Wednesday, February 15, 2023

During the night of 25-26 May the situation worsened

 During the night, the defenders were taking more casualties. The men were getting more tired. They were becoming dispirited due to the contant air attacks. One result of the way the battle played out was that the units of the 4th and 5th Brigades were in a mixed line. Both brigades had taken heavy losses. Puttick wanted to shorten his line. He thought he could do that by leaving Galatas and moving to a new line that would include Karatsos. /the new line would run north and south and would touch the 19th Brigade on the right. 

Fortunately the Greek 8th Regiment was holding their ground. The regiment was actually strengthened by villagers. The regiment was holding on while fighting a German mountain regiment. That regiment was trying to surround the British group. Over the most recent few days, the Greeks had driven out "the Utz Group of airborne soldiers from the area near Alikianon. That group had formed a line to the south of the reservoir. They were causing trouble for the German mountain regiment that was moving over the hills southwest from the current position. The German airborne commander, General Student, reached Crete on 25 May. The II and IV Battalions of the Assault Regiment were able to capture the high ground on the northwest of Galatea. It was the 100th Mountain Regiment that finally took Galatea. On that day, reinforcements landed at Maleme. The reinforcements were two mountain battalions and one motor cycle company.

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

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