Every year, as spring blossoms and the tourist season gets under way on Crete, several families from Australia and New Zealand embark on a long and special journey to the Mediterranean island. They come to honor the memory of relatives who lost their lives in the Second World War.
Kathimerini newspaper met Colenso Eramiha, a librarian from Auckland who came to visit the final resting place of his uncle and his cousin.
“Four, five, six – here it is!” Walking slowly across the soft grass of the Souda Bay War Cemetery, Colenso passed row after row of graves, then came to a halt and pointed to a gravestone inscribed with the words: “Private T.R. Poa, New Zealand Infantry.” Crouching down beside it, he gently put a finger on the white stone and closed his eyes, as if in prayer. “This is a cousin of my mother,” he said, after a moment. Behind him, dozens of rows of graves stretched all the way to the entrance of the war cemetery in dazzling symmetry. More than 1,500 Commonwealth servicemen, most of whom were between 20 and 25 years old when they died, are buried here.
Read full story at ekathimerini.com
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