Operation Mercury unfolds as a massive German airborne invasion of Crete, where elite paratroopers face fierce resistance from Allied defenders and armed civilians. Intense combat erupts around ...
SANDY THOMAS: "If we had gone in on that first night we would have won the battle.". Photo: THE PRESS Major General Sandy Thomas says poor leadership shown by Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force ...
In the late spring of 1941 the German juggernaut was still rolling across Europe, and had recently conquered Yugoslavia and Greece—and set its eyes on the more than forty thousand British, ...
Maleme airfield May 20,1941 Although the Fleet Air Arm airfield, with its aircraft and some of its FAA personnel, at Maleme,Crete had been turned over to the Royal Air Force on May 1,1941, the base ...
HistoryAtWar on MSN
Hitler’s airborne gamble at Crete won the island and broke the paratroopers
In May 1941, Germany launched Operation Mercury, the first full-scale airborne invasion in history, expecting Crete to fall quickly. Instead, gliders and paratroopers landed under intense fire from ...
Major General Sandy Thomas says poor leadership shown by Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force commanders on Crete directly led to the loss of the battle for the Mediterranean island in May 1941. Mr ...
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