"Off Santorin we sighted a foreign motor vessel which appeared to be an Italian surface raider. We contemplated capturing her. I ordered action stations' manned: mmediately The enemy turned tail. Engine trou ble added to our worries and we had to deal with fire which broke out aboard from a bursting Diesel engine.
eventually we sighted Suda Bay in Crete as a storm smashed big seas against it. On May 5 we sought refuge there. We spent one day when I bad to give up the Evangellistria and substitute a 170-ton schooner. We sailed for Alexandria as a south wind hit us but we kept moving as fast as we could.
"We encountered a west Mediterranean cargo convoy who offered us escort protection but as we were unable to keep up we stayed behind. Finally we made port unmolested after 18 days since we embarked from the Greek beach."
Concluding his ady: Lieut Commander Willmott paid a high tribute to the skipper, R. Crawford, who in peace-time is a first-class fisherman, and also to the splendid behaviour of the party in the face of appalling weather which prevailed throughout the trip.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.