Download or read book Crete written by Antony Beevor and published by John Murray. This book was released on 2011-10-13 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Antony Beevor vividly brings to life the epic struggles that took place in Second World War Crete - reissued with a new introduction. 'The best book we have got on Crete' Observer The Germans expected their airborne attack on Crete in 1941 - a unique event in the history of warfare - to be a textbook victory based on tactical surprise. They had no idea that the British, using Ultra intercepts, knew their plans and had laid a carefully-planned trap. It should have been the first German defeat of the war, but a fatal misunderstanding turned the battle round. Nor did the conflict end there. Ferocious Cretan freedom fighters mounted a heroic resistance, aided by a dramatic cast of British officers from Special Operations Executive.
Download or read book Battle for Crete written by Matthew Wright and published by . This book was released on 2018-08-08 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Confronting the might of the Luftwaffe! New Zealand soldiers arrived in Crete during early May 1941, short of equipment after a hasty evacuation from Greece. Three weeks later Germany invaded from the air, and the fate of New Zealand
Download or read book Crete 1941 written by Peter Antill and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation Mercury, the German airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941, was the first strategic use of airborne forces in history. The assault began on 20 May, with landings near the island's key airports, and reinforcements the next day allowed the German forces to capture one end of the runway at Maleme. By 24 May, the Germans were being reinforced by air on a huge scale and on 1 June Crete surrendered. This book describes how desperately close the battle had been and explains how German losses so shocked the Führer that he never again authorised a major airborne operation.
Download or read book The Lost Battle written by C. A. MacDonald and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A highly intriguing and moving account of this significant and wasteful battle. The invasion of Crete in 1941 should have been a textbook battle for General Kurt Students German troops, a swift and decisive blitzkrieg based on technical surprise. In fact it was based on a series of misjudgements which resulted in large and bloody losses and Crete became the graveyard of the German parachute troops.
Download or read book Battle of Crete written by Albert Palazzo and published by Big Sky Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 20 May and 1 June 1941 the Second World War came to the Greek island of Crete. The Commonwealth defenders consisted of Australian, New Zealand and British refugees from the doomed Greek Campaign who had not recovered from defeat.
Download or read book Ten Days to Destiny written by G. C. Kiriakopoulos and published by Holy Cross Orthodox Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For ten dramatic and bitterly fought days in May, 1941, British Commonwealth and Greek soldiers fought with the valiant assistance of Cretan civilians -- men and women, young and old -- to hold their island against a Nazi onslaught. This is the documented story of the one of the most important yet least acknowledged battles of World War II.
Download or read book Battle of Crete written by George Forty and published by Ian Allan Pub. This book was released on 2009 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the successful German invasion of the Balkans and the capture of mainland Greece, the Axis powers' focussed their attentions upon the strategic island of Crete. The island was Britain's last foothold in the northeast Mediterranean and was perceived as being pivotal to the ongoing defence of the Middle East and the crucial sea-lanes leading to the Suez Canal. By early 1941 the British position in the Mediterranean was wavering; in North Africa Rommel's forces were sweeping towards Egypt, and the remaining British fortresses such as Malta were threatened. Against this background, German forces launched an airborne attack against Crete in late May 1941. Drawing upon an incredible selection of contemporary photographs, allied with first-hand recollections from those who fought,'Battle of Crete' examines one of the most bitterly contested engagements of the early war years. Uniquely recounted from the viewpoint of the individual fighting soldier, sailor and airman, this timely examination of an important but often overlooked battle will be essential reading for all historians of World War 2.
Download or read book The Cretan War 1645 1671 written by Bruno Mugnai and published by Century of the Soldier. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The army and the navy of Venice and Ottoman Empire during the campaigns fought for the possession of the 'pearl of the Mediterranean'. The legendary Venetian resistance impressed the courts of whole Europe, transforming the conflict in the 'Campo di Marte' of the continent.
Download or read book Creforce the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete written by Stella Tzobanakis and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-20 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Creforce - the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete is the dramatic story of the second Anzacs and their role in one of the biggest battles in the military history of Australia, New Zealand and its Allied forces during World War II.The book is written for children 10 and up and explores the real-life `adventures' and misadventures of more than 14,500 young Australian and New Zealand soldiers who were sent to the Greek island of Crete - famous for myths, minotaurs and labyrinths - under the second formation of the Anzac Corps, to help defend it against Nazi Germany. The book includes never-before-told, first-hand accounts of those that lived through the battle, and weaves in the stories of real-life characters including Roald Dahl, the famous British novelist Roald Dahl, Horrie the Wog Dog, the little terrier who became an unofficial mascot, Charles Upham, known as the Lion of Crete, an educated sheep farmer turned valuer from New Zealand who was single-minded, perservering, swore a lot and hated injustice and the people of Crete who have been likened in the book to Ned Kelly for their outlaw-style tactics as part of the Cretan resistance. The most notable Cretan is the Cretan Runner George Psychoundakis, an uneducated, poor, young shepherd who became a decorated war hero for aiding British soldiers including author, scholar Patrick Leigh Fermor who has been described as a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond.The book is on the Victorian and NSW Premier's Reading Challenge lists. It is only available for purchase at stelitsahome.bigcartel.com
Download or read book Operation Mercury written by John Sadler and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2007-07-01 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike the few other books written on the catastrophic fall of Crete in May 1941, this book concentrates on the military actions between the first German paratroop landing on 20 May and the final defeat and evacuation on 30 May. As well as studying the strengths, tactics, leadership and weapons of both sides, the book contains numerous graphic personal anecdotes by participants, be they German, Allied or Cretan. While the battle was a decisive defeat for the Allies, the Germans made a disastrous start. How they recovered from this so spectacularly is well covered.This is a worthy addition to the Battleground series being both a fine study of the conflict and an invaluable guide. The Author has visited Crete on many occasions and knows the ground well.
Download or read book The Battle For Heraklion Crete 1941 written by Yannis Prekatsounakis and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2017-02-22 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crete, 20 May 1941: the first campaign-sized airborne assault is launched. Many books have been written about this famous invasion, with the emphasis mainly on the battles for Maleme and Chania. The Battle for Heraklion - an epic struggle - remained largely forgotten and widely unstudied. Yet the desperate fight for Heraklion had everything: street-fighting in the town; heroic attacks against well-fortified positions and medieval walls; heavy losses on all sides; and tragic stories involving famous German aristocratic families like the von Blüchers and members of the Bismarck family. This book highlights personal stories and accounts - and the author’s access to records from all three sides allowed accounts to be placed in their correct place and time. Finally, the history of the battle is written with the added perspective of extensive Greek accounts and sources. In contrast, earlier books were based solely on British and German sources - totally ignoring the Greek side. Many of these accounts are from people who were fighting directly against each other - and some reveal what the enemies were discussing and thinking while they were shooting at or attacking each other. Some accounts are so accurate and detailed that we can even identify who killed whom. In addition, long-lost stories behind both well known and previously unpublished pictures are revealed. For the first time, 75 year-old mysteries are solved: what were the names of the paratroopers in the planes seen crashing in famous pictures? What was the fate of soldiers seen in pictures taken just before the battle? The author has studied the battlefield in every detail - thus giving the reader the opportunity to understand actions and incidents by examining what happened on the actual field of battle. For example, how was it possible for a whole platoon to be trapped and annihilated, as in the fate of Wolfgang Graf von Blücher? Such a question is not easily answered even by people with a military background. How was it possible for the paratroopers to fail in their attempt to occupy the town? The answers to questions like these became very clear when the author walked through the battlefields - following the accounts of the people from all sides who had fought there and which describe the same incidents. The author’s extensive research is vividly presented via detailed maps and photographs, both from the era of the battle and today; even battlefield archaeology plays a role in revealing what really happened on the battlefield. The author’s approach addresses two different types of readers: those who are largely unfamiliar with the battle - hence the emphasis on personal stories, accounts and pictures - and the researcher who wants a reliable source of firsthand material and perhaps a different point of view, such as is offered by Greek accounts and sources (and by the writer’s detailed analysis of the battle). This fresh account of one of the Second World War’s most memorable battles is given added authority by the writer’s military background, together with his deep knowledge of the battlefield and his access to Greek accounts and sources.
Download or read book The Cretan Runner written by George Psychoundakis and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2015-11-03 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A witty, thrilling, and “effortlessly poetic” account of the Cretan resistance during World War II—with a map and 32 black-and-white photographs (The Guardian) George Psychoundakis was a 21-one-year-old shepherd from the village of Asi Gonia when the battle of Crete began: “It was in May 1941 that, all of a sudden, high in the sky, we heard the drone of many aeroplanes growing steadily closer.” The German parachutists soon outnumbered the British troops who were forced first to retreat, then to evacuate, before Crete fell to the Germans. So began the Cretan Resistance and the young shepherd’s career as a wartime runner. In this unique account of the Resistance, Psychoundakis records the daily life of his fellow Cretans, his treacherous journeys on foot from the eastern White Mountains to the western slopes of Mount Ida to transmit messages and transport goods, and his enduring friendships with British officers (like his eventual translator Patrick Leigh Fermor) whose missions he helped to carry out with unflagging courage, energy, and good humor.
Download or read book Creforce written by Stella Tzobanakis and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first parachute drop of World War II, the Germans invaded Crete on 20 May, 1941. Australian, New Zealand and British troops, alongside Greek soldiers and the people of Crete, formed a crucial bond as they defended the tiny island.
Download or read book Men of Valour written by Ron Palenski and published by Hodder Moa. This book was released on 2013-03-26 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In May of 1941 New Zealand?s citizen soldiers, not long removed from their day jobs, were thrust into a type of fighting the world had not seen before: a land force against an airborne invasion. It was man against machines. In many ways, Crete became in the Second World War what Gallipoli had been in the First: another Dunkirk ? a scrambling effort to survive after defeat. This book breathes new life into the baptism of fire for New Zealand?s men of valour. It puts a human face on a military disaster, a failure that paradoxically was as large for the victors, the Germans, as it was for the losers, the Allies, among whom New Zealanders dominated. Crete tempered the New Zealand Division, and it went on to become one of the most respected and admired fighting forces of the Second World War.
Download or read book The Fall of Crete 1941 Was Freyberg Culpable written by Major James Bliss and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 20 May 1941, Generaloberst Kurt Student’s Luftwaffe XI Fliegerkorps conducted the first operational airborne invasion in history to seize Crete. Major-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg VC, 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, commanded the British forces defending the island. Freyberg, forewarned of the details of the invasion, possessed numerical superiority over the enemy, but was defeated within twelve days. Freyberg, later blamed for the defeat due to his perceived faulty defensive dispositions, was dealt a losing hand from the start. His troops consisted of those that could be rescued from the failed Greek Campaign and lacked sufficient weapons, communications, and transport to conduct the defense. Despite the best efforts of the Royal Navy, overwhelming Luftwaffe air superiority in the absence of the Royal Air Force isolated Crete and the relentless drive of the attacking German forces captured it. Poor tactical leadership by Freyberg’s subordinate commanders and their failure to prosecute his operational plan led to defeat by the barest margin. While a tactical loss, Freyberg’s destruction of the 7th Flieger Division resulted in Hitler never considering an operational airborne assault again. Freyberg, although accepting responsibility for the defeat, should not be held entirely culpable for the loss of Crete.
Download or read book The Struggle for Crete 20 May 1 June 1941 written by I. McD. G. Stewart and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1991 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing an account of the struggle for Crete during World War II, this book contains some of the author's own experiences as a Medical Officer at the time of the battle. The author describes the leadership, the geography, the communications problems and the delayed counter-attack.
Download or read book The Fall Of Crete written by Alan Clark and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2016-01-28 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic story of one of the most bitter and dramatic battles fought between German and Allied forces during the whole of the Second World War. The decisive action took place within five days, and twice its outcome hung in the balance. By the third day, the number of German dead exceeded their losses in all other theatres since the outbreak of hostilities. The German parachutists were confined for supply and reinforcements to a single airstrip at Maleme, yet on this one foothold they managed to land over eight thousand men, who defeated an Allied army nearly five times as numerous. With its vivid and compelling description of the battle for Crete, Clark confirmed his reputation as a military historian first recognised with The Donkeys, his account of the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1914.
