Medal of the Town of Rethymnon, Crete : 2/3 Field Regiment

Commemorative gilded medal with a pale blue watered ribbon attached to a simple ring suspender. The obverse shows the helmeted head of the Greek goddess Athena flanked by laurel sprays and Greek lettering. The reverse shows an image of a monastery superimposed on a sunburst, with the date '1866'.

This medal was issued by the town of Rethymnon (Retimo) in Crete on 25 April 1975 'to those men who, during the historic "Battle of Crete" (20 May - 30 May 1941) courageously and with no thought for themselves, defended the high ideals of freedom and humanity, as well as the honour of Greece, and especially of Crete'. It was presented as a gesture of recognition and thanks to the following Australian units who took part in the Battle of Crete, specifically in the defence of the Rethymnon airfield against German paratroopers (known to the Allied forces at the time as Retimo airfield): 2/3 Field Regiment, 2/1 Battalion, 2/11 Battalion, 2/1 Machine Gun Battalion, 2/8 Field Company and 2/7 Field Ambulance; as well, an individual award made to Lieutenant Colonel I R Campbell, the Australian officer in overall command of Australian, Greek and Allied military forces during the defence of the airfield. This particular medal was awarded to 2/3 Field Regiment and was attached to their unit association's marching banner at Anzac Day marches. The regiment was raised in October 1939 with recruits from New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. After initial training in Australia, with small arms only and no field guns, the regiment sailed for further training in Britain in May 1940. Equipped with 25 pounder Mark II guns, the first Australian field regiment to receive them, the regiment arrived for service in the Middle East in December. On 16 January 1941 5 Battery was sent to support the initial advance into the Western Desert, returning on 6 March before the entire regiment moved to Greece with 6 Division, which, together with British and New Zealand forces, was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the German advance into the country. In Greece the regiment became the first Australian field regiment to engage the Germans during the Second World War. It fought with distinction at Vevi on 10-12 April, then at Servia Pass and Elasson, firing 7,000 rounds in the latter engagement on 18 April. After taking part in rearguard actions at Kriekouki (or Erithai) and Porto Rafti and Markopoulon, when on 27 April attacking German aircraft caused an explosion in the ammunition which destroyed the remaining guns, the regiment was withdrawn to Crete. By 10 May 1941 the majority of the regiment were based near Meg Khorafia on high ground overlooking Suda Bay and the Stilos Plain, employed as 'infantillery'. The remainder, equipped with four 100 mm and ten 75 mm howitzers of Italian and United States origin, which had been sent directly to Crete from North Africa, were sent to man positions in the Retimo and Georgioupolis areas. In addition five members of the regiment were hastily trained to provide relief crews for two of the Royal Tank Corps' Matilda tanks operating in support of 2/11 Battalion on 27 May. Of the five men, one member from the regiment was killed and two seriously wounded. Despite initial success against the German paratroopers landing at Retimo, the Allied defenders of the airfield were eventually overwhelmed. Some were evacuated by sea by ships of the Royal Navy, some escaped in small boats commandeered from the Cretans, and others were taken prisoner by the Germans. The surviving members of 2/3 Field Regiment regrouped in Palestine and returned to Australia in 1942. The regiment subsequently served in New Guinea.