Lieutenant A. C. Hooper, MM; Christchurch; born Waipiata, 9 May 1906; farmer. (Source: Ross, A. 23 Battalion. p.71.)

'During this counter-attack, elements of A Company of the 23rd, under Captain Watson, joined in to assist the Maori advance. Apart from 7 Platoon under Sergeant Hooper, these A Company men were unable to proceed farther than Maleme village, where they were held up by mortar and machine-gun fire which caused several casualties. No. 7 Platoon, however, proceeded across country without meeting more than ‘continuous mg fire’ and got well beyond the village to high ground from which they could see the 20th held up on the beach. Hooper later wrote an account of this incident:

‘From this position we had quite a good view of what was happening and a building almost on the beach some 300 yards from the drome appeared to be the HQ of the force that was holding up the 20 Bn. While we waited there, one section of my platoon under Pte. A. E. H. Stephen crawled through the vines etc., across the road and almost on to the beach between this building and the drome. Pte. Stephen told me that he thought the Germans were evacuating the building as while he lay in some scrub several German officers passed within a few yards of him hurrying back to the drome. However it was not long before we realized that the 20 Bn were retiring so we had no option but to make our way back.’' (Source: Ross, A. 23 Battalion. p. 71.) AWMM