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BATTLE FOR CRETE

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BATTLE FOR CRETE
John Hall Spencer
Pen and Sword, 2008
[...]


On 24 April 1941, Germany and its allies successfully concluded their campaign in Greece. In the Mediterranean, however, the British still had almost complete freedom of movement, operating their convoy traffic from bases at Gibraltar, Malta, Crete, and Cyprus. This situation adversely affected the flow of supplies to the Afrika Korps. Therefore, on 21 April, Hitler decided that following the occupation of Greece, the island of Crete would be taken as quickly as possible to give the Axis a base to operate against the Royal Navy. The operatiuon was code named MERCURY. Crete, located only some 100 kilometers southeast of the tip of Greece, is more than 270 kilometers long, but only ten to sixty kilometers wide. The island is formed by an underseas mountain range, whose peaks rise as high as 2,500 meters above sea level. Only a small percentage of the island's surface is flat land. In 1941, Crete had only three airstrips, located at Maleme in the west, Rethymnon in the center, and Iraklion farther to the east. Moreover, all three of those towns, the capital city, Khania, and the few relatively large ports were located on the northern side of the island, the side closest to Greece. Logically, the north side was where the Germans planned to launch their attack. The task of taking the airfields fell to the Fourth Luftflotte. General Kurt Student's XI Fliegerkorps would provide 500 transport aircraft to lift his 7th Parachute Division, which would take the airfields by parachute and glider assault. They would be supported by 700 fighters and dive bombers from General Wolfram von Richthofen's VIII Fliegerkorps. Once the airfields and ports were secure, units of the 5th and 6th Mountain Divisions would land by plane and by ship. The German naval commander in Greece provided transport ships and naval security elements. Altogether, the Germans assembled 10,600 airborne troops and 14,000 mountain troops for the operation. About 5,000 of the mountain troops originally were scheduled to come in by air, the remainder in two separate ship convoys. Creforce, the British Commonwealth forces on Crete, was under the command of New Zealand's Lt. General Sir Bernard Freyberg. The Germans badly underestimated the Allied strength at only one division. Freyberg actually had about 31,000 troops, many of whom were part of the British force evacuated from Greece. They were organized into the New Zealand Division, the Australian 19th Brigade, and the strong British 14th Brigade. Freyberg also had 5,000 Greek troops from the island's garrison, and another 7,000 who had evacuated from Greece to the island along with their king and his government. In general, the defenders were well dug-in. In the air, the Luftwaffe vastly outnumbered the small handful of Royal Air Force fighters available. On the sea, the Royal Navy had overwhelming superiority; but German air superiority and the closeness of their air bases in Greece made daylight operations north of the island very hazardous for naval surface units. THE BATTLE FOR CRETE tells of confused negotiations between Anthony Eden and the Greek Government and of the even greater confusion between the British War Cabinet and their commanders in the field about the decision to defend Crete; of the arrival in Greece of General Wilson disguised as 'Mr. Watt'; of the lack of preparation in Crete and the suppression of a critical report at the request of General Wavell; and of the perilous last-minute escape of the King of Greece. Of the fighting itself on the vital Maleme airfield, the author records alternate German and New Zealand experience at the level of the ordinary fighting soldier. There are also chapters on the Royal Navy's operations under dawn-to-dusk attack from Stuka dive-bombers; and the book closes with an account of the terrible retreat over the 8,000 foot White Mountains to the tiny evacuation beach on the desolate southern coast. Author John Hall Spencer has used his very varied sources to build up an exciting picture of one of the most important and bitterly contested campaigns of the Second World War. THE BATTLE FOR CRETE is a wonderful book, scholarly yet very readable, with many new insights.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida