• Operation Bricklayer
• Special Operations Executive (SOE)

Date of birth:

November 3rd, 1920 (Asi Gonia/Crete, Greece)

Date of death:

January 29th, 2006

Nationality:

Greek

George Psychoundakis was raised in poverty, he lived in a one-room home and became a shepherd after minimal schooling, gaining deep knowledge of the rugged terrain.

During WWII, Crete’s mountainous landscape and history of resistance made it a hub for guerrilla activity. When Nazi paratroopers invaded in May 1941, Psychoundakis joined the local resistance, helping Allied soldiers escape to Egypt via the southern coast. He later became a runner for the British SOE, notably working with Patrick Leigh Fermor, carrying messages and guiding operatives through perilous terrain.

His feats were legendary—once running overnight across 45 km of ravines and mountains to evade German patrols. Despite harsh winters, scarce food, and constant danger, he refused payment, saying he served his country, not for money.

After the war, he was mistakenly imprisoned as a deserter. While confined, he wrote his wartime memoirs, which Leigh Fermor translated and published as The Cretan Runner in 1955. Post-release, Psychoundakis endured further hardship, fought in the civil war, and worked as a charcoal burner. He later authored The Eagle’s Nest, a study of mountain village life, with help from anthropologist Barrie Machin.

A gifted writer and natural anthropologist, Psychoundakis translated Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey into Cretan dialect, earning recognition from the Academy of Athens. From 1974 until retirement, he served as caretaker of the German war cemetery at Maleme, alongside fellow resistance fighter Manolis Paterakis.

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• - LEIGH FERMOR, P., Abducting a General, John Murray Publishers Ltd, 2014.
  - PSYCHOUNDAKIS, G., The Cretan Runner, Penguin Books Ltd, 2009.
  

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