Crete tourist guide

Battle of Crete - traces of history on the island

2023-05-28 20:31:39

Today, this year's official celebrations of the 82nd anniversary of the Battle of Crete ended at the military airport in Maleme. After a few days from the start of Operation Mercury and fierce fighting, the Cretan cities one by one fell into the hands of the Germans. Heraklion and Rethymno put up the longest resistance. However, the British troops defending the capital of Crete were evacuated on the night of May 28/29 without informing the Greek forces.

When on Thursday, May 29, 1941, the Germans entered Heraklion, they found an abandoned city that was no longer defended. Taking control of Rethymno was just a matter of hours. The Greek soldiers, along with some of the Allies, left their positions around the city and retreated into the mountains. Rethymno surrendered on May 30, which marked the contractual end of the eleven-day battle for Crete. At the same time, Italian troops landed in Sitia, thus occupying the prefecture of Lassithi. From that point on, the entire island was under Axis control.

The Maritime Museum in Chania - an exhibition dedicated to the Battle of Crete

Where to look for memorabilia from the Battle of Crete?

Today, in Crete, every event related to the Battle of Crete and the subsequent German occupation is reminded and celebrated even in a symbolic way. As in Poland, despite many years that have passed since the turmoil of war, the memory of these events is still alive. In many places of Crete you can find smaller and larger collections of items from those times. They are also often private collections.

The official exhibition of memorabilia from this period can be found at the Maritime Museum in the Venetian Port of Chania . The section devoted to the Battle of Crete is one of the most important here. The uniforms of the Allied and German armies, various weapons, maps, documents and other memorabilia related to this period of history are exhibited here.

The second such important place related to these events are the former German tunnels in Platanias . These tunnels were dug at the request of the German army and served the occupiers as an underground shelter and a warehouse for weapons and ammunition. After the occupation, these tunnels were used by the inhabitants of Platanias as warehouses. Only in 2010 a group of volunteers led by Kyriakos Lourandakis, a resident of Platanias, decided to create a Military Museum here. The museum-shelter is 200 meters long and has 13 underground chambers that have been preserved in their original form. Visitors can see unique exhibits from World War II, historical photographs and other artifacts from the Battle of Crete era. Most of these collections come from the collections of private donors, of which there are about 210.

Another interesting collection of memorabilia from the Battle of Crete period can be found in the village of Galatas . It is a completely private collection owned by Stelios Tripalitakis. The owner has collected over 40,000 items such as weapons, ammunition, helmets, uniforms, parts from both British and German vehicles, planes and motorcycles. One of the rarest souvenirs is the landing gear of the British fighter Brewster Buffalo.

A large private collection of memorabilia from the Battle of Crete and the German occupation of the island can also be found in the museum at Askifou in Sfakia. The current owner of the collection received it from his father.

Also in the Military Museum in Chromonastiri, part of the exhibition was devoted to the period of World War II and the German occupation of Crete.

Gosia,  2023-05-28 20:31:39

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