Kidnap in Crete (37 page)

I must thank Sofka Zinovieff and Manthos Lidakis for finding and introducing me to my two first research assistants, Irene Maris and Eirene Deritzaki. Among many other things, Irene and Eirene described the importance and depth of the godparent relationship. They introduced me to, and helped me to interview, many of the children and grandchildren of the kapitans and andartes, for which many thanks. Among the Cretans who talked to me I must thank Mr G. Kalogerakis, Mr C. Bandouvas, Mr N. Xylouris, M. G. Dramoudanis and Mr M. Lydakis. I list these kind people in the order in which I met them. Mr Dramoudanis, who is mayor of Anogia, laid on a delicious lunch of lamb barbequed on an open fire and a jeep to take us into the hills above the village. Thanks to Mr Dramoudanis, I visited the sheepfolds and saw the wild country that the kidnappers and General Kreipe travelled across in April and May 1944. The Cretans are a passionate people and their disputes can sometimes run for decades. It is not my intention to cause trouble and on a very few occasions in this book I have deliberately omitted a name or relationship. Wherever I went on the island I was greeted with wonderful generosity and hospitality.  

In England I talked to the children of several SOE agents and must especially thank Paul Ciclitira, son of Major Dennis Ciclitira, and Nick Woodhouse, son of Colonel Monty Woodhouse, DSO OBE, who was sent to Crete in the first desperate months after the German invasion.

My friends have been encouraging and supportive and I must thank Victoria Hislop for her comradeship in the silence of the London Library; Kirsty Tait and Jeremy Hardie for their unflagging interest and friendship; Adrian and Victoria Bartlet for their tales of Patrick Leigh Fermor, John Houseman and Micky Akoumianakis; Candida Lycett Green for her memories of Leigh Fermor; Daphne Astor who confirmed some aspects of his character; and Scarlett Sabet for her interest and encouragement. On the medical front Dr Peter Shephard shared some very interesting thoughts about the psychology of SOE agents; it was kind of Dr Richard Staughton to spend time pondering a modern diagnosis for the strange illness that afflicted Leigh Fermor during the stress of the escape phase. I must also thank two friends who shared their military experience: the indefatigable Geoffrey Matthews, late Irish Guards, who, at a time when he was very busy, gave me tutorials on weapons training and arms drill and helped me translate the Horace ode quoted by Kreipe; and Warwick Woodhouse, late Royal Marines and Royal Air Force Regiment, who has a passionate interest in all things to do with paratroopers. Warwick talked me through
Fallschirmjäger
parachuting techniques and equipment. Another military man to thank is the late Johny Pumphrey who, years ago, described his experiences as a soldier caught up in the battle of Crete and his time as a prisoner of war.

My agent Victoria Hobbs has been a model of good advice and support. My publishers, Bloomsbury, have provided their usual Rolls Royce service. I must thank the three editors who have worked on this book: Bill Swainson for his wise and scholarly advice; Anna Simpson whose clever and deft hand steered me calmly through the period from delivery to publication and finally Kate Johnson who must be the best copy editor in the history of copy editors. Thank you too to Greg Heinimann for his cover; Martin Lubikowski for turning my rough sketches into clear, exciting maps; and proof readers Steve Cox and George Derbyshire, and indexer David Atkinson, for their meticulous prof­essionalism.

Many people have helped me write
Kidnap in Crete
and I apologise to anyone I have inadvertently forgotten. It goes without saying that any errors in the book are entirely my own.

Finally nearly twenty years ago luck led me to a strange gathering in Italy where I met my wife Alexandra Pringle who is not only my first reader, but my Commander-in-Chief and
sine qua non
.

Rick Stroud

London 2014

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