John Dillon Piper

In memoriam

New Zealand Army Service Corps

From New Zealand Electronic Text Collection, The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War, Petrol Company, Chapter 8, Crete Page 114: Driver Bryant,8 on cookhouse fatigue after breakfast, first noticed a bomber flying very low. He says: Then the troop-carriers came, towing gliders that were uncoupled overhead. He next strafed all around our area, for about ten minutes to half an hour. I made for my action post, which was the last of B Section as it joined onto C Section area. stayed there picking them off as they advanced towards the barbed wire. Then I noticed four Jerries pulling at a white parachute; they were putting in a machine-gun. I opened fire, and got a lovely reply. A sniper opened up, then a mortar. They were dropping all around my position. They finally got the machine-gun going and concentrated on me. Lieut McPhail was coming along in front of me when the sniper got him in the leg. About 20 minutes after that a mortar blew me out of my trench. While this was going on in B Section's area, a machine-gun outpost under Corporal Trevelyan, forward of the wire about midway between the prison and the village of Galatas, came in for a hot time. This detachment comprised Drivers Baldwin, J. S. Plumtree, Holland, Lawton, Eckersley, Peel-Walker, C. Neilson and Piper. Their report follows: At approximately 0800 hrs on the 20th May, 1941, a party of nine of us were holding an anti-tank rifle and bren-gun position some 300 yds back from the jail in front of the Greek lines when we were forced to take cover on account of large numbers of enemy aircraft which were concentrating on the area surrounding the jail. They were flying very low and machine-gunning the area. Following closely were gliders and numerous troop-carrying planes from which parachute troops descended in large numbers and we most certainly accounted for many with our rifles. They landed on three sides of our position and within fifteen minutes were throwing hand grenades at our slit trench. We soon realised that it was useless to remain in this position and decided to retire to our own unit some 300 yds to the rear. If it had not been for the covering fire of Dvr Eckersley's bren-gun I am afraid very few if any of us would have come out alive. After reporting to Sgt Hopley we took up positions with our own B Section. At the first opportunity we checked up on our party and found that Dvr D. Piper was missing and we fear that he was killed during our retirement as he has not been seen since. Another member, Dvr W. Holland, was severely wounded on arrival back at B Section area.

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