rthodox Church he was a British national and it was widely
rumoured that he was an agent of British Intelligence. His official
title was 'Father Dimitrios'. He was also the spiritual father of the
Greek Royal family. I refer to David Balfour because recently the
'ATHENIAN' which is the only English language magazine in Athens, in
its issue dated January 1988, published a feature article about him,
saying that even before the Germans had entered Athens he had shaved
off his beard and divested himself of his clerical robes.

"I can say quite categorically that this was not true. When the
'Corinthia' sailed he was still 'Father Dimitrios' and in fact he
officiated at a Resurrection service while we were still at sea. On
the voyage we carried out lifeboat drill on two occasions, once when
it was thought that there was a U-boat in the vicinity, and another
time when an aircraft flew overhead which turned out to be friendly.
I shall never forget how I was moved with emotion when I saw the women
getting into the boats, most of them carrying babies or children in
their arms, calmly singing hymns in low voices.

"Some time later I met David Balfour again in Cairo, and this time
he HAD shaved off his beard, and he was wearing the uniform of a Major
in the Intelligence Corps which is a regular unit of the British
army."

Eliascos said he would like to quote a little more from the
sensational article written by J.M. Thursby in the 'ATHENIAN'.

"Several years before war was even declared, the Abwehr (German
military intelligence), along with the Nazi civilian secret service,
had highly trained undercover agents operating in Greece. With
consummate skill they had catalogued all military and civil
information that could be useful to the Third Reich, and organised spy
rings throughout the country. As war became more and more inevitable,
it also became increasingly imperative that Britain and other
anti-fascist countries should gain specific and accurate knowledge of
these operations.

"During this period a monk, who had embraced the Orthodox faith in
Warsaw, arrived from Poland via Mount Athos, to join the monastery of
Pendeli, just outside Athens. According to his biographer John
Freeman, his registration at Pendeli reads,

Cell 102 Serial number 75
Secular name David Balfour
Ecclesiastic name Dimitri
Place of birth England
Age 35
Inscribed or