Colin Boswell was a builder when he joined the NZ Army in 1940. His profession made him a valuable recruit for the NZ Engineers and he served in 6 Field Company.
The Engineers joined the British response to the German invasion of Greece in 1941 and they did much work during the retreat in the face of German armoured units, delaying them with demolition and mines. By late April the 6th Field Company were in the vicinity of the Corinth Canal - an area of vital military importance, especially the bridge which crossed it. It was vital that it be kept usable for the continued retreat of friendly forces. It was equally vital to destroy it before it fell into enemy hands.
It was probably not known to the men in the field until just before the crucial event but was certainly known to their commanders that the Canal was an essential part of the German plan for the invasion of Greece. A fuel tanker was waiting for it to be secured so it could head through and reach the nearby port of Piraeus to unload fuel for the arriving tanks and other vehicles.
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| German troops on the Corinth Canal bridge. |
The story is best told by J F Cody, the author of "New Zealand Engineers, Middle East," one of the volumes of the Official History of NZ in the Second World War, published in 1961:
Sixth Field Company, which we left on the road to and on the bridge over the Corinth Canal, did not embark as a company. At the time the others were moving to the beaches, the company was wandering in small groups all over southern Greece. That is, those of them who were not already prisoners of war.
This was the way of it — Lieutenant Kelsall decided to move to a quieter area nearer Corinth so, leaving Sergeant Jay and a sub-section guarding mined road blocks, the trucks and crews were moved after dark (25–26 April) into a lemon orchard a couple of miles south of the bridge, where it was possible to get some sleep.
The sleep had a sudden termination at daybreak. Kelsall's diary explains why:
‘0530 hrs: Heard noise of straffing and was told by sentry that paratroops were landing on the undulating ground to the E. Dumfounded. Started to put the orchard in a state of defence: 1 and 3 Secs running N-S and facing E and S. HQ Sec covering the SW. We could not see the bridge for the trees and we were probably not seen ourselves in the orchard. The paratroopers were jumping from about 500' and fighter planes were skimming the tops of tall pines bordering the orchard. It was possible to see inside the planes thro’ the open doors.
‘As my troops were not trained infantry, told the sec commanders to husband ammunition and not to fire until the enemy were at least 400x away. No. 3 section a bit eager must have fired at 800x and perhaps let the enemy know we were there…. At 0650 hrs a terrific explosion and it seemed to me that the br had gone up…. The show began with fire from automatics and when our resistance stiffened mortars were brought into action….
‘0900 hrs: Decided to make a break, ordered all trucks to be emptied of equipment with the intention of racing trucks out and going south. I climbed a tree … and saw to my horror blazing tanks of 4H—at least three (men had run to them and then been shot at I think), and Bren carriers in an open field. The Messerschmidts were taking to them very successfully and the rd out was dead straight and ideal for straffing. With 6 wheeled 30 cwt Morris trucks decided to stay and fight….
‘1300 hrs: Running very short of ammo — no communication with the bridge. I decided to make a break with the rest of the Coy — 140 men. We divided into small groups (NCO and 6 ORs) to fight our way out and make for the coast.
‘1430: Decided to order the move….’
No. 2 Section was wakened by the usual morning hate and was preparing for the day's work when, to their paralytic astonishment, they saw parachutes dropping from the sky. Some stood petrified with amazement, others grabbed their rifles and waited for instructions as to what to do next.
Lieutenant Wheeler ordered them to disperse before they were surrounded by the waves of dropping paratroops and to concentrate again behind Corinth village. Some made it but the majority did not, for there were Germans all over the area. Major Rudd, who as acting CRE had his small headquarters in rear of 6 Field Company, went forward to see what was happening and collected approximately twenty sappers whom he led to eventual embarkation at Monemvasia. Wheeler with another dozen or so embarked after much marching and hiding at Argos. Lieutenants Kelsall and Wells and party were betrayed, one of the few cases on record; Lieutenant Chapman with twenty others, after island hopping in borrowed and stolen boats, evaded capture; another score or so found various embarkation beaches; still others got as far as Kalamata beach, where 5000 waited and only 500 could be taken; some escaped even after that, but approximately seventy more sappers of 6 Field Company joined the forty taken at the Servia Pass.
It only remains to describe the end of the Corinth bridge, and to do so it is necessary to go back in time a few days.
It was originally intended to embark 4 Brigade from the Athens area, but force of circumstances had compelled a change of plan and 4 Brigade Group was now to follow 6 Brigade down into the Peloponnese, only a few hours' run from Crete. Lieutenant Wheeler's instructions regarding the canal bridge, pontoon bridges, ferries, etc., ended with the intimation that the order to destroy the bridge would be given in writing by an officer from Force Headquarters, and that he (Wheeler) would ensure that the bridge did not fall into enemy hands intact.
Some time during the 25th and unknown to Wheeler, who was working on the pontoon bridge moored to the far bank of the canal, a staff officer whom it has not been possible to identify added a verbal order that on no account was the bridge to be demolished for another twenty-four hours, during which time 4 Brigade Group would pass across. From the section camp a mile and a half away, Lieutenant Wheeler was sure the bridge had been blown.
‘In all the complexity of noise it had been impossible to tell whether the bridge had been fired but I didn't entertain any doubt. The picquet had clear written orders. “Under no conditions will you allow the bridge to fall into enemy hands intact.” But the fate of the boys themselves was more uncertain. Their chances would be pretty lean.
‘It was not given to me to know that a few hours earlier that a Very Senior Officer had stopped to have a word with the sappers. And that he had firmly impressed on them that there was another convoy yet to pass through. He added that “under no conditions was the bridge to be destroyed for at least twenty four hours”. Which put the n.c.o. in charge of the party in rather a spot when the band began to play in the morning. Disobey a written order from a subaltern or a verbal order from a Staff Officer with red braid all around his hat? He did the obvious thing—left the bridge cold, jumped a truck, came out through a hail of lead. Happily ignorant of this development, I watched the fourth or fifth row of parachutes laid neatly across what had been our camp. Not a sign of the lads and another trio of 52's hove in sight. I deemed it high time to head for the horizon.’
The German elation terminated when, with a roar followed by an immense smoke cloud, the structure collapsed into the canal.
A mass of conflicting evidence has been collected regarding the cause of the explosion that wrecked the Corinth bridge, but there is at least one witness who is quite certain that two New Zealand sappers lost their lives in the attempt.
Here is the testimony of Gunner H. E. Smith who had been wounded at Tempe, missed embarkation at Megara, and was being taken by truck to another beach:
‘We were hardly across the bridge, travelling south, when the blitz started…. we jumped the transport and I made for a clump of rocks. I was still hugging a bren and some ammo picked up the night before. It was here that I first met the two engineers. One remarked that if Jerry hit the bridge she'd go sky high as it was loaded to the gills with TNT. The longer the raid continued the more they remarked on it not getting hit. They couldn't understand it…. I looked up and saw the Parachutists dropping. We jumped up, and being firmly convinced that the parachutists wouldn't take prisoners we decided to sell out as dear as possible. I made for a mound, followed by the two sappers and it was then we saw the bridge still intact. One sapper said to the other, “They're after that bridge Boss” (It was either Boss or Bossie)…. It was here that the idea came to blow the bridge. There was a hurried huddle to see whether the three of us went or one or two. It was decided on two and I'd cover with the bren as the Huns were well on the ground and making things hot. From where I was I could give complete cover as the bridge was plain ahead. The next second the boys were gone and so long as I could I kept them in my sight, but believe me, trying to keep up with the Huns didn't leave much time.
There is an equally convincing account by two British officers who believed that they exploded the charges by rifle fire. But no trace was ever found of Lance-Corporal (‘Bos’) Boswell and Sapper Thornton of 6 Field Company.
It is also claimed that the charges on the Corinth Bridge were set off by a nearby British anti-aircraft battery or a lucky artillery hit from further away.
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| The charges explode. |
The Canal bridge collapsed into the Canal, delaying German movements by two days - not long enough for the retreating New Zealand forces which were evacuated from a different port. A temporary bridge was built but the Canal was blocked until May 17 - a valuable delay for the resupply of the German blitzkrieg. The fuel tanker had to take the long way aroubnd to reach port and unload for the mechanised troops.
Colin Boswell was posted missing in May, 1941. With no reports of his burial by German forces, or appearance in a military hospital or POW camp, his death had to be assumed.
FOR THE EMPIRE’S CAUSE
BOSWELL.—No. 2414 L/cpl. Colin Campbell, 1st Echelon, 2nd N.Z. Expeditionary Force, N.Z. Engineers, previously reported missing, now listed killed in action in Greece, April 26, 1941, dearly beloved youngest son of the late Charles and Elizabeth Boswell of' Ravensbourne, and brother of Miss A. Boswell, Ravensbourne, Mrs K. Richdale, Maori Hill, F. D. Boswell, Michie street, Roslyn, and Charles and Walter, Wellington.
He did his duty. -Otago Daily Times, 4/10/1946.
"He did his duty" - he certainly did. Just how well, we will never know.
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| Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin. DCC photo. |
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