Lance Corporal Allan Robinson describes a German attack on a hospital and how patients and staff were taken prisoner and then were made to act as human shields between the Germans and the Allied troops, with tragic consequences
2nd Lieutenant Peter Wildey of 7 Field Company describes shooting at German gliders and killing and taking equipment from paratroopers. He also describes several other incidents during the retreat to Sfakia.
Bert Dyson was a lieutenant in 4 Field Regiment. In this extract from his interview he describes transporting ammunition up to the troops for the planned counter-attack on Maleme airfield on Day 3 of the battle, 22 May 1941.
2nd Lieutenant Peter Wildey of 7 Field Company describes shooting at German gliders and killing and taking equipment from paratroopers. He also describes several other incidents during the retreat to Sfakia.
nd Lieutenant Peter Wildey of 7 Field Company describes shooting at German gliders and killing and taking equipment from paratroopers. He also describes several other incidents during the retreat to Sfakia.
It remains the most dramatic battle ever faced by New Zealand forces. Over 12 brutal days in May 1941, the Allies fought off a massive German airborne assault on the Mediterranean island of Crete. They almost succeeded.
The Battle for Crete in May 1941 is the most dramatic battle in which New Zealand forces have participated. For 12 days, with British, Australian and Greek troops and Cretan civilians, they battled to repel a German airborne assault on a scale never before attempted.
On 20 May the German attack began, focussing on the airfield at Maleme and the Canea area. The glider-borne troops and paratroopers were badly mauled where they landed in or near the defenders, and were rapidly eliminated.
On 23 May the British forces retreated from Maleme to the new line at Platanias, apart from some of the wounded who had to be left behind for inevitable capture by the Germans. The troops stationed at Canea-Galatas had a relatively quiet day as did those at Retimo and Heraklion, though the cutting off of Retimo from road supply routes was a serious concern.
On 26 May the Germans continued their advance eastwards across the island. The British forces withdrew to a line east of Galatas and, as the day wore on, were subjected to ongoing attacks from the air and ground.
As the remnants of the main British forces retreated across the Askifou Plain the first evacuation ships left Sfakia carrying 6000 troops. The Germans finally entered Retimo leaving the Australian defenders stranded.
In appreciation of the huge effort that the Royal Navy had made in the battle around Crete and in evacuating as many troops as possible from the island, the 2NZEF held a collection once they returned to Egypt.
On 1 June the troops who had been left behind faced either surrender to the Germans or escape into the hills if they could. Some who escaped were captured almost immediately, though others were able to stay away for the duration of the German occupation.
The men taken prisoner by the Germans at Sfakia were marched back over the White Mountains to a prison camp near Canea. It was hot and they were suffering the effects of lack of food and water. Conditions at the camp were very poor.
The Battle for Crete is the most contested event in New Zealand's military history. The nature of the battle, with its relatively clear sequence of events leading to the outcome, lends itself to disputation over who was responsible for the mistakes that allowed the Germans to gain control of the vital airfield at Maleme and to hold it against the subsequent counter-attack.
Private Denis Sampson served with the 6 Field Ambulance. Here he describes what it was like to be in the British 7 General Hospital at the time of the initial German attack It was quite a thing, you know, to hear that the Germans were actually arriving.
Lieutenant Haddon Donald of 22 Battalion was one of the men defending Maleme airfield on 20 May 1941. Here he describes the day's fighting, and his involvement in a counter-attack against German troops near the Tavronitis River.
George II was king of the Hellenes from 1922-23 and 1935-47. The king was on Crete in April and May 1941 because he and the British government thought it was important that while there was still a part of Greece unoccupied by the Germans, a Greek government should remain on it.
German paratrooper on Crete. The photograph shows a knee length smock, in this instance camouflaged. Points of note are the numerous pockets in the lower part of the smock, the long trousers tucked into the boots, the two stick grenades pushed into the belt and the steel crash helmet carried at the side.
