The Battle of Crete

The Battle of Crete during World War 2 inspired several books and took place with an airborne invasion over Maleme on the north coast of the island.

Military cemetery at Maleme, Crete, from https://www.greece-travel-secrets.com/Battle-of-Crete.html

The German War Cemetery at Maleme

The events that took place on Crete during World War 2 were among the most dramatic anywhere in Europe, and inspired several books. Notable among these was Ill Met By Moonlight by W Stanley Moss, which tells of the heroic – if not foolhardy - kidnapping of the German Head of Command, General Karl Kreipe, by British and Greek resistance fighters working together. This took place on 26th April, 1944, when Moss, aided by soldier and subsequently travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, captured Kreipe and drove him in his staff car through 24 German military posts and away into the Cretan mountains.

The Battle of Crete began with the biggest airborne invasion in military history. So determined was Germany to capture the island that they launched an offensive on 20 May 1941 that turned the skies black with planes and paratroops. Tens of thousands of German soldiers invaded the island, in an event that lives on in the memory of every Cretan, whether alive at the time or not.

The value of Crete was in its size and location. At the time of the invasion some 32,000 Allied troops were recuperating on Crete, having been evacuated from Greece and the other Balkan countries. The Italian army had invaded the Greek mainland in October 1940, and with German help had pushed their way through the country, forcing the evacuation of troops to Crete. Crete's location in the southern Mediterranean, conveniently placed for access to Greece, the Middle East and North Africa, meant it was tactically important.

The British war leader Winston Churchill had described Crete as his island fortress, believing it to be impregnable, and for some time the Allied naval forces succeeded in keeping German forces at bay. It was then that Hitler took to the skies. 

The Battle Begins

At 6am on 20th May, an initial bombardment began. At 8am, after a short lull, another wave of planes flew over, and at 8.15am the paratroopers began to arrive. Tens of thousands of troops filled the skies, concentrating at first on Khaniá and the important airfield nearby at Máleme. German losses at first were heavy, as ordinary Cretans rushed to help the troops defend their island. Men, women and children, armed with pitchforks, rifles and makeshift weapons, killed many of the Germans as they floated to earth.

Eventually, though, the sheer scale of the invasion proved too much for the defenders. After several hours of heroic defence, the Germans seized Hill 107, a strategic position which enabled them to take control of the airfield. After this, German planes were able to land and bring in more troops and weaponry. 

By the first afternoon, German troops were also landing at Iráklio and Réthimnon. It took them until 31st May to capture Réthimnon, but by then the Allies were in retreat, across the White Mountains, down the Imvros Gorge and were being evacuated to Egypt from the little port of Khóra Sfakion.

Losing the Battle, Winning the War

Hitler had planned to start his invasion of Russia in April 1941, but needed to throw more troops into the task of capturing Crete. It may have been a decision which cost him the war, as the Russian invasion was postponed until June and his armies had not succeeded in capturing Moscow or Leningrad (as St Petersburg was then called) when the ferocious Russian winter struck. Hitler ordered his southern troops to attack Stalingrad (now Volgograd) instead. One million German soldiers were killed in this exercise, a defeat from which Hitler's army never fully recovered. Though losing the Battle of Crete, the Allies went on to win the war.

Casualties

Official casualty figures necessarily include estimates, and probably under-estimate the numbers involved. Greek figures are not known, although the German Air Corps recorded taking 5255 Greek prisoners. The Allied Forces reported 1751 killed, but a further 1738 wounded and 12,254 prisoners of war. In addition, the Allied Naval Forces estimate that well over 2000 of their men were killed. German estimates indicate about 4000 men killed or not accounted for, and another 2600 wounded. It seems likely, therefore, that at least 10,000 people lost their lives during the Battle, and many, many more died during the 1941-45 German occupation of Crete.

Patrick Leigh Fermor

The British travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor was an Intelligence Officer in the British Army, serving on Crete. After the German invasion he lived in the Cretan mountains for two years, disguised as a shepherd, helping co-ordinate the Cretan resistance. In 1944 he was responsible for the audacious kidnap of the German Commander on Crete, General Kreipe, the story of which is told in Ill Met by Moonlight, written by his fellow conspirator, W.Stanley Moss. They succeeded in kidnapping Kreipe from the very heart of the German headquarters, spiriting him away to the mountains and eventually taking him off the island to Egypt for interrogation.

Some other Crete pages

  • Zacharioudakis Winery

    Greece Travel Secrets visits the Zacharioudakis Winery near Ancient Gortina in southern Crete, and does a vineyard tour arranged by our guide from Go Crete.

  • Touring the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete

    Greece Travel Secrets tours the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete and learns about Crete grape varieties such as plyto, dafni, vidiano, vilana, mandilari and kotsifali.

  • The Icon Painter

    Icon painting is a centuries-old tradition in Crete and the rest of Greece, and Greece Travel Secrets meets a modern-day icon painter in Elounda on Crete.

  • The Herb Man of Kouses

    Greece Travel Secrets visits the Cretan Botano herbs and spices shop near Matala in southern Crete in search of the herb man of Kouses.

  • The Cretan Diet

    Studies have shown the Cretan Diet as one of the healthiest in the world, involving lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, fresh fish, and moderate amounts of wine.

  • Stilianou Winery near Knossos

    The Stilianou Winery near Knossos on Crete uses only Cretan grape varieties, with every bottle numbered, and aims for quality rather than quantity.

  • The Snails House on Crete

    The Snails House in Plouti near Phaistos in southern Crete serves the Cretan delicacy of snails, cooked in several different ways.

  • Sir Arthur Evans, archaeologist at Knossos on Crete

    Sir Arthur Evans is the archaeologist famous for the excavations he made at the royal palace of Knossos on Crete.

  • Samaria Gorge

    The Samaria Gorge is one the longest gorges in Europe and doing the hike is one of the best and most popular things to do on Crete.

  • Rethymnon in Western Crete

    Rethymnon is the third-largest city in Crete and has a Venetian fortress, Archaeological Museum, Old Town area and Venetian harbour,

  • Phaistos Minoan Palace on Crete

    Greece Travel Secrets page on Phaistos or Faistos, the site of one of the finest Minoan palaces on Crete and is where the mysterious Phaistos Disc was found.

  • Paleohora and the South-West Coast

    The area east from Paleohora along the south-west coast of Crete includes resorts like Agia Galini, gorges like the Imbros Gorge and quieter towns like Sfakia.

  • Our Hire Car in Crete

    The travel tale Our Hire Car in Crete describes what it’s like when you go driving in Greece and get off the beaten track, resulting in kindnesses.

  • Matala Beach

    Matala Beach on Crete is a guest blog for Greece Travel Secrets from the We Love Crete website, inviting you to Awaken Your Inner Hippy in Matala, Crete.

  • Margarites

    Margarites is known on Crete for its pottery, with ceramics shops and workshops lining the streets of this charming small town not far from Rethymnon.

  • Manousakis Wine Tasting

    We visit and tour the Manousakis Winery on Crete with a wine-tasting and a chance to buy their tsikoudia, sea salt, olive oil and other goodies.

  • Malia and its Minoan Palace on Crete

    Malia on the north coast of Crete is renowned for its nightlife and beaches but also has the Minoan Palace of Malia, one of Crete's many archaeological sites.

  • Maleme and the German War Cemetery on Crete

    Maleme near Chania is where the people who died during the battle of Crete are buried, in the German War Cemetery with the Commonwealth War Cemetery nearby.

  • Making Rakomelo on Crete

    Greece Travel Secrets visits Crete and learns about making rakomelo from Jorgos Kourmoulis in Agouseliana.

  • Lonely Planet Crete

    Lonely Planet Crete is an excellent and thorough guide of almost 300 pages to the largest of the Greek islands.

  • Knossos

    Visiting Knossos near Iraklion is one of the best things to do on Crete, and this page has a history of the site with visitor information.

  • Irakleio

    Crete's capital and largest city is Irakleio, also called Iraklion or Heraklion, a large and busy place with good restaurants, museums and historical buildings.

  • How to Make Petimezi

    How to make Petimezi, the sweet Cretan syrup made from wine must, is explained to Greece Travel Secrets.

  • Hiking the Samaria Gorge

    Hiking the Samaria Gorge on Crete, one of the best things to do on Crete, by Greece Travel Secrets.

  • Hiking in Southwest Crete

    Greece Travel Secrets goes hiking in southwest Crete with Ramblers Walking Holidays based in Paleohora and hiking the E4 footpath and to Anidri and Azogires.

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