Family of Kiwi soldier who escaped Nazi-occupied Greece thank young rescuer who later rubbed shoulders with Nelson Mandela

George Bizos acted for and was a close friend of Nelson Mandella.

“We wouldn’t be here if not for the courageous George (Bizos) and his father,” says the son and grandson of a soldier who was part of one of the great escapes of World War II.

Peter Martin was one of seven Kiwi soldiers who escaped Nazi-occupied Greece with the help of a Greek boy and his father.

The perilous journey, adrift for days in a disabled boat, not only saved soldiers’ lives but was the start of an incredible journey for the village boy who became a famous human rights lawyer in South Africa and a close friend of Nelson Mandela.

David and Josh Martin, the son and grandson of Peter Martin, said they would probably not be here if not for George Bizos and his father, Antoni.

“I’m very grateful for the actions of those people a long time ago,” said Josh Martin, speaking from Melbourne where he lives.

Bronwyn Lewis, whose father John Lewis was another one of the soldier escapees, said the life story of George Bizos is mind-blowing and a special part of the family history.

In 1941, George Bizos was a 13-year-old growing up in the small village of Vasilitsi, near the town of Kalamata in southwestern Greece.

His father, Antoni, was the village mayor, ousted during the Nazi invasion that April.

On their march through Greece, the Nazis overpowered the small Allied expeditionary forces, among them New Zealanders and Australians. Many took to the hills.

George Bizos acted for and was a close friend of Nelson Mandella.

A month later, a shepherd told Antoni Bizos about seven soldiers hiding nearby. Villagers gave them clothes and food and Antoni Bizos hatched an escape plan.

In a 2004 interview with the Herald, George Bizos recalled things did not start well.

“The sail was ripped by a very angry wind. We were left with two sets of oars and the man at the back with a sixpenny compass to direct us,” he said.

On the third day, the wind finally calmed and at night they saw a ship.

The New Zealanders shouted with joy when they saw the Union Jack and used mirrors to attract the attention of crew on HMS Kimberley.

The British destroyer was on its way to battle in Crete, which was already falling to the Germans.

“If we had made it to Crete ourselves, we would have had a most unwelcome landing.”

The Kimberley sailed on to attack German aircraft in the Battle of Crete. Bizos remembered sneaking up on deck to watch anti-aircraft guns firing.

The Kimberley sailed on to Alexandria, Egypt, where its unexpected passengers disembarked.

George Bizos at Auckland in 2004. Photo / Richard Robinson

Bizos and his father were sent to a camp and eventually taken to Pretoria, South Africa, as refugees.

Bizos met Nelson Mandela at the University of Witwatersrand in 1948, forging a lifelong friendship. The refugee graduated as a lawyer in 1954. He represented Mandela and others, including Walter Sisulu, in the 1963-64 Rivonia Trial.

Bizos also represented activist Steve Biko’s family at his inquest, and was involved in the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.

The human rights lawyer became a household name in South Africa. Among the black population, he was adored for defending and liberating their leaders - they called him Mathlathlo, (Sotho for strength of the elephant).

Josh Martin said he went to England in 2022 and caught up with one of George Bizos’ sons, Kimon, and “get to know the son of the man who did what he did”.

This was followed by a trip to Greece where he spent a week in the village of Vasilitsi.

“All the local people in the small village knew the story, they knew about the soldiers, and some of them could even remember assisting New Zealand soldiers.

“I met an old lady, she looked like she was 100 years old, and when she was a young girl she remembered taking food to the New Zealand soldiers hiding there. She was delighted to meet a descendant of those people.

“As it turned out, there were a couple of groups of Anzacs in that area, and some of them like my grandfather and his comrades made it out, and some didn’t and the lady believed that other soldiers she was taking food to were found and executed,” said Martin.

It took more than 63 years for Bizos to come to New Zealand for the first time in 2004 to attend the International Bar Association’s annual conference to receive its top human rights award, and to connect with the soldiers and their families.

New Zealand Herald October 25, 2004 front page front page story on George Bizos, a South African Lawyer who grew up in Greece and helped to save the lives of New Zealand soldiers during World War II.

At the time a Herald article on the escape from Nazi-occupied Greece prompted relatives of three of the soldiers to come forward.

Ruth Allen and her sister, Jeanette Harrison, met with Bizos. Their uncle Mick Karup was one of the soldiers and a seaman who rigged up two blankets when the sail on the fishing boat blew out.

Marie Martin, the widow of Peter Martin, who died in 1999, aged 82, also came forward in 2004, saying she planned to meet Bizos before he returned to South Africa.

Freena Lewis also met the man who helped save her husband, John, who died in 1996.

John Lewis was a member of 24 Batallion and lost his two brothers in the war.

The widow was overcome with emotion when she came face to face at the Stamford Plaza Hotel with the man, who, as a boy, helped her husband flee.

Their daughter, Bronwyn Lewis, and three generations of the family brought along a photograph album with the caption “After escape from Greece” and listing six names but missing the photograph. The handwritten names in the caption, some with unclear spelling, were Mick Karup, Tom Freeman, Don Gladding, John Lewis, Sid Hey, and Peter Martin. A seventh soldier remains unidentified.

Yesterday, Bronwyn Lewis said her mother, a nurse in the Middle East during WW II, died, aged 101, in 2011.

She said her mother was the only person her father told in detail exactly what happened and never shared the full story beyond the outline with family members.

“My father would never tell the horrors of the story, just the funny little bits,” she said.

Lewis said the escape was only part of her father’s war. He and the other soldiers went to Alexandria and once fed-up and scrubbed-up they were booted off to war again.

In 2004, George Bizos met Freena Lewis, left, and Bronwyn Lewis, wife and daughter of Sgt John Lewis one of the seven Kiwi soldiers that escaped from Nazi-occupied Greece, with the help of Bizos and his father. Photo / Brett Phibbs

“My father ended up in Italy and was shot in Italy through the arm. As a child, I grew up with a father with a bullet wound in his arm and we used to laugh at how lucky we were he only got shot in the arm. He was one of three boys in the family (who went to war) and survived,” she said.

Lewis said her three children are absolutely thrilled about the life of George Bizos being made into a film documentary, which they all plan to attend.

“His life story is just mind-blowing,” she said.

The film, George Bizos Icon, will screen at Takapuna Beachside Cinemas on May 12 as part of the South African Film Festival and will be attended by some of the families of the World War II soldiers.

The documentary, directed by Jane Lipman and featuring Bizos’ son, Alexi Bizos, and other members of the Bizos family, draws upon extensive archival footage and personal accounts, bringing to light the profound influence Bizos had on his peers and the nation.

Bizos died in 2020.

Bernard Orsman is an Auckland-based reporter who has been covering local government and transport since 1998. He joined the Herald in 1990 and worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.