Preservation of American Hellenic History
Preservation of American Hellenic History
My 2nd section of Group 4, separated from the main body, skirted a 6-foot-high brick wall and as the assistant squad leader I was at the tail end of the two squads. We were hugging a tall brick fence when suddenly six German officers jumped over the wall a few feet behind me. I was prepared to fire when they put their hands up and started talking nervously in German. They surrendered to Cpl. A. Phillips, T5 P. Lewis, and me; we disarmed the German officers. I called out to Sgt. Carkonie who was leading our two squads;(note) he was at the far end of the wall deciding whether to continue into an open space. At this time Sgt. Carkonie, leading the column, made a brilliant decision. Instead of sending the prisoners back to headquarters, he ordered us to bring the German officers to the front of the column. At the far end of the wall was an open area. Sgt. Carkonie ordered the German officers into the open; the officers initially refused to move. Sgt. Carkonie threatened them and forced them into the open area. The German officers immediately started to wave their arms frantically and shout out orders. To our surprise, reluctantly and very slowly, a platoon of German soldiers, 20 to 25 men, raised their arms and surrendered. We observed the Huns disappointment; they were loaded for bear. They were on a slight knoll, right angle from the wall, camouflaged, and in great position. They had two machine gun nests plus 15 to 20 riflemen.
The brilliant decision by Sgt. Carkonie saved the second section of Group 4 from an ambush and avoided many casualties. The discipline of the three men holding their fire on the German officers, on their first mission, was the result of their rigorous training. Unfortunately a few weeks later Sgt. Carkonie was seriously wounded in a bombing raid on Vis and we lost our leader for the duration. After two days of battle, the Allied forces killed, wounded, or captured all the Nazis on the island. Corporal George Kallitsis, was the first OG killed in combat; all three of the Group 4 wounded were named Nick, very apropos for a Greek group: Lt. N. Pappas, Sgt. N. H. Cominos, and T5 N. W. Mitchell.
I have often wondered why the German officers surrendered while their platoon had terrific position and were cleverly camouflaged; they could have wreaked havoc on our two squads. Another lucky break for our unit.
The German platoon was the key in holding the garrison. Soon after, the garrison surrendered. We were very fortunate that our casualties were low.
Losing or having a buddy wounded is always devastating, and even more so if they are relatives and childhood friends. When I learned that Cominos was hit I was frantic. We had known each other as children; his father's brother married my mother's sister. We were good friends as children and now we were like brothers. I had no idea whether he was killed or wounded. I searched to find members of the 1st section to get the details. Finally at dusk I was told that he was wounded but no one knew how seriously, and he had been sent back to Vis. When we returned to Vis I discovered that Nick was slightly wounded; fortunately a machine gun bullet hit him below his knee. Having old friends in a close group was terrific, but in combat it takes its toll. This would be one of many times that we would search for our friends after a bombing raid or a battle.
The Allied units were scheduled to leave Solta late that night. After the Germans surrendered, we were ordered to "sweep" the village and the surrounding area for any German stragglers that might be hiding. My 4th squad, seeking the enemy separately, found three Nazis hiding in a small barn among a couple of goats. We took their weapons and ordered them to join us. The air bombing and artillery shelling had created a huge amount of damage and rubble in the village. As we were walking through the rubble we heard a moaning sound that seemed to be coming from beneath a dirt road. We stopped and listened, and yes, there was a muted human voice coming from underneath the road. Initially we believed the sounds were made by a Yugoslavian native; we handed the Nazis our shovels and ordered them to begin digging. At first they balked, but after we prodded and threatened them with our bayonets, they began to dig half heartedly. A few minutes later we noticed their attitude had changed and they began to dig feverishly. They had realized rather than a Yugoslavian civilian the person trapped under ground was one of their own.
Discovering the trapped man was a German, one of our guys said, Let's not waste our time digging out the Hun;
and suggested we fire into the rubble and kill the Hun; the rest of us immediately disagreed.
The Germans continued digging until they rescued their buddy. We later discovered the trapped soldier was the German garrison's radioman and the radio control center was on the 2nd floor of a building.
When the P 40s hit the building evidently he was propelled by the blast, landing feet first, in a standing position, his arms at his side, buried in the dirt road, with the top of his head about two feet under the ground.
A very small air space allowed him to breathe and stay alive. The man was literally buried alive. When he was rescued he was covered with soot and rubble and his skin was an ugly gray color. It was late afternoon when we rescued the soldier. The man had been buried in the rubble since the early hours of the morning, during the aerial bombing. Two of our men escorted the three prisoners, who carried their buddy, to OG headquarters. We later learned the German did not survive; he died on the boat to Vis, probably from shock.
During this caper I discovered a great lesson about human nature. Initially the Germans couldn't care less about the buried person until they realized he was their own; and then one of our men insisted on killing him when he discovered he was a German. War brings out the worst in the human animal.
We shipped the prisoners back to Vis with British and-or American escorts. The Partisans showed no mercy for the Germans and they would execute the prisoners if they had a chance as reprisals for the massacres of many of their countrymen.
Late that night we boarded the gunboat and returned to Vis.
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