Cretan Vista Site News Archive December 2007

Cretanvista Site Special - Christmas Greeting 2007 Issue 58
No links to sites with adult content accepted.	Closed for Christmas.. Just this once!!.... Well, the website is still open and functioning as always, but the news desk has taken a short break this Christmas, our first in several years. We hope that everyone will understand our need for just a little time out with our families, relatives and friends. We will be back with all the latest and updated news early in the New Year as well as bringing you new photo-galleries; our 2008 Calendar; book reviews and, as usual, all the very best about Crete. We leave you now with our very best wishes, our Christmas card and our Christmas story. Enjoy! From all at Cretanvista. PLUS Latest Crete Weather Link _____________________________ _____________________________ A Christmas Story - Introduction... Many years ago while working at a West Suffolk Hospital, I was privileged to know an Irish Ward Charge Nurse named John McFadden. John was once a prisoner of war in the notorious Japanese prisoner of war camps in south east Asia. He was also very familiar with James Joyce's 'Ulysses'.... One Christmas, in conversation, he told me (and later published in the hospital magazine) about an incident involving himself and a fellow POW, Sergeant Baker, incarcerated in a camp on Java. I have never forgotten John, or his haunting tale of Sgt'. Baker. I offer it to you as our Christmas story. Enjoy your Christmas, remember Ulysses. Remember Sgt'. Baker - just for a little while......... ...remember it for John. WB. Ulysses. by John McFadden. George Bernard Shaw wrote 'Pygmalion', Sean Casey wrote 'The Plough and the Stars' and James Joyce wrote 'Ulysseys'. So what? Nothing much really, except that they were three Irishmen. But, when I went to school in Ireland in the 1930's, although we learned about them, their works were banned in Ireland. They were anti-Catholic I suppose. That was the considered opinion of an educated, responsible censorship and it was accepted by we students. But anti this or anti that is as old as the hills. Eve wouldn't toe the line in the Garden of Eden. Before that Beelzebub rebelled and was chastised and banished by St Michael. Judas was anti, Enoch Powell is anti today. The surprisingly reassuring thing is that the 'antis' usually lose out and are frowned upon. Anyway, coming back to say, Ulysses, I couldn't have read it in Ireland if I had wanted to. It was banned. Later on I got my hands on it, but I curse the day I did - It came about like this... Sgt'. Baker approached along the verandah and asked me if I could read Gaelic and understand it. I said I could and he handed me a book and asked me to translate a verse in Gaelic, which I did. I can picture him now - khaki shirt and trousers on, no socks and army boots, unlaced, much too big for his thin feet -his head shaven, as were all P.O.W.s in Java. It was about 1944 or maybe 1943. He was about 28 years old, a sergeant dispenser in the R.A.M.C., a Londoner and a Jew. He was married. We P.O.W.s had books handed to us to form a library. We always ran our camps on commune or kibbutz lines - the strong helped the weak - all for one, one for all. The book I was handed by Sgt'. Baker was Ulysses by James Joyce. He was quite taken up with the book, it was apparent, as if he had found a pearl of great price. He was quite thrilled with the translation, was generous with his thanks and satisfied with the job I did. No doubt he was taken up with Ulysses and I was a 'Godsend' to help him read it in that damp, landsop P.O.W. camp. I checked my translation with a Sgt'. who was reared in the Shetlands with his grandmother. He had spoken Gaelic there and was still fluent in the Language; his translation tallied with mine. Sgt'. Baker took leave of me and turned left into the courtyard to cross to the other side. He was obviously miles away, walked slowly and walked quietly in measured steps, memorizing the translation I did for him. He should have noticed the two Japanese guards cross in front of him, which was fatal. He should have jumped to attention and shouted "Nioski, Kay ray, Nature and then Yasume" but instead, head deep into Ulysses, he was murmuring "Walk, walk, walk my love". Did he notice the Japanese guards and thought Ulysses more important? I had my doubts at the time. The guards roared "Cora, Corra" and he had to approach them. They hammered him a lot - and threw Ulysses down a well in the centre of the courtyard. We knew Sgt. Baker was marked after that. Soon afterwards, there was a draft of P.O.W.s going to Sumatra and Sgt'. Baker was among them. He died there about six months afterwards. The translation? "Suibial, Suibial, Suibial, a roon, Suibial go socaire 's subial go civin" was the Gaelic I translated thus:- "Walk, Walk, Walk my love, Walk slowly and walk quietly." John McFadden. 1972. Post Script. Some small liberties have been taken with the grammar in an attempt to relate the story as the author told it. What is not possible to relate is the sheer horror of the conditions which existed in the Japanese POW Camps around the time of the incident related, around 1942/1943, from which many of those incarcerated never returned. Also impossible to relate is the sheer humility of the author - who spent his life after repatriation helping others - and who clearly felt some of the responsibility for Sgt'. Baker's fate. John McFadden was one of the survivors whose life was changed forever by his extreme experiences - and whose compensation claims against the Japanese were so shabbily treated by the British government at the time. He never mentioned incidents such as are found in his story without direct provocation to do so. I lost touch with John when I moved to another area. He may still be out there, definitely retired and probably back in his native Ireland - so very far from the horrors he and his companions endured. If you are still there John - and see this, we won't forget how much you and all the others gave.... Merry Christmas. _________________________
FREE... Cretanvista is a free site. We accept neither cash nor gratuities and sell nothing. We don't carry paid for advertising. But we do try to give you information which you might want to know about. Accommodation in Astratigos - For rent/Sale again.... The first house on the left as you enter Astratigos from Afrata - a magnificent cream and green affair sporting two apartments two balconies and a small pool at the front and containing two holiday apartments. Live in Astratigos maybe? . TWO HOLIDAY VILLAS... .. Another local owner has carried out some superb traditional renovation on a ruined house - and has renovated what was his own accommodation - maybe for your holidays! Book and check availability at:- Holiday-rentals.com In Kolimbari - right on the beach near the tavernas:- The Grand Bay Beach Hotel Visit Interdynamic's website. ______________ www.provencebeyond.com Well worth a visit if you are interested in France, especially the southern parts.
FERRY SERVICES. SOUDA BAY - PIRAEUS (Chania-Athens). ANEK LINES operate daily return sailings. Souda - Piraeus 23.59Hrs 05.55Hrs Piraeus - Souda 16.30Hrs 22.55Hrs Plus, Mon Wed, Fri Piraeus - Souda - Rethymnon 20.00 - 04.45 - 07.30 Hellenic Seaways commence daily return sailings from Monday 17th April 2006 Souda - Piraeus 23.45Hrs 06.00Hrs Piraeus - Souda 16.00Hrs - 22.15Hrs PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHECK TIMETABLES WITH THE COMPANIES OR THEIR AGENTS. WEBSITE LINKS Moving to Crete - Practical Advice.. 'Notes on Greece' is a British Embassy publication which gives information on matters relating to Greece. Obtaining a copy first hand from the British Consulate in Iraklion (Heraklion) will ensure that you have the most recent edition - and professional contacts with up-to-date and wide ranging knowledge on matters relating to Crete. Contact the consulate via:- : crete@british-consulate.gr An e-mail copy is available as a Microsoft word file - a very fast email of very useful information.