A View

Yes black lives matter, police lives matter, all lives matter. The solution to the problem, as I see it, is for people to treat each other with decency. All people, everywhere, not just me and my immediate family, friends and neighbours. Is this possible? Historically no. It seems matters of race, religion and inequality somehow derails the locomotive.

The riots and mayhem were occurring on TV news and the vision of the killing of George Floyd, replayed over and over, was sickening.

While this was happening one night I watched the history channel which had a show on the battle of Crete in WW11. This interested me as my friend Doug Twaits, who died in a car accident in 2001, was on Crete as part of the 2/7 infantry battalion in 1940 when Germany attacked Crete, strategic in the Mediterranean. The first assault was by paratroopers dropped from planes and gliders. Many were shot in the air before landing, others caught up in trees, or tangled in their shutes on landing, were shot or bayoneted by British defenders or knifed or pitchforked by Cretan natives. With heavy losses, the Germans managed to get control of one of the airports which enabled them to reinforce, and with support from fighter aircraft operating from this airfield, overcame the British who had no air support and limited equipment. The 2/7th AIF was ordered to surrender after running out of ammunition, and Doug spent the next four years as a POW.

The Germans occupied Crete for four years. Their rule was brutal and murder and atrocity was exacted on the Cretan resistance for assisting or harbouring British soldiers who were roaming the wild mountains and trying to escape the island. The Germans gave control of the eastern quarter or so of Crete to their allies the Italians, who were less invested in savage revenge, and the show intimated the several thousand Italian soldiers on Crete were relieved to be there rather than in some other more dangerous combat area. When Mussolini was deposed in 1943, the Germans lost patience and occupied a large part of Italy and were quite brutal to the Italians. The Italian general in charge of the Crete force escaped with the aid of the British and Cretan resistance, leaving thousands of soldiers stranded. They were interred by the Germans. They were put in two transport ships to take them to Germany as workers for the German war effort. Both ships were torpedoed by British submarines. 2,600 Italian soldiers went down with one, 3,000 in the other. They were locked in the holds of the ship. Most of these were conscripts forced into the army with no say in their fate.

The show on the battle of Crete included interviews with old men who participated, Greeks, Germans British. They asked the question, Why? The whole thing was pointless, achieved nothing. In the time I knew Doug he impressed me with his decency. It was his creed. Be decent to all life, people, animals, and Mother Earth.

Sounds simple in theory. In practice, it seems too hard. A Utopian dream. Is greed the problem? How do we overcome? Revolution?

Buggered if I know.