Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Fighting in the afternoon of 20 May

 Germans were located on Hill A, on the top and east. The Germans were unable to leave the vineyards and move down the slopes because Australians were bringing accurate fire on the Germans. German paratroops had landed in Australian positions, so German aircraft had to be careful not to attack their own men. 

The Australian battalion commander sent two tanks forward, but they were soon out of action. Towards tyhe left, the 2/1st and the 4th Greek Battalion had killed or captured paratroops that were near by, as well as the paratroops in the 2/11th Battalion on Hill B. 

There were some German paratroops, perhaps 500 or more, traveling to the west towards Perivolia. They were beyond the range of Australian machine guns. Before it became dark, Australians tried to finish off the Germans nearby. By 10:30pm, the Australians took 84 prisoners and took a considerable supply of German weapons. 

Sandover, an Australian officer, could speak German, and he interrogated the prisoners. Sandover also translated coded messages, so they were able to tell aircraft to drop mortar bombs.

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



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