Crete

The island of Crete lies 80km south of Greece in the Mediterranean Sea. It is 260km long and about 50km wide. A mountain chain runs along the length of the island dividing it into north and south. The northern plain slopes gently down to the sea. It is covered with olive trees and is cut by many gullys and rivers. At the begining of World War II the British occupied it with a 5,000 man garrison.

A Thorn in Hitler's Side

In the spring of 1941 Hitler wanted to launch Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia. Before he could do that he had to secure his southern flank. The Germans captured Yugoslavia and Greece in April and were ready to turn their attention eastward but Crete remained as a possible staging area for British and Allied attacks against Greece and the important Romanian oil fields.

The Plan

General Kurt Student proposed a plan to the German High Command for an Airborne invasion of Crete. The problem for the Germans was the British Navy. It controlled the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean so a seaborne invasion would be extremely difficult. Student's plan called for glider and paratroop assaults on the airfields of Crete followed by Air Landing troops and finally a seaborne reinforcement. The plan was approved on April 21 and an invasion date of May 15 was set.

Unable to procure the Ad Division, who were trained in Air Landing operations but tied up in defending the oil fields in Romania, General Student incorporated the 5th Mountain Division into XI Air Corps. He had some 25,000 troops under his command for the invasion. On the island, 6 Australian and 2 New Zealand Divisions that had escaped from Greece a few weeks earlier had augmented the 5,000 man British garrison. German Intelligence did not know about the Commonwealth troops nor did they count on the 14,000 Greeks on the island that sided with the British.

Due to logistical problems the invasion was delayed until the morning of 20 May. The German airlift capacity required two lifts. At 0800hrs gliders landed on the west end of Crete at Maleme and Canea. Shortly afterward Paratroops were dropped onto the same DZs. They were to secure the airfield at Maleme to allow for Air Landings but they came under heavy fire even while in the air and had difficulty recovering their weapons containers.

At Canea, many paratroops were injured when they landed on rocky ground. Here too, the fighting was fierce with small pockets of paratroops pinned down by the New Zealand defenders. At 1500hrs the second lift jumped onto Retimo and Herakiion toward the centre of the northern coast. They were late due to refueling problems and their fighter cover was already gone. The fire was even more intense than at Maleme and the airfields remained in British hands. With many of their radios smashed on landing the paratroops had no way to contact other friendly forces. They simply hung on in the hope that their comrades would eventually relieve them.

With only sketchy details coming from the battle area General Student decided to land his reinforcements at Maleme airfield and roll up the island from the west. On the second day of the operation the 5th Mountain Division landed and began pushing east. German paratroopers were picked up along the way as the assault gained momentum. By the 27th of May the British started to withdraw over the mountains to the southern port of Sphakia. By the 28th the Germans held the entire northern coast.

The Cost

The cost of Operation Merkur was high on both sides. The Germans lost 5,000 killed and 2.500 wounded as well as 170 Junkers 52 Transport aircraft and about 100 gliders. They did manage to take the island and secure their flank for Operation Barbarossa. The Allies lost 4,000 killed and 2,500 wounded and a further 11,800 captured. They also lost 9 warships and 46 aircraft to Luftwaffe attacks. The British Navy was forced to withdraw from the Aegean Sea and much of the eastern Mediterranean.

Lessons Learned

The invasion of Crete demonstrated the effectiveness of Airborne Warfare. A force of 25,000 paratroopers overcame a force of 27,000 light infantry defenders. Although they were outnumbered on the island the Germans managed to achieve local superiority to win their battles. Afterwards the British began to look seriously at what Airborne Forces could do. Ironically the Germans saw Merkur as a waste of many of their best troops and never again attempted a large scale Airborne assault.

The need for good intelligence was also shown. If the Germans had known that all the Australians and New Zealanders they fought in Greece had been evacuated to the island to rest, they would have reconsidered their plans. They also thought that the local population would rise against the British. Instead the Greeks fought along side the Brits.

With the sea lanes closed by the British Navy, the Germans had no way to get their guns ashore. They relied upon the Luftwaffe for their fire support. For the most part it worked but it was a risky plan.

Ardennes

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