William & Janet Clark's Children - Janet - Luke & Janet's Children - Jenny - How and Where George Died

In 2006 I began sorting through old photographs of the Dent side of the family when I came across the photographs of George, it took me back to a day in the early 1960s, as a teenager, scratting around the sideboard drawers; an occupation I occasionally did when I was bored! Whereupon, I found a tiny brooch containing an equally tiny photograph of George.  

I believe my mam is proudly wearing it in this photograph.  It really saddens me that it was lost when my parents house was cleared out after my dad died.

Mrs Jennie Pattison aged 22

I asked my mam who it was, she told me it was her first husband who was killed in the war."  I asked why she hadn't told my sister and I, but she said she didn't want to upset our dad which was understandable. I asked her what George was like, and she said he was a lovely man.  After this I remember Grandma Dent once mentioning George when we were visiting, so I suppose my mam must have told her about my discovery, however, I never got to know much information about George.

I don't think I understood at the time the heartache my mam must have suffered, so I decided to see if I could find any information regarding where George died.  I found his Commemoration on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. It was sad to see that neither his parents nor my mother appeared on it, so I decided to see if I could get it amended.  It was not straight forward as I was not a blood relative, but after obtaining a copy of their marriage certificate, and obtaining a copy of George's Birth Certificate I managed to get it updated 

I discovered that Athens Memorial records the name of men who were killed in action for the defence of Greece and Crete who have no known graves, which led me to believe that in 1941 George was one of those brave men who were involved in the Battle for Crete. 

Italy's invasion of Greece in October 1940 was followed by  Germany's invasion in April 1941, leading to 42,000 allies being evacuated to Crete.
http://www.madeincrete.com/crete-world-war-2-invasion-resistance-liberation/

German Flag being raised at the Acropolis Greece 1941

British Troops being evacuated on to Crete 1941

Troops on Crete with Fixed Bayonets May 1941

On the morning of 20th May 1941, Germany launched an airborne assault along the northern coast of Crete, using paratroopers and gliders.  British, Australian, New Zealand and Greek forces were not organised into a single formation and had only light weaponry, limited transport, artillery and signals equipment. German forces soon captured Crete's Maleme Airfield and began to land supplies and reinforcements.

Allied troops and Cretan civilians fought valiantly on for several days, but Allied commanders were forced to order the evacuation of the island. The Royal Navy began a rescue operation on the 28th May, but German air and sea attacks caused many casualties. The Royal Navy lost three cruisers and six destroyers and a further 16 vessels were badly damaged.  By 1st June 1941 the evacuation was complete.  I believe George lost his life, on one of these ships, along with many other soldiers. 

Statistics tell us that more than 1,700 British, Commonwealth and Greek soldiers were killed and 15,000 were captured during The Battle For Crete.  More than 6,000 Germans were killed or wounded.