The action from 24 May and onwards near Retimo

 The Australians were able to move back onto Hill A and onto the coastal plain. Because of that, they were ble to take possession of the two tanks. The 2/1st Battalion had men who were accustomed to driving tracked vehicles. These men were the crews of the carrier. They had one tank that they found early on 24 May. The tank was undamaged and they figured out how to drive the tank. Lt. Mason of "the Royal Army Ordnance Corps" was instrumental in recovering that tank. They used that tank to drive to the Olive Oil Factory and look it over. Some time later, they drove the tank past the factory to a house occupied by Germans where Germans were arriving. The Germans were using the house to provvide them cover and they stayed in the house. 

That night, Campbell sent the tank down the road to the road junction past Hill B. Campbell provided the tank to Sandover. Sandover would have the tank so he could use it in an attack on Perivolia. As there was light, the tank moved foeward. The driver was inexperience and when a British Blenheim bomber flew low over the tank, the driver was frightened so he accidentally drove over a culvert and ended up in a creek. They quickly provided "camouflage" to keep aircraft from seeing the tank. That evening, they recovered the tank. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

More events from 23 May near Retimo

 There was a truce proposed so that wounded from Hill A and the factory could be collected. In a while, a German officer from the factory demanded that the Australians surrender. Campbell refused and when the truce ended, the Australians fired artillery at the factory. 

The Greeks on the left told Sandover that they would take the St. Georges Church, During the morning, yhe Australians afred a caotured anti-tank gun at the church and caused the Germans to leave the church. The Greeks did not take yhe church, despite what thy had said. 

Dueing the afternoonm some fifty German aircraft attacked the area between Perivolia and Platanes. The attack lasted for about five hours. Jackson's company was happy tp lose only nine casualties. Honners company akobg with the mortar platoon had three killed but as many as 27 men wounded. Two men manned a Bren gun where the action was hottest. At one pont, aircraft flew around and set fire to houses and nearby crops. 

As the sun set, Germans attacked from Perivolia. The Germans took heavy losses from the frontal attack. After this fight, Honners men were replaced, The reolacements were McCaskill;s company. '

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

From 23 May and beyond near Retimo

 Campbell ordered the two companies to stay in place. The Greeks planned to attack the church of St. George. Campbell thought that the attack was unlikely to succeed. He expected a frontal attack moving over open ground. They could hear sound from Perivolia. The Australians thought that the Gtreeks probably captued some Germans and then pulled back. 

Campbell received a positive message frum Freyberg. Somewhat later they heard that a Rangers company from Canea to try and clear Perivolia. Before this news, Campbell sent a captain to Suda. The captain also took a mule train so they could collect food. The hills were so steep, the mules cold not go that way. The captain visited Retimo where he met the Rangers. He tried to convince the Rangers not to attack, but he failed. 

While clearing the area east from the airfield, the captured the German "medical aid post". The Australian medical officer met with the German medical officers. They wanted them to move their wounded to the Australian aid station at Adhele. After that, the German and Australian medical personnel worked together.

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

More action near Retimo on 22 May 1941

 Honner was sent along the road to the west. He was to keep blocking the road as the moved forward to the fork in the road at Perivolia. Honner's men had a captured German mortar as well as a mortar they had. Honner's company captured houses on a ridge that was half of the way to where they were headed. There was a downward slope beyond the houses. If they moved forward, they would be vulnerable to German fire from a position about a thousand yards ahead. The Germans were in buildings and in the St. George Church. They were also positioned behind stone walls. This was at the beginning of Perivolia. Honner's men were fired on by "mortars, mchine gus, and light artillery". Honner had about a hundred men. 

A runner arrived late in the afternoon with news that Captain Jackson's company coming to support Honner. In the 2/11th Battalion, Honner was the most senior company commander. given that news, Honner wanted to mount an attack after dark, using leap-frog tactics. "The two companies would stay between the road and the coast".  Between the road and the coast were three ditches that were about ywo feet deep. As darkness fell, Jackson's company moved forward to the second ditch.

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

How the attack played out at Retimo on 22 May

The attack by the forty men did not go well, Many of the men were hit. The few survivors sheltered behind a bank. The bank was about forty yards from the factory. Campbell was on the scene. He ordered the survivors to stay where they were. Campbell decided not to attack any more. The Greeks should not move forward, but should keep shooting at the factory. After dark, the Australians were able to pull back. 

Campbell sent his two Australian companies to their previous positions looking down on the airfield. Yhhe Greeks would block the Germans at the Olive Oil Factory. 

On the left, small groups of Germans behind the 2/11th Battalion pulled back during the night. By afternoon, Honner's company on the left moved forward, They passed through Cesmes to the wadi that oassed through Plantanes. They took fire from Germans in houses. The houses were to the west. 

Earlier, the Australians had used German signal system to issue misleading messages to the Germans. Now, they laid a signal asking for Perivolia to be bombed. The Germans did bomb Perivolia as requested. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

The real situation around Retimo

 Despite what Campbell told General Freyberg, there were still two groups of Germans with considerable strength. One was near the Olive Oil Factory in the east. They were blocking the road to Hweraklion. The other group was at Perivlia, blocking the road to Suda. Campbell wanted to push those two groups out on 22 May. The 2/11th Battalion was supposed to move towards Perivolia. Also on the 21st, two companies from the 2/1t Battalion would travel east in the direction of the Olive Oil Factory. 

The 2/1st Battalion was joined by Greeks from the south as they approached the factory. They found the Germans occupying strong buildings. Moriarity's company was able to move along the ridges. Camobell ordered them to attack at about 10am, if 15 minutes of field artillery fire seemed to be having an effect. The guns were located on Hill A. The guns fired the ammunition that they could afford to use. While scouting, a German rifleman shot and killed Moriarity. Lt. Savage, the other officer in the company was wounded. The attack was called off, given what had happened. 

After this, Campbell planned another attack at 6pm. Multiple groups would converge on an objective. Some 200 Greeks would move under cover in the Wadi. About 40 Australians would be crawling through another Wadi. They would then charge Germans. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

More about 21 to 22 May 1941 near Retimo on Crete

 The 2/11th Battalion captured Colonel Sturm, the commander of the entire German paratrooper group. They read Col. Sturm's orders. He had some 1,500 men in two battalions. They wanted land one battalion east of the air field and one on the west side. Two companies were supposed t land on the west side of Hill B ended up on the east side of Hill A.

One Greek battalion was ordered to each flank. Major Ford was with one Greek battalion. They arrived at the ridge on the south side of Perivolia at nightfall on 21 May. There were many Germans near Perivolia. The Germans faced the 2/11th Battalion on Hill B. To the south were Greeks. About 800 Cretan police had cleared all Germans from Retimo. They were blocking the road from Retimo to Perivolia. The Australians did not know that the Greeks were to move west. Because of that an Australian platoon and some Greeks exchanged fire. The other Greeks cleared Germans from the village that was south of the Olive Oil factory. They had not progressed to the ridge crest. If they had, they could have been able to attack the Germans on the coast plain. Campbell had replaced one company with another. The Australian artillerymen were with their field guns. They were also well-suppled with German weapons. Campbell sent a message to Freyberg telling him that the situation in Retimo was in good shape,

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

Fighting on Hill A and nearby areas at Retimo on 21 May

 On 21 May, one platoon commanded by a lieutenant moved north to the road. In the center, four platoons moved and occupied positions on Hill A.  They recovered the 75mm guns that had been lost. On the left, a platoon moved around the terrace and joined up with the other platoon on the road. They managed to capture 34 Germans as prisoners. Yhe group that had been in the Wadi Bardia were able to arrive on the main road. Some Germans managed to reach the beach. 

It was now 18 hours after paratroops had landed. A group that had reached a position looking down on the airfield had been beaten back. There was the coastal plane from Perivolia to Hill A that covered about six miles. Only small groups of paratroopers were left there, but some of those men were causing trouble. One group of 20 men captured the dressing station at Adhele. They left the dressing station and moved north towards the 2/11th Battalion. The Australians captured the Germans. Two Germans tried to change into Greek uniforms, but were killed. Other Germans moved through Pigi and then moved down the road towards the airfield. 

Some Germans captured Lt. Willmot who had been sent to stir the Greeks into action. Lt. Willmot was freed by Australian engineers and a transport section.

During the day on 21 May, the Australian battalions cleared the Germans from the coastal plane. This was an area between Hill A and Hill B.

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

Fighting at the airfield at Retimo on 21 May

 Moriarity notified Camobell's headquarters that the situation had become "desperate".. Campbell responded by leading one of the com[anies still in existence. He led them across a sheltered route across the Wadi Bardia. Camobell left part of his group in the wadi and took the rest forward. Campbell met Moriarity at about 7am. Campbell told Moiarity to maneuver to get the Germans off of Hill A. He needed to do it "as soon as posssible". It was about this time that the Australians watched a bomber drop six bombs on the German positiom. This was a German plane bombing Germans. The attack hit the German position on the narrow part of Hill A. 

Moriarity organized the men he had, which included men from four companies. That gave him four groups. He led an attack to the north at about 8am. The attack was well-led "with dash". The attack was very successful. On the right, Lt. Rogrts attacked with four platoons, including the pioneers along with the crews of the carriers. They moved forward along the eastern psrt of Hill A. They then turned to the east and moved down the slope. They caotured some 25 German prisoners and oved on to the hill to the east of Hill A. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

From the night of 20-21 May at Retimo

The Germans on Hill A expected that the Australians might attack, so they went after the few Australian posts. They over ran part of one group. The remainder moved into the company headquarters, The Germans moved onto the Retimo airfield. They took the crews of the disabled tanks prisoner. Most of the Germans eft the airfield by dawn, but about forty men sheltered behind the bank at the beach. At dawn, there was one section from Channel's company still holding on. They were surroundedm but the Germans seemed to have overlooked them. They were on the forward slope of Hill A. Channel's company was reinforced by two platoons. They occupied the narrow part of Hill A.

Channel led the men in an attack at dawn. The Germans seemed to attack at the same time with a mortar barrage, Channel planned to go around the sides of Hill A as well as over the top. While under fire, Channel's men moved forward some sixty to 100 yards. Channel and a lieutenant were wounded,  Channel's men were pushed back until they held a line on the western edge of the narrow part of Hill A. 

Moriarity's company and the carrier platoon, without their carriers appeared at 6am. They came from Hill D. They learned that the dawn attack had failed. They arrived at the narrow part of Hill A. Moriarity took command of the men left, which was a lttle less than half of Campbell's unit. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

Reinforcements were needed at Retimo on 20 May

 The 2/11th Battalion withdrew all of its men into the wired perimeter for the night. They did send patrols out to prevent the Germans moving in the direction of Retimo. At 10:30pm, the Australians had taken 84 prisoners and a great number of arms. The Australians had trouble finding Germans hiding in the dark. The 2/11th Battalion commander, Sandover, spoke German, so he questioned prisoners. Sandover also translated German codes, so the Australians were able ask for more mortar bombs, which were delivered by air. 

Overnight, Campbell asked Freyberg for reinforcements. Campbell gave orders for attacks in the morning. He wanted the 2/1st Battalion to eliminate Germans from Hill A. He ordered the 2/11th Battalion to get rid of Germans from Hill A and the sea. The Australian battalions would attack tpwards the north with help from Greek battalions. They would be attacking the southern side of the German forces that were in combat with the Australians. Campbell sent Major Hooper with the Greek battalion on the east. He sent Major Ford from the Welch Regiment with the Greeks on the West. Major Ford was already a liaison to the Greeks.

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

Further fighting on 20 May

 Campbell ordered a platoon to Hill A. They were supposed to clear out the vineyards. They were located on the northwest of Hill A. At 6:30, platoon first went to Campbell's headquarters. The paratroops firing kept the Australians from moving over the northwest slopes. Since the paratroops were mixed with Australians, German aircraft were not attacking, 

 Campbell sent the two tanks down the Wadi Pigi. The tanks were supposed to go across the airfield and turn to move along the road so as to attack Germans on the east side of Hill A. Both tanks had mishaps that stopped them. 

Some paratroops landed on the left, in front of the 2/1st Battalion and the 4th Greek Battalion where they were all killed or made prisoner. The same thing happened to paratroops that landed, the 2/11th Battalion wire on Hill B. In one case, a group of paratroops were killed while they were still in the air. There were other groups of paratroops, totaling as many as 599 men, yhat were advancing on Perivolia. 

Sandover ordered his men to move forward to the north to get rid of Germans who were on the lower ground. He wanted that done before it became dark. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

German paratroop action at Retimo on 20 May

 A second group of German paratroops landed along the coast from yhe west end of the atr field up to the town of Retimo. The landing was finished in 35 minutes. The transport aircraft were an obvious target or the British force on the ground. Seven troop carrying aircraft along with two other aircraft were shot down. Most of the aircraft that were shot down crashed near Perivolia. 

Many paratroopers landed on Hill A. The hill was about 200 by 300 yards. One company of infantry occupied Hill A. There were six field guns and four machine guns. There were a series of intense fights between units of Australians and the small numbers of paratroops that were able to be organized. At the east end, paratroops landed on an infantry platoon and the machine guns and field guns. The crews were killed while mortar fire disabled the guns. Surviving gunners moved up the hill to the battery headquarters. The gunners only had pistols, but they were able to capture some weapons. They kept fighting until the Germans overran them at 9pm. The Australians were taking losses. Three posts held out on the northern slope. The remainder of the defending company was stretched across the narrow part of the hill. The Germans has most of the top and east part of Hill A. The Germans could not move out from the vineyards, Campbell had sent reinforcements to help contain the Germans.

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

May 20 at Retimo

 14 German transport aircraft flew towards Retimo, but they turned towards Canea. This was at 9am on 20 May. This was apparently the start of the attack on Retimo. At noon, 20 Gernan troop-carrying aircraft fkew towards Heraklion. At 4pm, some 20 German fighters and bombers attacked positions around the airfield. British camouflage was proving very effective against air attacks. The 4th Greek battalion started to move back up the ridge, even though they had not been attacked from the air. Australiin NCOs were sent to the Greeks. The were a steadying factor, and they led the Greeks back to theie positions. One Australian corporal took a Greek patrol to the main road, where they took some 20 prisoners. 

After the strafing ended, about 24 troop-carrying Ferman aircraft flew from the north. They flew towards Refuge Point, which lay to the east. Once there, they turned west, and flew along the coast. More troop transports came along until they saw 161. One group of paratroops jumped east of the airfeld. The landed in an area that was three miles long and a half mile wide. This was east of the olive oil factory and to the east end of the airfield. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

19 May at Retimo

 The 2/11th Battalion was positioned on the ridge from the Wadi Adhele to Hill B Three of the battalions companied were "forward". The original plan was for the 2/11th Battalion to act as a reserve for the 2/1st Battalion. Their mission was to defend the Retimo airfield. One company from the 2/11th Battalion was in the rear, ready to reinforce the 2/1st Battalion. The reserve for the 2/11th Battalion was its transport platoon. Hill B stuck out towards the sea. Hill B had two 100mm guns and one platoon of machine guns except for one section located at the Wadi Adhele. There were two tanks sitting in the olive trees by theWadi Pigi. The tanks would be used if Germans were in position on the landing field. Infantry were located in "weaon pits" in the olive trees. They were hidden from view from either air or ground. 

A German reconnaissance aircraft crashed on 16 May. There were photographs dated 8 May that showed that the Germans had only seen one of the defenders' positions, After seeing the photographs, the positions were altered.  

Campbell ordered the men to stay out of Retimo, because some men had become drunk from the local wine. Campbell wanted to have a good relationship with the local residents, Provosts were positioned in Retimo and in the villages to enforce the ban on British soldiers. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

More about Retimo on 29 May

 The two Australian battalions defending the airfield at Retimo were the 2/1st and the 2/11th Battalions. The situation was such that the battalions communicated using runners. There was a lot of barbed wire so the airfield and battalion fronts were covered by barbed wire. 

There had been rations for ten days, but four days supply had been moved to the road that led to Mesi. The men were able to by from the local inhabitants. They were able to buy pigs, eggs, and goats milk. Thr men of the 2/11th Battalions were used to having goats, so they "hired milking goats" and kept them in their positions.

Olive trees masked fields of fire from the ridge, the ield guns and most of the medim machine guns were put on hills A and B.  Two machine guns were put on the ridge above Hill B. One company of field artillery was put on Hill A. They had 2-100mm and 4-75mm guns with a platoon of machine guns. The rest of the field artillery battalion was on Hill B and on the slopes above the airfield from the south. The field artillery headquarters operated as a rifle company. Canpbell put his headquarters on a spur of Hill D so he had a good view. There was also a Greek battalion, the 4th, on the ridge that ran between the Wadi Pigi and the Wadi Adhele. There were three Greek battalios in reserve in olive trees south of the Pigi village. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

Fighting at Retimo

 Australians had reached Retimo on 30 April. They were in the 2/1st Battalion with Lt-Col. Ian Campbell in command. The Australians were to defend the airfield. The airfield had been defended by Greek forces orior to the arrival of the Australians. More men had arrived until by 18 May there was a brigade strength present. The Australians were equipped with small arms but they were short of ammunition. They had rifles, ant-tank rifles, four 3-inch mortars, and some Vickers medium machine guns.  Their uniforms and boots were worn, and they were not replaced as long as the men were in Crete. 

Unlike at the other airfields, there were no ant-aircraft guns at Retimo. The defenders also had no armor-piercing ammunition. That meant that German fighters and bombers could fly low over the battle ground because their armor could not be defeated by the small arms ammunition. Only the transport aircraft were vulnerable to small arms gunfire. The 2/1st Battalion had no wireless communication equipment. They only had telephones connected by wire that had been supplied by the gunners. Campbell could talk by telephone from his headquarters with Hills A and B. The 2/11th Battalion had a telehone for each company but they had little cable. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

Fighting on 27 May

 At 10am on 27 May, the 3rd Parachute Regiment had reached the wireless station. By 2pm, the had taken Canea, along with the 100th Mountain Regiment and Ramcke's unit. They had captured about 40 guns and some 1,000 prisoners. By the evening, the 85th Regiment of mountain troops had advanced to the heights to the west of Stilos. During the 27th, the 5h Mountain Division commander and a battalion from yhe 6th Mountain Division landed at the Maleme airfield. 

The British rearguard consiste of the 5th and 19th Brigades and the commands of Layforce were lucky to have arrived at the road over the mountains that led to Sfakia. They were now sitting alomg the road that led from Stilos to Bbali Inn. They were ready to protect the column that stretched to the South. We will eventualy write about the "retreat and embarkation of the Maleme-Suda force", we will describe the events involving Retimo and Heraklion.

Near Retimo, the mountain slope down to the sea. The coastal shelf varied from 100 to 800 yards in width. The mountains have gullies that occur every mile or so. An airfield lay about five miles east of Retimp. The town of Retimo had about ten thousand people. The airfield paralleled the beach and was about 100 yards from the beach. 

The commander at Retimo of the men defending the airfield was Lt-Colonel Ian Campbell. A ridge ran along next to the airfield. There was a "spur" called "Hill A" by the Australians. About a thousand yards to the east of Hill A was a village named Stavromno. The min building there was an olive oil factory. The factory had a chimney that was 50 feet tall. We will continue this discussion later. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

Alleged British atrocities

A German thought that 121 casulties were more than would have been killed in the battle. He thought that the British must have shot or stabbed all the wounded men. There were about 20 dead Australian and New Zealand soldiers and none had bayonet wounds or injuries from a rifle butt. 

LieutennantWalker replied to the charges o atrocities in 1952. He wsaid that the Germans had grought forward large numbers of automatic weapons. The British had captured many of these and had turned them on the Germans. The fighting took place in olive  trees. At close range the captured automatic weapons had killed many Germans.The British had capture three wounded Germans and it is likely that many wounded Germans had reached the German lines. Walker stated that no wounded. No wounded German offering to surrender or unwounded German offering to surrender was shot. 

Walker spoke about an incident where Germans were shot at a wall. The Germans were unarmed. Walker thought that the men were running away, and were delayed by the wall. If someone did not offer to surrender, it was acceptable to shoot them. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long

More action on 27 and 28 May on Crete

 The German plan on 27 May was to complete encircling Canae and then send multiple columns towards Retimo. One of the columns would move east along the coast. The regiment of Jais  was the unit that fought the intense battle at 42nd Street that was very costly. It was at 6:45am that they were ordered to move to the head of Suda Bay with the intent to block any British retreat. I Battalion was in the lead. From 11am and for another half an hour, they heard nothing from the leading battalion. Jais thought that the lead battalion must have been dispersed, so he halted the following III Battalion until they could learn more about the situation. It was about 2:30pm when the I Battalion commander arrived at Jais' headquarters. He reported that they had been surprised to run into British positions some 2.5 kilometers to the west of the Suda Village. This was in the middle of very thick olive country. The leading company of the I Battalion had run onto a minefield and had incurred heavy losses. It looked like the english might surround the battalion, so yje "fighting troops were pulled back" and lost more men in the process. Most of the officers and other men were killed or wounded. The I Battalion was withdrawn to the west on the high ground. 

This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long