The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation Paperback – International Edition, September 22, 2009

This book gives a rare glimpse into the war as seen from a young man in the Crete resistance working with the British in WW2. His story begins with harboring British soldiers left behind after the Germans occupy the island and ends with the surrender of the last Germans in 1945. A 40 page introduction by Patrick Leigh Fermor, one of the British officers on the island, sets the stage before you read George's first hand account. PLF is also the translator, and seems to have done a fine job. The book is highly readable, unlike many translated books I have attempted to read!While the book is unique, the story will seem familiar to those who have watched "The Guns of Navarone" or the lessor known British film, "Ill Met by Moonlight". The brave guerilla fighters on the run from German patrols, caching weapons and radio gear in caves in the hills, brutal revenge attacks by the Germans burning whole villages... all things you've glimpsed in the movies. But this is the real story and for such an episodic tale it is highly readable. Even George's visit to Cairo for R&R is described so intensely that you wish you had been there to see the sites yourself!One note, the most notable British mission to Crete was the capture of German General Kriepe and his being taken off the island. This is the story told in the movie "Ill Met by Moonlight" Ill Met By Moonlight (and a book of the same name Ill Met By Moonlight). While this takes place very near the author, he is not actually involved in that event and that story is told second-hand in the book, in a single chapter at the back of the book.

A companion volume to Antony Beevor's book about the Battle of Crete and the resistance. This book was written by one of the Cretan partisans

I am fascinated with the Battle of Crete and the tenacity of the Cretans people to fight so hard with so little. This is the only account I've read that is from the perspective of a runner aiding the Allied forces.

This is an account of a hero who did so much for freedom. The story is well written and you can't put the book down.

I met his son on Crete. Unbelievable story! Highly recommended