By the morning of 21 May, General Freyberg was infirmed about the situation that the 22nd Battalion found itself. He was told that their machine guns and artillery kept the Germans from using the air field. The truth was that more German para troops were landing and that German transport aircraft were landing in the river bed and on beaches on the west of the area. The areawas also under dive bombing attack.
New Zealand Division intelligence recognized that two German regiments had landed at Maleme and to thesouth of Galatas. The Germans were moving east. The division commander thought that the needed to recapture the air field Maleme. The process of retaking theair field was moving very slowly. A meeting was held at the 23rd Battalion headquarters. They decided that the 23rd Battalion should hold its ground. The remnants of the22nd Battalion should pull back withthe21st and 23rd Battalions and reorganize. By dawn, the 22nd Battalion was aligned with the21st and 23rd Battalions and the were situated to provide fire to cover the air field.
This is based on the account in "Greece, Crete, and Syria" by Gavin Long.
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