told The News she visited Crete with several other politicians several years ago, and was struck by accounts from older villagers who remembered the invasion and remain grateful to the Kiwi soldiers.
Pictured after the service are, from left, Te Awamutu, Cambridge and Hamilton RSA presidents, Daniel van der Hulst, Graham Johns, and Bruce Gillespie respectively, guest speaker Richard Cato, Te Awamutu RSA’s Lou Brown, Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger, Te Awamutu RSA vice-president Don Ramsay, Te Awamutu RSA committee member Adan Te Huia, president of the NZ Battle of Crete Association Stewart Gradon, and RNZRSA district president Jon Broadley. Photo: Viv Posselt
