Crete tourist guide

81st anniversary of the Battle of Crete

2022-05-20 20:55:52

May 20, 1941 is one of the most important dates in the modern history of Crete. On that day, 81 years ago, the German army launched Operation Mercury, the aim of which was to take over Crete by German airborne troops. From the very beginning, the civilian population, who heroically supported the Allied forces, took an active part in the defense activities. Unfortunately, after eleven days of heavy fighting, the entire island was under the control of German troops, and the Cretans suffered monstrous repression in retaliation. As one historian said: " The Battle of Crete has played and continues to play a special role in history, mainly due to the resistance of the island's inhabitants ." In Crete you will find many places that are reminiscent of the events of those days.

And today in Chania on the occasion of the anniversary, copies of the military uniforms of all military units that took part in the battle were presented for the first time: the Greek army, groups of Cretan civilians and allied forces.

German jumpers over Crete on May 20, 1941 (photo source wikipedia.org)

This quick defeat of the Allied forces seemed almost unbelievable, because initially the victory in this chess game seemed to be on the British side. They started the game with a few more pieces on the board and, more importantly, knowing the exact intentions of the opponent. Despite all these advantages, the battle for Crete was lost by them.

The incomprehensible decisions of General Bernard Freyberg

General Bernard Freyberg, commanding the Allied forces, thanks to the information provided by British intelligence, had the knowledge to predict the exact landing site of the German forces. Maleme airport was the key that unlocked the gate to Crete. The German generals were aware that mastering this piece of the island in the first hours of the attack would determine the success or failure of this battle.

Despite the fact that the British general knew the exact plans and intentions of the opponent, the incomprehensible tactical game undertaken by him seemed to contradict it. Knowing that the main strike of the German troops would be directed at the Maleme airfield, the regrouping ordered by General Bernard Freyberg led some of the Allied forces to defend the coast. With this strange and little understood procedure, he lost the greatest advantage of surprise, which would have allowed to keep Crete in the hands of the Allies. However, even these inept tactical moves by the British staff did not equal the chances of both sides. The landing of German paratroopers was still burdened with a very large margin of risk. Deprived of heavier support, light infantry forces could be an easy target for Allied defense.

General Bernard Freyberg (right)
(photo source wikipedia.org)

British war documentary about the Battle of Crete

The chaos in the first hours of Operation Mercury seemed to confirm this completely. The landing of the German troops began with a real slaughter, the inert bodies of German soldiers swayed under many falling parachutes, who died without even touching the Cretan soil. Worse still, even those who managed to land successfully could hardly be called full-fledged armed forces. A significant part of the soldiers had only light small arms or personal equipment, which in practice meant that their only weapon was a bayonet.

The decision of the German command to drop the paratroopers' weapons in separate containers turned out to be fatal. In practice, it turned out that finding them in a hostile area, where almost the entire civilian population was also actively resisting, was a very difficult task. The specter of the defeat of the German landing seemed to hang in the air. This was the beginning of the Battle of Crete, whose 81st anniversary falls today, May 20. If you are interested in this story, we strongly recommend you to read the publication by Antony Beevor " Kreta: Conquest and resistance " published by Znak publishing house, where you will find a description of the entire Mercury Operation and the war history of Crete. Unfortunately, its edition has been exhausted and only the last copies are available on the market at very high prices.
Other books that we can recommend that describe those war times are "The Crete 1941 " by Callum MacDonald and " The Kidnapping in Crete. The True Story of the Abduction of the German General " Rick Stroud.

Gosia i Piotrek,  2022-05-20 20:55:52

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