German losses were very heavy. A few made it to neutral Turkey via Greece or went directly to Egypt. Greek and Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. The battle of Crete was a costly battle for both sides, and for the people of Crete. George Weelink in Forty, G 2001 The Battle of Crete, Ian Allen Publishing, Hersham, Surrey. Photo: Argus Newspaper Collection of Photographs/State Library of Victoria. Among them were 2100 New Zealanders – the largest number of New Zealand prisoners of war (POWs) taken in a single battle during the Second World War. The Battle for Crete in May 1941 is the most dramatic battle in which New Zealand forces have participated. Casualties. The Battle of Crete (German: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta; Greek: Μάχη της Κρήτης) was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete.It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur ("Operation Mercury"). During the battle of Crete Germans used 22,750 soldiers, 1370 airplanes, 70 gliders and 70 ships German casualties mounted quickly. She was later wrecked by demolition charges and abandoned when Crete was evacuated in May. Meet the NZHistory.net.nz team. These losses were later to impact negatively German attempts to defend Stalingrad. Private Colin Burn, 18th Battalion, in M. Hutching (ed.) Because of the occupacion of Crete ( Kriti ) was considered an unrealistic military obsective , no significand defense preparationshad been made of the island . It was dusty and dirty and there was only sandy ground, with a few tufts of grass. Bewildered and angry, they now faced the prospect of captivity. Many paratroops died before they could reach the ground, others were mown down after landing as they struggled to release themselves from their parachutes. He was killed in action in February 1944. Cretan civillians played a crucial role in the Battle for Crete accounting for a third of German casualties. With this priority-access ticket to the Knossos archaeological site, you can breeze past ticket-purchase lines to explore what was the birthplace of Minoan civilization and according to myth, the seat of King Minos. Read more about this topic: Battle Of Crete, Operation Geronimo Strike III - See Also -. More than 1700 British, Commonwealth and Greek soldiers were killed and 15,000 captured during the Battle for Crete. New Zealand at War Leading this list is Major General Wilhelm Süssman, commander of the 7th Flieger Division and Group Centre in the assault, who died when his glider detached and crashed in an accident on 20 May whilst en route to Crete. But British naval commanders believed they had accounted for thousands more when they sunk troop transports bringing men across by sea at the height of the battle. 311 Luftwaffe aircrew were listed as killed or missing, and 127 more were wounded. There were 671 New Zealanders among the dead, and 2180 Kiwi prisoners of war. Casualties. The Battle of Crete (German: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, Greek: Μάχη της Κρήτης, also Unternehmen Merkur, Operation Mercury) was fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. The Battle of Crete (German: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, also Unternehmen Merkur, "Operation Mercury", Greek: Μάχη της Κρήτης) was fought during the Second World War on the Greek island of Crete.It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany began an airborne invasion of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany began an airborne invasion of Crete. Battle of Crete , World War 2 , Maleme 1941 . The 19-year-old Leberecht had commandeered a horse which he attempted to gallop through British lines; he almost reached his brother's position, and in fact was shot before his brother's very eyes. Further reading. During the battle of Crete Germans used 22,750 soldiers, 1370 airplanes, 70 gliders and 70 ships German casualties mounted quickly. Battle of Crete: The end of German large scale airborne ops, the casualties and the Pyrrhic victory of the nazis WW2 in Greece. 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Their trek over the mountains of Crete had been for nothing. Davin concludes that this total would have included a sizeable number of deaths during the German occupation due to sickness, accidents or fighting with partisan forces. There were also 1,828 dead and 183 wounded among the Royal Navy. All non-text content is subject to specific conditions. Evacuated across the Aegean Sea to the island of Crete, they fought again in the Battle of Crete in May 1941. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany began an airborne invasion of Crete. Attacks by German planes, mainly Ju-87 and Ju-88, destroyed three British cruisers (Gloucester, Fiji and Calcutta) and six destroyers (Kelly, Greyhound, Kashmir, Hereward, Imperial and Juno). The nazis ultimately prevailed on Crete but at a great and unbearable cost. The island of Crete is just over 160 miles long and varies from seven to thirty-six miles in width. The Battle of Crete was the first occasion where Fallschirmjäger (German paratroops) were used en masse, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history, the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from decrypted German messages from the Enigma machine, and the first time German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population. Defensive units were waiting for the Germans, who suffered heavy casualties. ‘A unique sort of battle’: New Zealanders remember Crete, 2001, p. 202. Wounded and captured on Crete, he escaped from a transit camp in Greece and reached Turkey after sheltering with monks on Mt Athos. Some soldiers roamed Crete for several years trying to find a way off the island. Davin has calculated an estimate of … Chaps couldn’t make it. By 1 June the effective Mediterranean strength of the Royal Navy had been reduced to two battleships and three cruisers to oppose the four battleships and eleven cruisers of the Italian Navy. On the morning of 1 June 1941, the 5000 Allied troops left at Sfakia realised that they had been abandoned. The Germans ultimately prevailed on Crete but at great cost. Then one of the officers told us to pile up our weapons and wait for the Germans – we were aghast, and cursed all and sundry. Conditions at the overcrowded camp were poor; food shortages, lack of medical supplies and primitive sanitation added to the depression of the POWs. It highlights the final act of the German - Greek war . Of the 7700 New Zealanders involved in the battle, 671 were killed – a fatality rate of nearly 9% – while another 2180 were taken prisoner. The Battle for Crete in May 1941 is the most dramatic battle in which New Zealand forces have participated. Though losing the Battle of Crete, the Allies went on to win the war. Greek forces and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. The Battle of Crete (German: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta; Greek: Μάχη της Κρήτης) was fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete.It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code name Unternehmen Merkur (Operation Mercury). The cost of battle. One Cretan source puts the number of Cretans killed by German action during the war at 6,593 men, 1,113 women and 869 children. According to Davin, the only German prisoners evacuated to Egypt were 17 captured officers. This total excludes the 8 Fliegerkorps as well as any casualties suffered by the Kriegsmarine in the aborted seaborne landings. Royal Navy shipborne AA claims for the period of 15–27 May amounted to: "Twenty enemy aircraft...shot down for certain, with 11 probables. Greek and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. Greek and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. Davin has calculated an estimate of 6,698 based upon an examination of various sources. Although Germany was able to capture the island and secure their oil fields in the East, the amount of casualties and equipment lost in the process was extreme. Greek and Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. Damage to the aircraft carrier Formidable, battleships Warspite and Barham, destroyers Kelvin and Nubian, and cruisers Ajax, Dido, Orion, and Perth kept these ships out of action for months. The Crete campaign resulted in the capture of 3,102 Australian troops, the deaths of more than 6,000 civilians and Allied casualties totalling 15,335. The Argylls landed on Crete a couple of days before the Germans decided to attack with Para Troopers. Greek forces and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. Recommended Book about the 1941 German assault on Crete. The Battle of Crete is considered one of the most sensational events os t he Second World War ( in 1941 ) .. The barge from Crete by Peter McIntyre, 1941. David A. Thomas, Crete 1941: The Battle at Sea list 3 CAs, 8 DDs and 2 LCs as sunk, 3 BBs, 1 CV, 7 CAs, 9 DDs and 2 assault ships as damaged; total 13 ships sunk, 22 damaged. Jun 1, 2015 - My father who was with the NZ Army was taken prisoner of war in Crete...He spent four years as a POW in Stalag 8B Poland... See more ideas about Battle of crete, Crete, Prisoners of war. The Luftwaffe also lost heavily in the battle; 220 aircraft were destroyed outright and another 64 were written off due to damage, for a total of 284 aircraft lost, with several hundred more damaged to varying degrees. The Battle of Crete began on 20 May 1941, with the airborne invasion of the island of Crete by German forces. One of these men was Second Lieutenant Walter ‘Sandy’ Thomas. Prominent among the German dead were a trio of brothers, relatives of the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher of Waterloo fame. Then the Germans arrived and started marching us back over the mountains. Others were not content to sit out the war in captivity. Second World War Landing among or near concealed Allied defensive positions, the German glider-borne troops and paratroops suffered heavy casualties but managed to establish a foothold on Crete. Recommended Book about the 1941 German assault on Crete. It was nothing to see a hundred all lined up along the trench, and more waiting to get there. The Battle of Crete (German: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta; Greek: Μάχη της Κρήτης) was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete.It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur ("Operation Mercury"). They were never again used in a large-scale airborne offensive. Estimates of the exact losses vary greatly – there were around 4,000 German graves on Crete. All they had was a trench in the ground, dug in on the outside, the edge of the camp. The Battle of Crete took place on the Greek island of Crete. But British naval commanders believed they had accounted for thousands more when they sunk troop transports … The German casualties included a lengthy list of commissioned officers. The British Royal Navy was able to evacuate 16,000 troops to Egypt, but had to leave many others behind, including 9000 Australian and New Zealand troops, and thousands of Greek soldiers. For 12 days, with British, Australian and Greek troops and Cretan Page 3 – The battle: days 1-3. 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