mmarsh
Active member
I just got back from a vacation on Crete. Whist I was there I happened to chance upon (drum roll) THE BATTLE OF CRETE by Antony Beavor. Now Beavor is one of my favorite WWII authors, I have read both STALINGRAD and SPAINISH CIVIL WAR. It was very interesting to me because I was actually staying in Rathymno (about 80KM from the capital Heraklion) which was ground zero for some of the bitterest fighting.
Crete is a interesting battle because although the allies lost they made it an extremely costly victory for the Germans, so costly in fact that almost 1/2 of the elite Fallschirmjagers were killed in action which ended the use of Combat jumps for the Germans. Interestingly enough, Beavor points out that while the Germans discontinued parachute jumps the UK and US were busy building their own paratroop units, taking into full account the mistakes made by the Germans in Crete.
Beavor does a good job explaining how the British came so close victory only to have a misunderstanding by General Freyberg snatch away victory at the last moment.
The Second have of the Book covers Cretan resistance and British SOE during the German occupation. The Germans were exceptionally brutal to the Cretans because of the stubborn resistance of partisans which contributed to many of the German KIA. But the Nazis discovered that reprisals against civilians only increased resistance, especially as the Cretans were know at the time to nationalistic, hotheaded, and extremely violent.
So its a great read about one of the lesser known battles -oh and I recommend you visit Crete should you ever get the chance.
Crete is a interesting battle because although the allies lost they made it an extremely costly victory for the Germans, so costly in fact that almost 1/2 of the elite Fallschirmjagers were killed in action which ended the use of Combat jumps for the Germans. Interestingly enough, Beavor points out that while the Germans discontinued parachute jumps the UK and US were busy building their own paratroop units, taking into full account the mistakes made by the Germans in Crete.
Beavor does a good job explaining how the British came so close victory only to have a misunderstanding by General Freyberg snatch away victory at the last moment.
The Second have of the Book covers Cretan resistance and British SOE during the German occupation. The Germans were exceptionally brutal to the Cretans because of the stubborn resistance of partisans which contributed to many of the German KIA. But the Nazis discovered that reprisals against civilians only increased resistance, especially as the Cretans were know at the time to nationalistic, hotheaded, and extremely violent.
So its a great read about one of the lesser known battles -oh and I recommend you visit Crete should you ever get the chance.