General Freyberg described the situation. There were units of soldiers that stayed to gether and marched with their guns. They were from composite groups that withdrawn from the line. Mostly it was a mass movement of men not organized imto units. They dominated the ruad and slowly moved to the south.
There were thousands of unarmed soldiers on the road to the south. They were very diverse, as there were Cypriots and Palestinians. There were no leaders and they were without discipline. They largely were untrained as soldiers. Men had heard Sfakia mentioned and that gave them direction. Lt. Stephanides later wrote that he was aware that they were part of a retreat. He thought that it bordered on a rout. Soldiers moved quickly along the road. Many soldiers had dropped their rifles. The road and ditches had items abandoned by their owners. You would occasionally see officers valises and open suit cases.
Someone Cairo replied to Freyberg's pessimistic message from 26 May. Yhe reply said that General Evetts would arrive to function as a liaison officer. Te reply suggested that force from Suda and Maleme should travel to Retimo with the aim of holding the eastern end of Crete.
This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long.
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