IN 1940 the Italian army invaded Greece and was being soundly thrashed by Greek soldiers.

This led to German support for the Italians and British, Australian and New Zealand support for the Greeks.

The result was a disaster for the Allies, news of which was suppressed at the time and has been quietly forgotten ever since.

The Allied troops were driven back and an effort made to evacuate by the Royal Navy from Piraeus and Kalamata.

It was decided to abandon Greece on April 28, 1941 and take off fighting troops first, leaving drivers, bakers, clerks to mount a defence against the German armoured troops which were supported by their air force, our own having been destroyed.

The Royal Navy played its usual heroic role in saving as many men as possible, losing several ships in the process, but 10,000 men were left behind to spend the rest of the war as prisoners.

It is thanks to one man, Edwin Horlington, who became a PoW, that there is a memorial at Kalamata to those who fought there 61 years ago.

Each May he organises a service to remember the events of that time there. Naturally the numbers attending are dwindling.

Many of those evacuated from Kalamata and Piraeus were taken to Crete and later faced another battle and another evacuation.

I have spent many holidays in Greece and its islands, but I will not return until these nonsensical charges of espionage against the plane-spotters are thrown out.

George Heppell,

Rawcliffe Lane, York.

Updated: 10:38 Tuesday, April 30, 2002