Battle of Crete:
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Prelude:
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The British had occupied the island of Crete when the Italians had
invaded Greece on October 28, 1940. After the German intervention in
Greece, the 57.000 allied troops in that country were chased from the
mainland of Greece.
The Royal Navy evacuated many of them, some to Crete to bolster its
14,000-man garrison. By May 1941, the defense consisted of 10.000 men
in 11 Greek militia battalions.
The British expanded their defense to 30,000 men, though in many cases
the men lacked heavy equipment. Because of constant bombings from
mainland Greece, the R.A.F. withdrew its planes to Egypt. leaving the
Luftwaffe with air superiority.
New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg was appointed commander of the
British, Greek, Australian and New Zealand forces on the isle of Crete
on April 30.
Possession of the island provided the Royal Navy with excellent
harbors in the eastern Mediterranean. From Crete, the Romanian
airfields were within range. Also, with Crete in British hands, the
Axis south eastern position would never be safe, a vital necessity
before starting Operation Barbarossa.On April 25 Adolf Hitler signed
the directive No.28 ordering to take Crete.
The Battle:
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On the morning of May 20, German paratroopers landed at 08.00 near
Maleme and Chania to take the vital airfields. The next wave landed at
Rethimnon and Heraklion.
The landings were preceded by 3 hours of heavy bombing, which put most
anti aircraft guns our of action. German landings were hampered by
heavy losses. At Maleme, the paratroopers jumped into heavy infantry
fire.
The German paratroopers were unable to recover their heavy weapons,
which had landed with separate parachutes. At Cania the Germans
suffered many jump casualties due to the very rocky terrain.
The next wave of the airborne landing took place at about 16.00 at
Rethimnon and Heraklion. Its purpose was to seize the local airfields.
These groups ran into even heavier infantry fire than the group at
Maleme.
General Freyberg refused to commit his reserves. Towards the evening
of May 20, the Germans at Maleme were slowly pushing back the British
from Hill 107, which overlooked the all important airfield.
In the following night, Royal Navy vassals penetrated into the waters
north of Crete, forcing back the first German naval convoy. But on May
21, Axis planes scored several hits on the British ships.
Nevertheless, British vessels intercepted the axis convoy at 23.00
hour around Cape Spaha, sinking several vessels. But on May 22, an all
out attack by the Luftwaffe drove away the British ships.
On May 22, the Germans landed additional troops on the beaches of
Maleme and west of its airfield. At 16.00, enough control had been
established to enable parts of the 5th Mountain Division to land at
the airfield.
To this end the Luftwaffe provided the paras with continuous close air
support. From that point on, the Germans were able to constantly fly
in additional weapons and troops.
The Germans captured the island in 10 days, but at heavy cost. 6,600
German soldiers, including one in four paratroopers, lay dead on the
battlefield.
The Allied soldiers were evacuated by the Royal Navy during four
desperately dangerous consecutive nights between 28 and 31 May. About
17,000 escaped; probably more were killed, captured or went missing.
Conclusion:
===========
The invasion got known as the first airborne invasion in history, but
that honor goes to the German paratroop assault on the Hague on May
10, 1940. Hitler was so shocked by German losses, that he never
approved of a third large airborne operation again.
Ironically, the allies took up the lessons and put them to good use at
the Normandy invasion. |
