Last Saturday at the War Cemetry in Souda Bay here on Crete there were many expats and tourists there to watch the ceremony for the 69th anniversary of the Battle of Crete.
Along with my husband and a few friends that are here living in the sun we went along to see this and it was a very nice but moving ceremony.
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur (”Operation Mercury”). Greek and Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island.
After one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered appalling casualties and none of their objectives had been achieved. The next day, through miscommunication and the failure of Allied commanders to grasp the situation, Maleme airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans, enabling them to fly in reinforcements and overwhelm the defenders. The battle lasted for about ten days.
The Battle of Crete was unprecedented in three respects: it was the first mainly airborne invasion; it was the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from the deciphered German Enigma code; and it was the first time invading German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population.
Every year this ceremony is held at Souda Bay and next year on the 70th anniversary I expect many more people will come over to visit and to attend.
Thanks for reading
Pauline
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