WW2: War in Crete/PBS

Pursuing my interest in the less well-known theatres of World War Two, I followed with much interest and no little enjoyment the PBS documentary of the Crete Campaign.

Crete was in 1941 the largest airborne invasion ever by the elite Wehrmacht paratroops known as the Fallschirmjager.

The Allied forces were comprised of British, Australian and New Zealand troops under the command of General Freyberg who was subsequently heavily criticised.

His first mistake was to concede the airport which the Germans could use for supply.

The fighting thereafter was intense with the Anzac forces being particularly redoubtable. The Cretans, including their priests, took against the invaders.

If a paratrooper became impaired in a tree he could expect to be killed or maimed by a Cretan attaching a knife to a broomstick.

The German response under General Student – later tried as a war criminal – was to raise Cretan villages to the ground and random execution of their menfolk.

One story I especially liked was the wolf-eyed Māori soldier who confronted the Germans with the haka causing as much dismay as fear.

Crete remained under German occupation until 1945. It committed their airforce and manpower for no significant advantage as both Africa and the War was long lost, which Hitler was the last to appreciate.