Tribute to UK Greek island war dead

By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

A wreath of poppies was dropped into the Aegean Sea

Relatives of British servicemen killed during an attempt to liberate Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea during WWII have been commemorating the dead.

Wreaths were laid on the water near the island of Kalymnos, where two British ships - HMS Hurworth and HMS Eclipse - struck mines and sank in 1943.

Doreen Galinksi, from Nottingham, had been waiting 63 years to visit the place where her older brother Ken Tilling met his death as a signaller on board HMS Hurworth.

The warship struck a mine in Kalymnos Bay as it went to help survivors of a Greek vessel, the Adrias, which had been holed by a German torpedo.

Moving ceremony

Carrying the young sailor's medals and wartime documents, Mrs Galinski was on board a Greek coastguard cutter, as the Metropolitan of Hallicharnissos said prayers and cast incense on the waves where the Hurworth went down.

Mrs Galinksi dropped a wreath of poppies overboard, along with 134 English oak leaves gathered from Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire to represent all those on board the Hurworth who perished.

She said the ceremony was very moving. She had expected to cry, but she felt almost joyful, as if possessed by a free spirit.

Now 79 years old, Mrs Galinksi said she was happy that she had lived long enough to see her brother's beautiful resting place.

She no longer felt as if he was lost at sea. The emotion of the ceremony deeply affected Christine Hales, from Kingsbridge in Devon, whose uncle John Kay drowned when HMS Eclipse sank after hitting a mine, two days after the Hurworth.

She said she had come to Kalymnos to fulfil a vow to her late mother.

British survivors

The seaborne ceremony was not just about British sacrifice, it was also a reminder of Greek courage.

Islanders who treated and sheltered the 11 British survivors from the Hurworth were punished by the Germans.

A gunner from the Adrias, who was blown into the water, heard faint cries of help from the wounded captain of the Hurworth.

The gunner helped the captain ashore, then dived back into the water, and swam for 12 hours to the nearest village to get help.

Glasses of ouzo and wine were raised in honour of the crew of the Adrias - known as the ship that would never die.

The ship's bow was blown off, but in neutral Turkey engineers fashioned a repair out of concrete and steel.

Leaking badly, it set sail backwards, somehow avoided the attentions of German aircraft and warships, and managed to cross 300 miles of hostile Mediterranean waters to reach the Egyptian port of Alexandria - and a hero's welcome.