Battle of Crete Author:George Forty The island of Crete off the coast of Greece was the scene of the last great German airborne operation of World War II. The British, Greek and Commonwealth forces on Crete in May, 1941 had just been driven from Greece by the Germans and made an improvised, but determined, defense. Crete's Allied garrison was eventually forced to surrender, but th... more »e German paratroopers took such heavy casualties that Hitler ordered them converted to the elite infantry role for the remainder of the war.
Much previous writing on Crete has concentrated on the Allied point of view, despite the historic importance of the German airborne and air landing operations. George Forty, a retired Royal Tank Regiment officer and curator of Britain's foremost armour museum, draws on first-hand reminiscences to describe the battle with considerable emphasis on the German experience, which is probably the most relevant to contemporary readers and military professionals.« less