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Period: to
Wold War II
From Britain's declaration of war to VE day. -
German invasion of Crete Begins
The day began with a normal run of german air raids on the allied occupied crete. But by 7:30 gliders appearing in the skies indicated that something was different. Soon paratroopers were filling the skies. The initail fighting was fierce and the Germans, though with extremly heavy casualties, began making inroads in the land. -
Period: to
The Battle of Crete
From the start of the German invasion to the complete allied withdrawal. -
Battle for Maleme
The Germans began a seige on an airfield on an area called Maleme. The Airfield had perviously been occupied by ANZAC soldiers, but they had just been ordered to withdraw. When their paratroopers began to land ainti-aircraft gun pounded them and hundreds of airplanes were shot down. But the Australians had already withdrawn. Unfortunatley it was only later that the allied commander realised that Maleme was a vital point for the defence of Crete. -
The Allied Counter-Attack
When the allied commander realised that the position in Maleme was so important, he ordered for its recapture. Sent againt it were the ANZACs that had been defending it previously. The first attack was made by a New Zealand force. Unfortunatley though their reinforcements (the Australian 20th devision) was held up and the attack failed. A second attack led by Maori soldiers was more succesful, but without Australian support, the NZ soldiers were pushed back again. -
The new front line is set
The German forces were forming up again. They were now in control of a couple of important strategic positions, and were preparing for another attack. The Allies were put on the back foot and were forced to just hold position. The Australian artillery managed to hold back the German advance on an important bridge while New Zealand forces retreated before they were cut off. -
German forces continue to press on
The Germans began to consolidate their positions and attemted to continue their attack. The fighting was fierce and the Autralian 20th devision played a vital role in the defence of Galatas. Heavy German bombing ensued and the small amounts of RAF planes sent to provide support were too small scale to challenge the Luftwaffe. -
The Battle for Gatalas
The now well organised German paratroopers began their attack on the ANZAC defended town of Gatalas. While the German paratroopers dropped down, and foot-soldiers formed into a two pronged attack, the ANZAC defenders were forced to hide in cover because of heavy bombing. This provided perfect cover for the Germans to get inside the defences. After a valiant fight, the ANZACS were pushed back. The ANZACs then formed a rag tag squad of units from both countries and led a counter-attack. -
British decide to withdraw
The counter-attack amazingly suceeded, and for their bravery, two of the men in the attack were awarded Victoria Crosses. Unfortunatley though, after holding Gatalas for only three hours, the ANZACS were pushed out again. This was the final event that convinced the British genral that his troops needed to withdraw. -
The withdrawl begins
The Allied forces began their withdrawl, while the Germans continued to press forward, quickly taking over land previously occupied by the British. By the end of the day, rag-tag Allied units were congregating in the smalltown of Sfakia. -
The British Navy arrives
When the retreating Allied forces reached the beaches, they were forced to wait, looking out to sea, while the navy arrived. The Germans were permanently on their heels and the allies were strggling just to hold them back. Over 1000 men were evacuated on that day alone. -
The Evacuation
Over the whole day, Allied forces were continually being evacuated. The Allies were still constantly fighting off the Germans to hold their position. By the end of the day almost all of the Allies had evacuated, but some wished to stay behind to help wiht the cretan resistance.
