Wednesday, February 06, 2013

The rest of Crete on 20 May 1941

A strong German paratroop and glider force had landed in the area protected by the 10th New Zealand Brigade. They were at Galatas, Alikianon, and the Aghya prison. About 1500 Germans had landed. Colonel Kippenberger went to the small house that he planned to use as a headquarters and found a German sniper, whom he killed. The 6th Greek Regiment quickly ran out of ammunition and was useless as a unit. A British officer was able to rally 400 of them who had fallen back towards Galatas. One bright spot was that the Germans at Galatas were captured by midday on 20 May 1941. By late in the day, the Germans were thought to be in control by the prison and were clearing an landing area to bring in more troops. In the 4th Brigade area, the hospital had been captured by the Germans, but was retaken. The 4th Brigade area included the New Zealand Division headquarters. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.

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