Crete 1941

The island of Crete sits in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1941 the Germans decided to seize Crete, “As a base for air warfare against Great Britain in the Eastern Mediterranean”. The elite paratroopers of Germany’s 7th Air Division were assigned to lead the attack. They would be reinforced by more troops arriving by sea and air. It was Germany’s biggest airborne operation of the war by far. The German attack started on May 20th, 1941. Approximately German 8,060 troops jumped into Crete or flew in by glider. Crete’s British, Australian, New Zealand, and Greek defenders knew the Germans were coming. Antony Beevor tells the story of what happened in “Crete 1941: The Battle and the Resistance”.