Seventy-eight years have passed, but Vassilis Papadopoulos still remembers his mother's final words.

"If anyone survives this, please look after my children."

She gave him a kiss, and moments later was executed by German soldiers.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 6 minutes 1 second 6 m Vassilis Papadopoulos shares his story about the Battle of Crete ( By Kon Karamountzos ) Download 5.5 MB

Mr Papadopoulos, who was aged eight at the time, also watched his aunt and grandmother die from the machine-gun fire.

He believes he would have been next if it was not for Australian troops who saw what was happening and fired at the enemy from nearby hilltops.

The incident occurred during the Battle of Crete in 1941 in Mr Papadopoulos's hometown of Rethymno.

German paratroopers landed on Crete on May 20, 1941. ( Supplied: Australian War Memorial )

'We were waiting to be executed'

Speaking in Greek, Mr Papadopoulos recalled how 30 men in his village were executed by the Germans and their remains torched.

Women, children and the elderly were then rounded up on a beach and made to wait in the hot sun before the execution orders came in.

"Those that had brothers, sisters, children, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands … we all started saying our farewells to each other," he told the ABC.

Then the firing began.

"The wounded were yelling out and we tried to help them but we couldn't do anything," he said.

"We held them, hugged them and waited for them to die. We cleared the sand from their faces.

"We were waiting to be executed."

Australian troops were captured by the Nazis after being ordered to surrender. ( Supplied: Australian War Memorial )

Mr Papadopoulos said the Australians up in the hills began firing at the Germans "with everything they had", eventually forcing them off the beach.

"The Australian soldiers are the reason I survived," he said.

"We owe a lot to Australia. Australians should be proud — proud for its patriots. They did their duty."

Heroic story emerges decades later

Mr Papadopoulos, now 86, had not shared his story with anyone outside his island until a chance meeting with Australian Susanna Bessell-Browne in 2016, on the 75th anniversary of the World War II battle.

Major Ian Bessell-Browne spent three years in prisoner-of-war camps. ( Supplied: Susanna Bessell-Browne )

Mr Papadopoulos and historians from the Rethymno military museum believe it was Ms Bessell-Browne's father, Major Ian Bessell-Browne from the 2/3rd Field Regiment, who gave the order to fire on the Germans to save the villagers.

Ms Bessell-Browne, who has been documenting her father's military career, said she was "overwhelmed" when she heard the story for the first time.

She said her late father rarely spoke of the horrors of war and had never mentioned the incident.

"It's a very, very special story. It's a great privilege to meet someone like that," she said of meeting Mr Papadopoulos.

"It was a very teary experience.

"My father always emphasised, 'It's not about me, it's not about me. I was part of the team'."

The city of Rethymno on the Greek island of Crete. ( Supplied: Pixabay )

The Battle of Crete was ultimately won by the Germans, with an estimated 29,000 casualties on all sides.

Major Bessell-Browne was captured and spent three years in prisoner-of-war camps before he was released and returned to Australia.

Ms Bessell-Browne said her father began opening up about his war days after a return visit to Crete in 1972.

"He went through many years of not going to Anzac Day and not wearing his medals, but I think that trip was a bit of a catalyst for him," she said.

"He definitely rebuilt all his friendships with his mates, which became very, very strong in the last 30 years of his life."

Major Bessell-Browne died in 2004, aged 93.

"I would love to turn the clock back and ask a lot more questions," his daughter said.