Alan Marshall

I was in the Navy (Fleet Air Arm), doing a shore term in Malta and we knew in the morning that this had happened. We were on tropical routine working from 7.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m., and we knew when we went to breakfast.

The camp at Malta is split into 2 parts, Hal Far is the airfield, and Kalafrana on the coast a 10-15 minute bus ride away where all the admin was and that sort of thing. So as Duty Electrical PO, when we finished at dinner time we used to go into the Guard Room and say to the guy in the guard room and write on the board that we were going swimming at Kalafrana beach. When we got back you told him 'Duty Electrical PO in the mess', 'OK, thanks'.

Well, this particular day when I did this I was told the Officer of the Day wanted to see me in the Ward Room, so I said 'What does he want?' and he said 'I've no idea mate, no idea.' So off I went to the Ward Room and knocked on the door. 'Come in!' There was this thin ringed, fresh out of Dartmouth type, talked with a plum in his mouth. Of course, you go in and stand to attention and wait while he carried on writing and eventually, without even looking at me he said 'Pack your bags, you're going to Greece.' 'With respect sir, I'm going to the UK to be de-mobbed, my relief arrived on the island this week.' 'You are going to Greece.' Okay, I'm going to Greece! When do I go?.

I had to be down at the guard room at 4.00 in the morning to be transported to the other side of the island, to Marsaxlokk, where the RAF had a fleet of Sunderland Flying Boats, there was an RAF contingent there, and that was it, they loaded us into these Flying Boats and brought us into the bay at Argostoli and that's where we first saw land in Kefalonia.

When we came back from the excursion this Monday we came along the waterfront and then bear left and go up and join the main road to Lassi from Argostoli. On that corner, nearly in that corner where we bear left on the right hand side, there's a wooden building, it's a big building on that jetty, which I would say, although 50 years on I doubt it can be the same one, but that was the focal point of the operation on Kefalonia.

I don't know how many troops came from Malta but I've got a big photo at home of our lot. I don't know now how many helicopters we brought, 2 or 3. I know the helicopters were put on board HMS Bermuda and they put them on the gun platform because the rotor blades fold, and lashed them on the gun turrets and the Bermuda shipped them out and then flew them off to where we were on Kefalonia. There were either 2 or 3, but I've got a photograph of them.

We got here at about mid-morning on the day after the quake. The road from Argostoli to Lassi is all wooded along the left hand side and I'm sure that's where the Italian camp was, in there - that's where all their workshops were, they had everything, they had welding shops, blacksmiths, they'd got everything set up in the woods there. The Italians had helicopters as well and they were out on the headland, on the same site as us, but where that was precisely I couldn't tell you.

I know we came round a headland and there was this big field and we were in that field. There was a row of poplar trees, now this was 50 years ago, and that's where we pitched all our tents. I remember these poplar trees because one night, in the fairly early stage of being there, we had a terrific storm, it was blowing a gale and raining and we got some spare guy ropes and there we were, pitch dark because the lights had been switched off for the night, outside in this gale and torrential rain, in our shorts, with these guy ropes lashing the tents that we've still got standing, lashing them to these trees - 'they'll not get away now!'.

What was it like when you arrived? You were dropped off in the harbour

Well, it was just total devastation, I've never seen anything like it. They shipped us straight out to the airfield to make ready for the helicopters coming in. I don't know who brought them in, but there were two great big RN petrol tankers, tank landing craft must have brought those in, there was some earthmoving equipment, but this was already on the site when we got there.

The Americans were in here as well and they delivered to our site two overload wing tanks. These were great big cigar shaped wing tanks which they put on the underside of the wings, and I think they've got something like 500 gallons in each of these tanks, which were just pitched on this field. But we didn't need them. The two tankers that we'd got were enough for us to the do whole operation.

Was there any fresh water supply when you got here or was that all damaged?

When we landed in Argostoli they issued us all with a box of K rations, American services wartime K rations, and there's everything in there to keep one man for one week - toilet paper, cigarettes, matches, jam, biscuits, water purifying tablets everything, and that's what we had for the first week. I think it was HMS Sursay, the frigate, came in as far as it dare and then they shipped some of the ship's company ashore and they dug latrines for us. They sent a couple of cooks ashore and they built a big pit and made a big barbecue and they used to come every day to us with the supplies, water etc. and they would do the meal and everything and in the evening they packed up everything and went back on board for the night and came again on the following morning.

One of the bigger tremors that we had when we were here - when they came in in the morning they asked if everybody was all right and everyone was fine, and we said 'did you know we'd had a tremor last night?' and they said 'Oh yes', the boss on the Sursay had been a war time sailor and he was convinced they'd been torpedoed, that was the effect that the tremor had on the ship.

I don't remember any tremors during the day, but late evening, up to midnight the bigger ones seemed to occur.

What was your job here, what was it that you and your comrades were actually here to do?

Provide emergency service to remote and inaccessible places in the form of doctors, rescue, food etc. After the last sortie of the day prep the aircraft for morning. We were sending doctors out on command from this control centre down by the harbour - we had the telephones there and we'd be asked to send a helicopter to take a doctor somewhere or pick one up from somewhere, to go wherever, and the helicopter used to go out to the villages - we went out on one or two trips with them.

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And what about in Argostoli?

My lasting memory of Argostoli is the stench and it gets you there, it's in your stomach, this horrendous smell, and you're coming down into it - it's unbelievable, it's indescribable - you can taste this awful smell - putrefying flesh!

Do you know how many people died in Argostoli?

No, we didn't - we only knew from reports that thousands had died, but of course Zante was the other island which was particularly badly hit.

I reckon we were here for about 4 to 6 weeks but the problem was, getting us off - getting a vehicle to come and pick us up. The Suez crisis had been on at this particular time and they diverted a landing craft that was going home from Suez, to pick us up. Only flat-bottomed craft could come in because nobody knew what the quake had done to the seabed.

What was your job in the Navy?

I was an electrician, flight servicing on 728 squadron. It was a fleet requirement unit squadron, and we had something of everything, we'd got aircraft that towed drogues, we'd got a couple of jets, we'd got Sea Hornets, Sea Furies and 3 or 4 helicopters. Of course, once the disaster happened and Lord Louis Mountbatten assumed command of the armed forces detailed for the relief he wanted troops and helicopters.

The Italians were here first, with their workshops. We used to go down and get all sorts of jobs done, things made and fashioned.

Did you get to meet any of the local people or not?

No, not really - I think I've got a photo of an old boy in Argostoli.

It's something that happened and after, we came home, I got demobbed at Christmas. I was a regular and this happened on my last trip. You try not to think too much about it afterwards - they are not days that you want to remember.

What did you feel coming back here now?

I was a bit apprehensive - I did think before we came out, I wish I'd done it now - I did think about bringing the photographs I've got - stick them in the bottom of my case - but I thought the only people I'd get talking to would be barmen or something like that at the hotel and they'll not be interested so I'll not bother.

One amusing aside in this - these big wing tanks - when they used to bring the chef ashore, and the other people, from the Sursay, they used to bring a telegraphist with them as well, and he'd send messages 'to CinC Med Fleet, from our boss...' - when we were getting ready to clear the site and everything, the question was asked 'What are we going to do with these two overload tanks sir?' 'Ah yes, tell the flags I want him', I sent the telegraphists to see him. 'Right, I want you to send a signal to Lord Louis' so he dictates this signal requesting disposal instructions for 'believed to be American, blah blah blah, yours etc. And back came the reply from Lord Louis 'Hole liberally and push out to sea.'

These were 500 gallon tanks! So the boss said, 'Right, get the jeep and run me down into town.' So I brought him down into town and dropped him off somewhere near the square. 'Pick me up here in 2 hours time.' So I went and picked him up and what he'd done, he'd been round the town and he'd made contact with the spivs and taxi drivers and he'd agreed to flog them this fuel. So, in the morning, at 4 o'clock 'I want you all up'. At about 5 or half past there were all these lorries coming round the headland, all these battered old lorries and they'd all got loads of these 50 gallon drums on them, and there we were at half past five in the morning, pumping out all this fuel and the boss is sat at this big table and saying 'that's so many million drachma for that' - goodness knows how many drachma there were to the pound in those days. We did however obey the CinC's orders i.e. we holed the tanks liberally and pushed them out to sea.

The square as it was then - there were trees all round and the shops were functioning under the trees - the barber's shop was under one tree, I had a haircut there one afternoon.

There was a curfew too, something like 9 at night till 6 in the morning. First thing we did in the morning was go down to the sea, get washed, come back and try the phone to the control room in Argostoli - dead as usual. Put a couple rolls of cable in the jeep and go and find the break. Usually fairly easy - a few hundred yards of cable missing. Don't ask me why they took it or what they did with it. It was only strung along the trees etc. at the side of the road so it was a bit vulnerable. Another of the first jobs we had to do was clear rubble so that you could get vehicles through.

After the helicopters left we had a couple of weeks relaxation, we were stuck up there, waiting for someone to come and pick us up - after the first two or three weeks the need for the helicopters had gone.

What made you decide to come back to Kefalonia?

We went to Corfu 2 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it and we were looking at the Greek brochure and we liked what we read about Kefalonia and I thought, I don't know whether to or not and we said 'let's go for it' and see what they've done.

And what do you think about what they've done?

Brilliant, Brilliant.