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Massacre of Cretan civilians at Kondomari, Crete, 1941. The Battle of Crete was not the first occasion during the Second World War where the German troops encountered widespread resistance from a civilian population, as similar events took place during the invasion of Poland ; nevertheless it initially surprised and later outraged them. As most ...
In July 1941, Horst Trebes was awarded the Knight's Cross for his leadership during the assault against Crete. Three years later (1944), he was killed in action in Normandy. [5] After the surrender of Germany, Kurt Student was captured by the British. In May 1947, he came before a military tribunal to answer charges of mistreatment and murder ...
On May 20, 1941, thousands of elite German paratroopers, the Fallschirmjäger, assaulted the island of Crete. [2] It was the beginning of one of the largest paratrooper assaults in modern history, ultimately involving 22,040 German soldiers. [3] It was also the first time German troops faced a unified resistance from a civilian populace. [4]
The Battle of Crete began on 20 May 1941 with a large-scale airborne invasion planned to capture the island's strategic locations. Kandanos is located on the road from Chania on the north coast to Paleochora in the south, which was a candidate landing point for potential Allied reinforcements from North Africa.
Allied positions and German drop zones. In late May 1941, Crete was the theatre of Operation Mercury, the first large-scale airborne invasion in military history. The German offensive had three primary targets on the island, namely the Maleme airfield and the port of Souda, the Pigi airstrip east of Rethymno, and the Heraklion airfield. [4]
German paratroopers land in Crete. On 25 April 1941, King George II and his government left the Greek mainland for Crete, which was attacked by Nazi forces on 20 May 1941. [168] The Germans employed parachute forces in a massive airborne invasion and attacked the three main airfields of the island in Maleme, Rethymno and Heraklion.
General Kurt Student dubbed Crete "the graveyard of the German paratroopers" and its fall "a disastrous victory". [5] Immediately after the fall of Crete, Gen. Student ordered a wave of reprisals against the local population (Kondomari, Alikianos, Kandanos, etc.). The reprisals were carried out rapidly, omitting formalities and by the same ...
The Battle of Heraklion was part of the Battle of Crete, fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete between 20 and 30 May 1941. British, Australian and Greek forces of 14th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Brian Chappel, defended Heraklion port and airfield against a German paratrooper attack by the 1st Parachute Regiment of the 7th Air Division, commanded by Colonel Bruno ...