Part of the Patrick Leigh Fermor archive in the National Library contains correspondence (File reference Acc. 13338/412) with and a few papers of Leigh Fermor’s friend and colleague Ralph Stockbridge. He wrote this poem shortly after being evacuated from Crete, having fought in the battle as a Lance Corporal in the British Army.

Lines Written in Egypt in June 1941 after the Battle of Crete
By Ralph Stockbridge

We will go out, hand in hand, from the torn sad streets
Into the cool night;
Hand in hand, we will go up, through the dark olive-grove,
Past the vine-trellis, to the bare hillside.
The moon will light our footsteps; we shall see,
Faintly, the snow-gleam on the mountain-side,
Pale gold bars on the gently heaving sea.

This same moon, we shall muse, hallowed the old
Forgotten priest-kings’ palaces
When Minos ruled, on ever Europe claimed
This beauty for a natural heritage.
When, in the mountain cavern, Zeus was born,
It shone, perchance; under its dim light
Bold Theseus hoisted the dark sail
Set forth to brave the dreaded minotaur,
And break with grief an aged fathers heart.

So we shall muse –
Of Paul borne hither by an unruly sea;
Of the painter called The Greek; did he
In days of childhood draw from Crete
That mystic inspiration?
Of others too: of noble chieftains famed throughout the land
In years gone by, waging unceasing fight
Gainst Roman, Turk, Venetian,
Of much oppression, and heroic deeds;
Of this last suffering and sacrifice-

Then, silent, we shall turn, our hearts grown full,
And on each others shoulders place our hands,
And in the other’s eyes look long, read there
The pledge of friendship till the end of days