Ghosts of past fly over Crete

Battle for Crete was biggest airborne attack by Germany in WWII.

It's been referred to as the World War II equivalent of the Gallipoli campaign 26 years earlier.

The Battle for Crete, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in May this year, certainly has parallels with Gallipoli.

Historians have shown their commonalities include not only New Zealand and Australian soldiers fighting under unified command, but also the geography in which the fighting occurred and the fact both ended in defeat.

To put it in context, the Germans had swiftly taken control of the Greek mainland in April 1941 and turned their attention to the island of Crete.

The German High Command reasoned it would give them a good base in the eastern Mediterranean and also prevent the British from using it as a launch pad for operations in the Balkans.

And so it was that Hitler, whose mind was preoccupied with the impending invasion of Russia, reluctantly agreed to Operation Mercury, an airborne assault on the island.

Waiting for the Germans on Crete were more than 42,000 Commonwealth troops, including the bulk of the NZ Division, some 7700 men.

Most of them had been sent there after the evacuation of the Greek mainland and it was decided to use them for the defence of the island, dubbed Creforce, under the command of New Zealander Major-General Bernard Freyberg.

One of the intriguing aspects of the Battle for Crete was the fact it was the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence deciphered from the Enigma code, the story of which was brought to mainstream attention through the 2014 film, The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as tortured genius Alan Turing.

The information gleaned from the code meant those troops on the island knew an invasion was imminent.

The Nazis duly obliged on the morning of May 20 1941 with the first predominantly airborne invasion in military history.

Day one belonged to the Allies with the Germans suffering high casualties and failing to achieve any of their strategic objectives.

The German paratroopers were nothing more than target practice for the New Zealand Battalions defending Maleme airfield, the key to holding the entire island, with 400 men from one 600-strong German Battalion killed before the end of the first day.

Those that weren't picked off as they fell to the ground were wiped out by the Kiwi defenders, aided in no small part by the Cretan civilians who used whatever they could find as weapons against the invaders.

One account tells of an elderly man clubbing a soldier to death with his walking stick as he tried to disentangle himself from his parachute lines.

It was the first time in the war the Germans had encountered unified and sustained resistance from a civilian population.

But the day one advantage was swiftly relinquished as the invaders managed to rally and force the Allies into a series of withdrawals.

Seven days after the initial invasion, the order was given to evacuate and by June 1 Crete was under German control.

And it's here we find conjecture among historians as to who was to blame and why.

It's been suggested British military historians blame Freyberg, while New Zealand historians blame Churchill and Allied commander-in-chief Wavell.

Renowned Dunedin-based historian Ron Palenski addressed this very issue is his 2013 book, Men of Valour: New Zealand and the Battle for Crete.

He concluded it was an almost insurmountable task to hold the island of Crete against the might of the German forces.

More astute leadership would have merely delayed seen the defence of the island last no more than a few more days.

In his words, a German victory was "absolutely inevitable.

In all, the Allies lost 3500 soldiers, with almost 18,000 captured. The German death toll sat between 6000 and 7000.

Among those who escaped were the legendary former sheep farmer Charles Upham and Alfred Hulme, both of whom were awarded the Victoria Cross for their efforts on Crete.

However, around 500 Commonwealth troops remained at large on the island for the duration of the German occupation, working with Greek resistors to make life difficult for the troops stationed there.

New Zealanders were among those who fled to the hills, sheltered by the Cretans, who still remember the role played by the Kiwi soldiers in the aftermath of the battle.

Suffice to say the Nazi reprisals were swift and cold-blooded, although it is worth noting the volume of German casualties forced Hitler to put an end to any future large-scale airborne assaults.

To commemorate the deeds of this historic occasion, Global Sports Promotions are taking a tour to Crete in May of this year.

It promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the place of battle and view first-hand the effect the New Zealanders had on this Mediterranean paradise.

The tour is also highly subsidised in association with the Greek Government and local tour operators.

- To be part of the occasion email dominic.george@nzme.co.nz.