Mr Les Manning – one of the few remaining WWII veterans who fought in the Battle of Crete – celebrated his one hundred and first birthday, and the Cretan community in Victoria were out in force to wish him many more happy returns.
Les, accompanied by daughter Lynda, and three grand-daughters, was guest of honour at a special Easter Monday lunch hosted by the Pancretan Association of Melbourne at the Cretan Village in Wantirna.
A meal of mezedes and spit-roasted lamb was followed by chocolate cake with a single candle, and the entire dining room singing Happy Birthday – in English and then Greek – to the old soldier.
After Les thanked his fellow diners, his daughter Lynda Banks said the extraordinary affection shown by the Cretan community to her father was warmly appreciated.
“They make us feel so welcome, they’re a very loving and passionate people, and we feel like we’re part of their family,” said Lynda.
“They come up to dad and kiss him. It’s a wonderful experience and I know it inspires him to live another two or three years at least.”
“It makes me feel great,” said Les as his daughter and granddaughters joined the traditional Cretan dancing accompanied by a bouzouki band.
Despite having suffered a stroke since turning 100, Les was in good form – still recounting his experiences of the Battle of Crete with great clarity.
After the Allied evacuation of mainland Greece in April 1941, he and his fellow Diggers of the Victoria-raised 2/7 Battalion were sent to the island just before the German airborne invasion.
The 2/7th were deployed at Georgioupolis in the opening days of the battle, but on 27 May 1941, they took part in what became known as the charge at 42nd Street near Souda, where Anzac troops forced back an elite division of Austrian mountain troops, buying time for other Allied soldiers to cross the White Mountains to the evacuation point at Sfakia.
Les, pinned down by mortar fire at 42nd Street, made it to Sfakia days later, but like thousands of others, he was left behind. Evading capture briefly, Les became a prisoner of war and was shipped to Stalag 13 in Bavaria where he spent the rest of the war.
Born and raised in Richmond, Leslie Manning – the son of a Flinders Lane rag trader – joined the 2/7th Battalion in October 1939, and left Port Melbourne for the Middle East in April 1940. A year later he was in Greece.
After the war, Les worked as a security guard for the state savings bank in Melbourne. A father of four, he celebrated his sixtieth wedding anniversary with his wife Alma last year.
John Nikolakakis, president of the Pancretan Association of Melbourne told Neos Kosmos that the association was delighted to be able to mark Les’s 101st birthday with him.
“To have him celebrate with us is an honour to us all,” said Mr Nikolakakis.
“To think this veteran was born before the events at Gallipoli in 1915 proves how much we should respect these very few veterans that are still with us. God bless you Les and Happy Birthday!”