522 WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FIELD FORCE IN CRETE, 1897. 
landed that afternoon. It was fortunate this decision was arrived at, 
as for the three days following, a gale of wind was blowing, and all 
communication between the ships and the shore was interrupted. It 
was 9 o’clock at night before the whole of the Battery was in camp 
and after the mules had been picketted, watered and fed, officers and 
men were entertained by the half battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 
between whose camp and that of the 2nd Seaforths, our own was 
wedged. On the Sunday previous to our arrival, there had been a sharp 
fight between the Bashi-Bazouks of Candia and the Insurgents from 
Pelio-Kastron, at Almyro on the coast about 7 miles west of the town, 
in which the latter had apparently got the best of it. It was rumoured 
also that Colonel Vassos with his Greek troops of 1500 infantry and 
two Mountain Batteries, had determined in concert with the Insurgents, 
to attack the outposts of Candia, the principal Moslem town. He 
apparently thought better of it, and remained throughout his stay 
in Crete, with his troops at Alikianu, a few miles west of Canea. 
On our arrival in Crete the distribution of the International troops 
was approximately as follows. At Canea the seat of the provisional 
administration of the Admirals, were quartered from 250 to 300 men 
of the infantry of each Power, about 1200 men only, as Germany was 
represented on shore by only a small party of blue jackets under a 
petty officer. The Italian Mountain Battery was also stationed here, 
and the whole of the troops were under the command of Captain 
Amoretti of the Italian Navy. At Candia under the command of 
Colonel Chermside were half Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the 2nd 
Battalion Seaforth Highlanders—less the Canea detachment—the 
British Mountain Battery, and a Battalion of Italian infantry from 
Naples. At Retymo, the headquarters of the Russian sphere of in¬ 
fluence, under Colonel Schustock, were one-and-a-half Battalions of 
Russian infantry from Odessa, some Montenegrin Gendarmery and the 
Russian Mountain Battery. At Sitia and Spinalonga in the Eastern 
Province were the French Marine Infantry, about 600 strong. The 
French Mountain Battery was to have been quartered here, but never 
proceeded further from Grasse, their head-quarters, than Toulon, where 
they were held ready for embarkation for months. At Herapetra were 
a half Battalion Italian Bersaglieri, and at Kisamo, a detachment of 
Austrian infantry, later on withdrawn to Suda, which they garrisioned. 
Total strength of International troops, 5,000 infantry and three 
batteries. 
On the outskirts of each town on the land side, an earth-work was 
selected, on which flew the flags of all those Powers, whose troops form¬ 
ed part of the garrison, under an International guard. The Turkish flag 
was also hoisted in the Redoubts, as also at different points in the 
towns. At present only one of these Turkish flags remains hoisted, 
viz. on the island at the entrance to Suda Bay, the new Cretan flag, a 
blue ground with white St. Andrew’s Cross, and a white star on a red 
ground in left hand top corner, having taken its place elsewhere 
throughout Crete. 
