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This will be a series of posts and topics talking about the start of Airborne strategies in WWII, and their importance and implications in battle.

As this page fills up, look to this post for a table of contents for posts over various pages. Also, any comments and additional information from you others will be posted here as well.

History --Part 2-- Crete 1941

Operation Mercury, Crete, 1941

On April 25th of 1941, Adolf Hitler signed into effect Directive Number 28, which was to call for an invasion of the island of Crete off Greece. The island represented an important strategic point for Hitler, as from Crete he could mount attacks all over South-eastern Europe, which would've paved the way for a stronger Operation Barbarossa. Crete was to be the first large scale airborne operation in the history of warfare. The attack, slated for May 16th, was postponed until May 20, and the 22nd Air Landing Division which was to reinforce the 7th Air Division's paratroopers, was replaced by the 5th Mountan Division. All in all, 750 glider troops, 10,000 paratroopers, 5,000 air lifted mountain troops, and 7000 seaborne troopers were split into three groups, Group Center codenamed Mars, Group West codenamed Comet, and Group East codenamed Orion. These three groups were to be responsible for a number of airfield objectives on the island. Mars was to be responsible for the Prison Valley, Chania Souda, Rethymnon sectors, Comet resposible for the main airfield at Maleme, and Orion was responsible for Heraklion. The British and Greek defenders on the other hand consisted of 9,000 Greek defenders, and 39,000 British troops, which consisted of the original 14,000 man garrison, and 25,000 men evacuated from Egypt to Crete.

Intelligence, German and British

Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, chief of the German Abwehr, gave a very generous report of 5,000 British troops, and no Greek defenders, to Hitler. It is unsure wether this was due to British sabotage and misinformation, or wether Canaris was purposefully sabotaging Hitler's plan. History will forever be debated in this, as Canaris was executed for being involved in the July 20 Bomb Plot, the failed assassination attempt on Hitler. The Abwehr believed that the Cretans would be accepting of the Germans as liberators, due to their strong anti-monarchial and republican beliefs, but this would later proved to be false, as the Germans underestimated the patriotic zeal of the Cretans.

The British on the other hand, knew of the invasion beforehand. Due to the ULTRA intercepts of German communications and plans, the defenders on Crete were aware of the attack. However, the intercepts were deciphered via linguists, rather than combat strategists. Subsequently, the allied commander on Crete, Major General Bernard Freyberg, recieved information that was misleading and in many cases incorrect. One example was a piece of information which the Germans mentioned a seaborne operation, turned into an Axis beach assault. Thus, Freyberg diverted much of his force to defending the coast away from Maleme airfield.

The attack, May 20 1941

The attack began in earnest at 8:00 AM on the 20th of May. German paratroopers landed near the airfields at Maleme and Chania, and faced determined British defenders. Mortar rounds annihilated many of the gliders used to land on Maleme, and heavy fire from machineguns and rifles wiped out many of the glider units that did land to the man. Not all hope was lost however. Many German glider and parachute troops landed off course from the airfields, diverted by anti-aircraft fire. They dug in as per doctrine, and were still close to the objectives at Maleme and the "Prison Valley." At Kastelli, the First Greek Regiment(Provisional) saw action, defeating an attack from the 95th Gebirgs Pioneer Battalion, and at Kolimbari and Paleochora, the Greek 8th Regiment and some Cretan fighters hampered and slowed the advance of the German 95th Reconnaissance Battalion. Kolimbari and Paleochora opened up a rear avenue for the approach of British reinforcements from Egypt.

In the afternoon of the 20th, the second German wave arrived in battle. One group attacked Rethimnon at 4:15 PM, while another attacked Heraklion at 5:30 PM. There, as was at Maleme, the defenders were ready for the attack and the two groups suffered heavy casualties, and were unable to secure both objectives. Towards evening, the German attackers at Maleme began to push against Hill 107, a strategic point overlooking Maleme airfield.

The first day of the Battle of Crete was characterized by the savage defense the common civilian put against the Germans. Many Germans who entered into villages and vineyards found themselves attacked by clubs, sticks, and knives, and many German troops would be killed. Soon afterwards, the German paratroopers would fight against the civilians equally as fierce.

As night fell and ended the first day, none of the airfields at Maleme, Chania, Rethimnon and Heraklion were captured. The German forces, expecting an easy victory, was brutally bloodied by the allied defenders. It was decided by the allied command that Maleme would be reinforced by the next day.

Day 2, May 21 1941

Fighting continued into the second day, however in a stroke of luck the battalion of New Zealand infantrymen on Hill 107 was mistakening widthdrawn from the position, giving it and Maleme Airfield to the Germans without fight. Although being hit by sporadic artillery fire, transport planes carrying the 5th Mountain Division began to fly into Maleme, and although many planes were hit by artillery, they managed to successfully carry in the division mostly intact. Reinforced by new, fresh troops, the Mountain fighters and paratroopers began to dig in and build up defensive fortifications in Maleme.

Day 3, May 22 1941

The Allies had realized that Maleme was the key to the entire island. A counter-attack on the third day was formed, primarily out of two New Zealand infantry battalions. The allies had still believed that there was to be a German seaborne invasion, so troops were held in reserve against such an attack. However, before the allies realized that this was incorrect, it was too late for the reserves to make a difference. On the night of the 21-22nd, the two battalions attacked, but they faced stiff German resistance, which had a day to reinforce, and fresh troops from the 5th Mountain Division. The attack petered out, and immediately began to widthdraw to the eastern end of the island, to avoid being out-flanked and destroyed by the Germans. The attack to dislodge and defeat the Germans at Maleme had failed.

On the night of the 22nd, George II, King of the Hellenes, whom the Germans believed to be an obstacle to their rule over Greece and Crete, had managed to escape the island. On the first day of attack, a German paratrooper unit dropped near the village the King resided in forced him and his aides to escape under the supervision of the British. Throughout the 20 and 21st, the King and his retinue had many close calls avoiding the Germans, at one point returning to the village to recover important documents left behind. After a trek through the mountains without pack mules and climbing gear, George II and his retinue safely arrived at the rendevous point, where they and members of the British diplomatic corps were picked up by the HMS Decoy. The escapees arrived in Alexandria on the night of the 22nd.

Widthdrawl and surrender, May 28-31

The Command in London realized that Crete was a hopeless situation. They ordered a widthdrawl of troops from the port at Sphakia. In the four days, 16,000 troops were evacuated by the Royal Navy to Egypt, although these convoys were harassed by the Luftwaffe, and suffered heavy casualties.

As the Germans pushed southwards, the ANZAC(Australia-New Zealand Army Corps) began their retreat. The Garrisons at Souda and Beritania began falling back along the road to Vitsilokoumos, south of Sphakia. At the village of Stilos, the 5th New Zealand Brigade and the 2/7th Australian battalion held off a German attack from a Mountain battalion attempting to out-flank the ANZACs, but German artillery and air support forced the defenders back. Fortunately, the German focuses were on Heraklion and Rethymnion, and the ANZAC troops were allowed to escape.

The Māoris, represented by two companies of the 28th Māori Battalion, commanded by Captain Rangi Royal, covered the retreat of the ANZAC troops. Royal's men had distinguished themselves in a bayonet charge against the German 141st Mountain Brigade at a section of road between Souda and Chania, called "42nd Street." When the main unit made it to safety, Māoris retreated fighting to the evacuation point, and in the end only suffered eight killed and two wounded, all ten of which were recovered and taken off the battlefield.

Robert Laycock, the commander of the Layforce Commando group which had landed at Sphakia earler in the fighting in an attempt to turn the tide, was cut off from evacuation, and the 200 men were mostly captured or killed. However, a notable escape from Layforce was when Laycock and his Brigade Major, Evelyn Waugh, crashed through German lines speeding in a surviving British tank, and made it to safety off the island.

Members of the Black Watch regiment were reluctant to leave the island, believing they were letting their Cretan defenders down. After their commander Major Alistair Hamilton was killed by a mortar round, the regiment reluctantly evacuated, destroying all heavy weaponry, but giving ammunition to the Cretan defenders as to resist the Germans. Finally, Colonel Cambell, in charge of the defense of Heraklion, surrendered his forces, and Rethimnon fell as well. The night of the 30th, German motorcycle troops linked up with Italian troops landed in the Gulf of Mirabella.

By June 1st, the remaining 5,000 defenders at Sphakia surrendered to the Germans, although many Cretans, Greeks, and British troops would escape and hide in Crete, causing a partisan problem that would plague the German occupiers in Crete for years.

Outcome of the Battle

Operation Mercury was by operational standards a success, however, that success cost the Germans. The Germans had lost over 16,100 killed, wounded, or missing, and lost hundreds of valuable transport planes and pieces of equipment. It was so devastating that Hitler would never order another airborne drop at the size of Operation Mercury ever again. It also showed the weapons that the German paratroopers had at their disposal were insufficient for this type of action. They lacked a light machinegun between the rifle and MG34, and because of factors such as this, as many as 2,000 German paratroopers were massacred at Maleme before the field could be taken. Allied losses were lighter in comparison. 3,500 troops were killed, wounded, or missing, although a huge number of troops, 17,479 British and Greeks were captured. 2011 sailors of the Royal Navy were killed or wounded during the evacuation. The civilians of Crete took a huge toll from the crossfire. 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. Many of these civilians died as partisans, and as many died in the initial attacks and reprisals by the Germans.

History --Part 4-- Normandy: Sainte Come du Mont, Stainte Mere Eglise, and Pegasus Bridge.

COMING SOON!!

History --Part 6-- Operation Market Garden: Failed Gambit

COMING SOON!!

History --Part 8-- Airborne in the Pacific War

COMING SOON!!