Military History Tours          On Tour - Greece and Crete Tour 29 April 2014

We left Delfi at 08:30 and headed east towards the Junction where Lt Col King had set his road block with his 2/5^th Bn. Nearing the area we turned right through an unbelievable mountain town and then headed towards the Monastery of Ossis. This Monastery is incredible and so well maintained. There are only 2 Monks residing there but many come there for a touch of solitude.

Following our visit we had a coffee at a nearby village that was completely devastated by the Germans in June of 1944. Every member of the village was killed and many houses blown up, 225 died. This was one of the worst atrocities by the Germans in Greece.

After leaving the valley of the Brallos Pass we started our way down the old original road the our men had climbed as they made their way to the evacuation beaches. This was the route fathers of a number of our group had travelled all those years ago. We then went to a small village and had lunch in the Taverna of the fellow, who, as a 16 year old was part of the force who destroyed the railway bridge nearby.

After speaking with the owner, we headed out of Lamia towards Domokos. At Domokos we were able to place the units of that blocking force known as Lee Force and take the actions through as to how it was placed and the strategic steps taken by Brigadier Lee as he carried out this task. The force did not need to fight here but further towards Lamia, Major Gunn fought a successful rear-guard action that helped gain time to allow the force to climb into the mountains.

We then headed to Kalabaka where in the morning we will visit those famous monasteries of Meteora