Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Roy Buirchell was best known as Bonnie a nickname given to him by his mother Agnes when he was a baby. His grand father was George who had been sentenced to transportation for 10 years as he had caused a mischief in stealing a leg of lamb from the Lord of the Manor’s kitchen.

Bonnie was a hunter and gatherer and along with his brother Henry Lloyd (better known as Mick) he kept the food on the table of a very poor family. As he grew into a youth he found he had skills in sports and a cleverness in Mathematics. He played cricket and AFL football for many of the towns around Kojonup. He was also a crack shot and he and brother Mick went hunting often. He was a shearer by trade and saw little of shearing dozens in a day. He was sort after by the local farmers.

In 1940 with WWII raging in Europe Bonnie took the odd decision to marry Clemence Jean Penny the daughter of a well to do farmer who owned Glenlossie just outside of Kojonup. It was a poor decision and many a story of their relationship showed they were not happy together

Within 6 months Bonnie set out for Northam to offer himself as a signaller in the AIF. He He was considered clever in morse code and carrying out fast message movement.

Bonnie was fully trained within 6 months and setoff in the ship to the Middle East. He was in North Africa engaged with the Italians and then General Rommel with his mechanised army. In April 1941 the Greeks were threatened by the Nazi troopers on their northern borders. Churchill offered to find enough soldiers to halt the Germans. He asked the Australian, New Zealand and British governments to offer soldiers to form the Lustre Force. Bonnie and all the 2/11th battalion was sent to northern Greece to halt the nazis.

Bonnie enjoyed his trip from Alexandria to Athens and the huge convoy of trucks that took the soldiers to the northern Greek border. The whole group failed to stand up to the overwhelming numbers and their modern weapons and strategies. The thousands of Allies were sent messages to withdraw, the Germans dispatched hundreds of the Australians, New Zealanders and British. The 2/11th were selected to hold the Germans at different stages of the withdrawal while leapfrogging their way towards Athens. Wth little time left the Allies were ordered to destroy all weapons, foodstuff and clothing ie anything the enemy could use.

The withdrawing Allies were assisted by the fishermen of Greece to escape. They used their small boats to ferry the Allies out to British warships. Exhausted many men were picked up and ran for Crete a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. All the way from Mt Olympus to Crete the German Dive bombers called stukas harassed Bonnie and his mates.

The wounded were taken by separate warship directly to Alexandria for hospital treatment. The others made themselves comfortable on Crete where they found the locals friendly and pleased to have an army to help keep the Germans away. Even though the days slipped by there were constant air raids and bombs dropped. General Freyberg a New Zealander was in charge and set about setting up defenses. The men were concerned about their position as they had destroyed weapons, ammunition and tools to dig with etc. Freyberg was certain the Germans would attack from the sky. The Germans had taken control of the air so they could come and go in the air.

On May 20th 1941 the inevitable happened. The Germans sent thousands of aircraft, gliders and paratroopers to invade Crete. For a full account please read my thoroughly researched book SPIRITED AWAY. It is worth reading the following review of the book by a reporter on The Greek Herald

https://greekherald.com.au/culture/reviewing-anthony-buirchells-spirited-away-historic-threads-of-cretes-prisoners-of-war/

The airborne invasion is outlined in my book so please read that part.

Move to the three days before capitulation and continue the Bonnie Buirchell story. It was General Freyberg belief his army was losing the Crete War and sent runners to order all Allies to make for a small fishing village called Sfakia where they would be taken by locals out to waiting warships. This had to be accomplished at midnight and before sun up so as to avoid the German bombers.

The walk to Sfakia was difficult and chaotic. The Germans pursued the Allies each day and night. During the night of May 31st General Freyberg and his officer consort walked through the thousands lined up at Sfakia and were rowed to a sea plane. It took off leaving thousands behind. Men observing this unusual manoeuvre maintained that not one man in the sea plane looked back.

On the morning of June Ist 1941 the Allies were called to surrender and were marched all the way back to where they had come from. It was a hot, dry, hungry walk.

The day before, that is 31st May, a small group of men from 2/11th Battalion had got word about moving to Sfakia and escaping. They were also told they could run to the hills.

These mates were hiding in a wadi watching the Germans in tanks making all haste towards the mountains. The group’s officers were Major Ray Sandover and Major Ralph Honner and both agreed that they should take to the hills. Allowing time for the Germans to clear out they set off over the mountains headed for the inhospitable south coast. One of these men was William Roy Buirchell (Bonnie).

They all kept together and assisted each. Upon reaching the tiny town of Imballion they were helped by a Crete family. The 2 officers considered the group was too large so split it in two. One group made for the water of the Mediterranean Sea looking for a boat to sail away in. The other headed inland where they were to hide until help arrived.

Bonnie knew a few of his team as they came from Western Australia.

William Taylor ‘Bill” WX 2061 private
William Pauley “Blue” WX Private
Major McNab
Vic Petersen WX571 private POW number 4538
Major Ray Sandover WX officer of rank
Major Ralph Honner WX
Captain “Killer” James Ryan who was a doctor.
Lieutenant Art McRobbie

After breaking into 2 teams team one approached the sandhills before sitting down to plan their next move. As there were 9 they broke up into pairs. Pair one was sent east, pair 2 went west and the other 4 waited to be called. McNab was the leader.

They had some success but the reality was the boats were all old and broken. They wouldn’t get far. No sooner had they decided to move back into the hills when two motor bikes with sidecar came roaring across the sand a squealed to a stop. The Germans had found them. McNab was taken prisoner and the others left to decide their fate tomorrow. ‘You become prisoners or fight it out to the death’.

A few hours later the Germans had a change of plan and arrived back to take the men into custody. They were ordered to walk all night no water no food then rest in the shade. After 3 nights they arrived near Georgioupoli. Exhausted they lay down to rest when Vic Petersen began squealing in agony. No one could work out his dilemma. Two guards arrived and told him to shut up or they would shoot him.

Vic then collapsed into unconsciousness so a truck was summoned and it took the stricken Petersen to a nearby hospital. No one knew what had happened until ten days later. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake.

Next morning, and still exhausted the prisoners were placed in working parties and sent off to work. Bill Taylor and Bonnie were pushed into a lorry with 20 others. At each stop so many were told to get down and given instructions as to their job.

Bonnie and Bill were the last 2 left when the truck pulled up and two long handled shovels thrown at their feet. The instruction was quite clear….”You bury dead”.

So in the heat of a summer’s day and surrounded by 30 rotting, stinking carcasses the two men set to work. The stench was unbearable and the movement of the bodies caused parts to fall off. They tried to eat lunch but it was too revolting. They finished the burials of 29 Germans and one Kiwi and hammered in the final cross when the truck arrived to pick them up. The men in the back tray couldn’t stand the smell and wanted to walk back.

Bonnie and Bill scrubbed themselves red until blood oozed but they couldn’t rid themselves of the scenes of the day. To make things worse the German officer came in to say they did such a good job, tomorrow they would get 40 bodies to bury.

Bonnie and Bill decided that they could not handle this job so decided to escape.

They packed light and went to sleep. Bonnie was awaken by Bill dry wrenching and complaining of being severely ill. Bonnie helped and then told Bill to forget about the escape idea. Bill tried to talk Bonnie into continuing the escape. Bonnie could see how ill Bill was so agreed to pull out and stay with his mate.

Both returned to bed and Bill slept. Bonnie decided he couldn’t face the burial team ever again so broke his promise. He fled the prison and made for the hills. As he trotted along he half expected a shot to end his plan and his life. He also worked through some rules. Now he was out and alone he would remain alone, not trusting anyone. He would live off the land just above the snow line. He would keep a fire at a low heat. He would not become a busy body.

Bonnie had left the POW camp on 12th June, 1941 and no one heard of him or about him for months. He was using all his hunting and gathering skills he had learnt at Kojonup. He used wire to make loop traps and chicken wire to fence in shallow water places. Around the bottom of the wire hit cut curricular holes and tied round wire tunnels to each. The animals coming to drink would walk around tge wire until they found a tunnel. They ran down the tunnel to the edge of the water to drink. On returning to the wire barrier they couldn’t find the tunnels as everything was smooth on the inside.

He had two near misses when he failed to see a second German team advancing down hill near a derelict town. He managed to sprint to the town and clamber onto a flat roof and lay stiff and still. After the Germans had failed to see him Bonnie looked at his hands to find them dripping with a red liquid. He had rolled into an over ripe red grape vine. The liquid had been squeezed over him and he thought it was blood.

During September he heard a number of trucks moving through the mountains towards the beach. He didn’t see the convoy or what it was up to. Off and on and usually as the wind blew from the south he could hear axes cutting trees and men’s voices. He estimated the noises were several miles away.

One day his curiosity got the better of him and he broke several of his golden rules. He ventured towards the noises to find out what was going on. He eventually stopped outside a barbed wire fence some 2 metres high looking like a POW stalag. No one , was around so he moved cautiously towards the beach. After some time he heard men’s voices and could see several cutting down olive trees. Some were cutting pieces up and dragging these into a huge pile. Bonnie climbed a tree to watch this odd behaviour. These trees were hundreds of years old and were the livelihood of the local Crete farmers. Without these trees to produce olive oil they would be bankrupt.

Bonnie did not see the small winged insect flying around his head and arm. It settled on his forearm and pushed its proboscis into his flesh. It sucked away savouring Bonnie’s blood. Satisfied it flew away. Bonnie felt an itchy lump develop but didn’t take much notice. As there was a chill developing in the air he climbed down and set off at a frenetic pace back to his cave.

He woke up and calculated it was five in the morning. He stood up and the world spun. He sat down feeling the nausea build again. He was feeling real ‘crook’ as he would say. He walked to the cave entrance and felt the dizzy spinning again.

He walked out of the cave, tripped and fell heavily. He blacked out and when he awoke
The sun was high in the sky. He was thirsty but found he was not able to stand up. From above he heard strange noises and guessed it was an elderly Cretan with a donkey. Bonnie took the chance to catch his attraction. The Cretan was shocked by the calling out and even more so when he discovered an Australian soldier in the rocks. He managed to get his donkey to kneel and between the two men get Bonnie on the donkey.

The old man muttered the dreaded words Malaria and hospital. Bonnie dropped off again and when he awoke he was in the back of a German truck. One of the Germans who spoke English told him they were-taking him to the Tymbakion Prisoner of War camp to get him help.

The truck slowed and stopped and two Germans assisted Bonnie into a First Aid tent where several men (one was Wally Holt 12348 Sydney doctor before joining up) were looking after sick men. Bonnie was given his diagnosis and put to bed. As the days went by he got to know his mates he from the 2/11th Battalion.

He was cleared after a week and was put to work cutting down olive trees. It soon became known that Bonnie was a handy wood chopping champion. Several of the men heard his exploits back home and they loved watching Bonnie rip into an old gnarled tree. Bonnie found he was amongst 151 Allies who were the last of the POWs to be left on Crete. All the other thousands had been sent into Germany many weeks ago.

The 151 had been chosen to dig out olive trees and flatten the 6 by 3 mile area at Tymbakion in readiness for the building of a huge airfield. The German General and right hand man to Hitler wanted a aerodrome that was in hitting distance to all the Allies’ command centres and their natural resources. The southern area of Crete was ideal. The project was top secret and nearly ready to be used to hit Alexandria, north Africa, Suez Canal and the oil rich Iran.

Bonnie found camp life pleasant enough and his new mates were easy to get on with. He calculated that he disappeared into the mountains on June 12th, 1941 and turned up at Tymbakion on 5th September, 1951 a total of 91 days. He had escaped and avoided the dozens of German hunting teams high in the mountains. This was an amazing feat but never been recognised by the AIF nor the Australian Government.

The Tymbakion camp was coming to an end and on December 29 the 151 men were trucked to Heraklion and with the addition of 49 others all the POW s were shipped to Salonika (described by Leggett as a ‘shit of a Hell Hole’) then railed through to Stalag VIIIB. Here Bonnie spent another Three and a half years incarcerated.

He was liberated in May 1945 and shipped back to Kojonup. He remained quiet, rarely speaking of his war experiences. He found he enjoyed his own company and achieved this by rabbit trapping on the Nullabour Plain.

Until I began the research of the missing 151 in Tymbakion I considered my father was a nobody who avoided the World. I now know what a school friend ( Bernie Ladyman) meant when he said to me on the Lakelands Golf Course in 1989 “Your father was the most misunderstood of all the men who lived in Kojonup”.

Anthony William Buirchell

My father deceased in 2002. How can he be repaid for his willingness to volunteer to join the army and his daring to keep the Germans busy searching the Crete Mountains for him.

PS I have a website as a Tribute to Allies in WWII titled www.prisonersofwarcrete.com you may find interesting. I work with families so we get to know our soldier from birth to death.

William Roy Buirchell joined the Australian Imperial Force on 25th April, 1940. He trained to be a signaller at the Northam Army Camp before embarking from Fremantle for the Middle East. He was placed in the 2/11th Battalion made up of mostly West Australians.
After seven months on operations in North Africa he was recalled to Alexandria, Egypt. The Greece Government had called for help to stop the Germans invading from the north. The ANZAC group that was put together came under the name and during April 1941 thousands of New Zealand, Australian and English soldiers were shipped to Athens. From here they went by truck convoys to Mount Olympus.
The German Army routed the Allies and they had to withdraw to Athens. From here they caught war ships and were ferried to Crete.
On 20th May, 1941 the island was attacked from the air. Bonnie Buirchell was with Major Honor and Major Sandover during the invasion and watched the amazing aeroplane armada wing in from the north and drop thousands of paratroopers. For 10 days the Allies held out until General Freyberg determined the Germans were too strong. He ordered everyone to escape via Sfakia on the south coast. Bonnie was with his West Australian mates, William Paulley (Wickepin), William Taylor (Pingelly), Vic Petersen (Gosnells).
Under Major Honor and Sandover they refused to surrender and ran for the hills. They trekked to the south coast before being caught by a German patrol. They were marched for three days without food and water back over the mountains to Galatos. Bonnie and William Taylor were put on burial duty. Their first day saw them bury 29 Germans and one Ally. Bonnie could not face another day like that so he convinced William to escape that night. When they were ready William became violently ill so the plan was abandoned. They went to sleep and upon awakening William discovered that Bonnie was gone.
Bonnie was not seen nor heard of from any soldier or officer from 9th June to 5th October, 1941. From his Repatriation Questionnaire he wrote that during this time he was “loose in hills”. He had survived for 17 weeks alone and in the inhospitable environment of the mountains of Crete.
The only reason he came down as outlined in the book Spirited Away by Anthony W. Buirchell was he was bitten by a mosquito carrying malaria. He was found by an old Cretan with a donkey. The Cretan helped him from the mountains before a German patrol in a truck found them. Bonnie was taken to the Tymbakion POW camp where he recovered from the malaria. He was placed on duty helping the other 150 men cutting down olive trees and levelling the ground to make a covert aerodrome. Again the book Spited Away explains the mysterious group and their interaction with the Germans and Cretans.
On 29th December, 1941 the camp was abandoned and the 151 POWs taken back to Iraklion, shipped to Salonika and railed to Stalag VIIIB. Bonnie remained a POW until ordered by Hitler to march to Berlin. Thousands of Allies were released from their prisons during January, 1941 and made to March in the direction they thought Berlin was. In May, nearly three months later, the men were rescued by the Americans and British. Bonnie was still alive.

William Roy Buirchell was never recognised for his heroism in hiding from the Germans for 17 weeks on Crete. He was never recognised for his two escapes from German custody. He was never recognised for his survival and helping his mates during the Long March.

Bonnie rarely spoke of his times whilst in the AIF 1940 to 1945.