I.M.G. Stewart

In the spring of 1941, Hitler had captured all of Western Europe including Greece, To protect his southern flank and the oil wells at Polesti, he decided he must invade Crete. It was decide to use a new weapon- men dropped by parachute followed by a mass follow up of airborne troops. After heavy bombardment, the planes moved in to drop the airborne troops on what they thought was empty fields and olive orchards. However, the Australian, English and New Zealand troops were waiting under the trees and shot the German soldiers as they floated down to earth and after they were on the ground struggling to free themselves from their parachute. The landing was a disaster as was the arrival of the slow moving Junkers troop carriers who were shot up as they landed or which crashed into rocks and trees on poorly defined landing areas.

The Germans were lying dead by the hundreds and those who were still alive were vastly outnumber by Allied troops. Here was a chance to destroy the German forces before they could be reinforced but the Allied leadership hesitated because they were expecting a sea borne landing and did not realize how badly they had mauled the enemy. The Luftwaffe did dominate the sky and this really affected the Allied leadership's reactions. In hind sight, a quick and immediate counter attack would have thrown the German forces into the sea and kept Crete out of German hands. This would have been Hitler's first defeat and would have affected the attack on Russia and may have changed the whole outcome of the war.

This mammoth volume examines in great detail the entire episode from both sides and is written by a man who was there serving in a British unit. Maps and poor quality photos included.… (mer)