The forces involved in the Battle for Crete in 1941

In the Battle for the island of Crete in 1941, the British and Commonwealth lost some 15,900 men. Of these, about 4,000 were killed or wounded. The Germans said that they took 5,255 Greek prisoners in the battle. There were about 14,000 Italians held prisoner on Crete and they were freed with the Germans won the battle. The German Fourth Air Fleet (Luftflotte 4) was involved in the battle. They lost 3,986 either killed or missing. Of these, 312 were aircrew. They also lost 2,594 wounded in the fight. During the battle, they lost 220 aircraft, of which many were Ju-52 transports. The 7th Air Division lost some 3,000 men killed, paratroops and glider-borne. They were elite troops, almost equivalent to modern special forces. Of the British, most of the losses were base troops, while the Australians took the greatest losses in combat troops. The Australians lost three infantry battalions and other fighting units. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.