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Author: Peter Antill
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782007105
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
Operation Mercury, the German airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941, was the first strategic use of airborne forces in history. The assault began on 20 May, with landings near the island's key airports, and reinforcements the next day allowed the German forces to capture one end of the runway at Maleme. By 24 May, the Germans were being reinforced by air on a huge scale and on 1 June Crete surrendered. This book describes how desperately close the battle had been and explains how German losses so shocked the Führer that he never again authorised a major airborne operation.
Author: Peter Antill
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782007105
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
Operation Mercury, the German airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941, was the first strategic use of airborne forces in history. The assault began on 20 May, with landings near the island's key airports, and reinforcements the next day allowed the German forces to capture one end of the runway at Maleme. By 24 May, the Germans were being reinforced by air on a huge scale and on 1 June Crete surrendered. This book describes how desperately close the battle had been and explains how German losses so shocked the Führer that he never again authorised a major airborne operation.
Author: C. A. MacDonald
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780330490597
Category : Crete (Greece)
Languages : en
Pages : 350
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Book Description
A highly intriguing and moving account of this significant and wasteful battle. The invasion of Crete in 1941 should have been a textbook battle for General Kurt Students German troops, a swift and decisive blitzkrieg based on technical surprise. In fact it was based on a series of misjudgements which resulted in large and bloody losses and Crete became the graveyard of the German parachute troops.
Author: Antony Beevor
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 1848546351
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386
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Book Description
Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Antony Beevor vividly brings to life the epic struggles that took place in Second World War Crete - reissued with a new introduction. 'The best book we have got on Crete' Observer The Germans expected their airborne attack on Crete in 1941 - a unique event in the history of warfare - to be a textbook victory based on tactical surprise. They had no idea that the British, using Ultra intercepts, knew their plans and had laid a carefully-planned trap. It should have been the first German defeat of the war, but a fatal misunderstanding turned the battle round. Nor did the conflict end there. Ferocious Cretan freedom fighters mounted a heroic resistance, aided by a dramatic cast of British officers from Special Operations Executive.
Author: John Sadler
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783460539
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 382
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Book Description
Unlike the few other books written on the catastrophic fall of Crete in May 1941, this book concentrates on the military actions between the first German paratroop landing on 20 May and the final defeat and evacuation on 30 May. As well as studying the strengths, tactics, leadership and weapons of both sides, the book contains numerous graphic personal anecdotes by participants, be they German, Allied or Cretan. While the battle was a decisive defeat for the Allies, the Germans made a disastrous start. How they recovered from this so spectacularly is well covered.This is a worthy addition to the Battleground series being both a fine study of the conflict and an invaluable guide. The Author has visited Crete on many occasions and knows the ground well.
Author: Matthew Wright
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780908318162
Category : Operation Mercury, 1941
Languages : en
Pages : 120
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Book Description
Confronting the might of the Luftwaffe! New Zealand soldiers arrived in Crete during early May 1941, short of equipment after a hasty evacuation from Greece. Three weeks later Germany invaded from the air, and the fate of New Zealand
Author: Quentin Russell
Publisher: Pen and Sword Maritime
ISBN: 1526716011
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 302
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Book Description
This epic naval history examines seven pivotal Mediterranean conflicts, from the Battle of Salamis in the fifth century BC to the Siege of Malta during WWII. This book tells the story of the Mediterranean as a theater of war at sea. Historian Quentin Russell covers seven major battles or campaigns, each of which changed the balance of power and shape the course of history. Chronicling each battle in vivid detail, Russell also provides essential background, covering the history of naval power in the Mediterranean and the effect of the development of naval architecture and design on the outcomes. Readers will learn that the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 was the last major battle fought between galleys; the Battle of Navarino in 1827 was the last to be fought entirely by sailing ships; and the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941—where a young Duke of Edinburgh saw action—was the first operation to exploit the breaking of the Italian naval Enigma codes. The battles included are: Salamis (480 BC), Actium (31 BC), Lepanto (1571), the Nile (aka Aboukir Bay, 1798), Navarino (1827), Cape Matapan (1941), and the Siege of Malta (1940-42).
Author: Ken Otter
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1526714027
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221
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Book Description
On 22 May 1941 the cruiser HMS Gloucester (The Fighting 'G') was sunk by aircraft of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Crete. Of her crew of 807 men, only 83 survived to come home at the end of the War in 1945. It is unknown how many men went down with the ship and how many died in the sea clinging to rafts and flotsam during the many hours before the survivors were finally rescued by boats searching for German soldiers who were victims of a previous British naval attack. The fact that Allied destroyers were in the proximity and were not sent to the rescue was a result of poor naval communications and indecision by the local fleet commanders. Gloucester had been low on antiaircraft ammunition and her crew exhausted before being dispatched from the main fleet to search for the stricken destroyer HMS Greyhound. With only HMS Fiji as company, she came under attack from German bombers and when Gloucester's ammunition was finally exhausted she suffered several direct hits and was set ablaze from stem to stern and left out of control.This book looks at the ship's history and operational successes from her launching in 1937 to her final demise. It includes many firsthand accounts from the surviving crew and the author's painstaking research has revealed the awful truth about one of the Royal Navy's greatest disasters during World War Two.
Author: John Hall Spencer
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 178159466X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 387
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Book Description
This WW2 military history “combin[es] a look at the background to the battle . . . and the ground level memories of the participants with great skill.” (History of War.org) After two years’ extensive research, John Hall Spencer has written a thorough account of the political and military background to the German invasion of Crete and the bitter fighting that followed the first airborne assault on an island in history. Battle for Crete tells of confused negotiations between the British and Greek governments; the misunderstandings between Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet and commanders in the field; the near capture of the King of Greece; the lack of preparation by the defenders and the suppression of a critical post-battle report by General Wavell. There are vivid eyewitness accounts of the fighting both during the invasion and the subsequent campaign and ultimate retreat and evacuation. The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force’s contribution is well documented, as are the roles of the German air force, in this “close run” campaign fought with aggression by both sides.
Author: Jack Greene
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1805000721
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354
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Book Description
This superbly researched book gives a complete account of the war in the Mediterranean on, above and beneath the sea up until Italy's armistice in September 1943. Written with full access to Italian sources, it not only provides a detailed and fascinating narrative of the entire naval war, but also sets the individual actions fully in their strategic context for both the Axis and the Allies. Topics include: • The complex and distrustful relationship between the Italians and their German allies which culminated in open conflict after the Italian armistice in 1943. • The battle for Malta, and that island's vital strategic role threatening Axis supply lines to North Africa. • The exploits of the Italian human torpedoes of the X MAS flotilla, which threatened to change the balance of power in the Mediterranean. This book is essential reading for all those interested in one of the major naval theaters of the Second World War.
Author: Major James Bliss
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786250276
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221
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Book Description
On 20 May 1941, Generaloberst Kurt Student’s Luftwaffe XI Fliegerkorps conducted the first operational airborne invasion in history to seize Crete. Major-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg VC, 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, commanded the British forces defending the island. Freyberg, forewarned of the details of the invasion, possessed numerical superiority over the enemy, but was defeated within twelve days. Freyberg, later blamed for the defeat due to his perceived faulty defensive dispositions, was dealt a losing hand from the start. His troops consisted of those that could be rescued from the failed Greek Campaign and lacked sufficient weapons, communications, and transport to conduct the defense. Despite the best efforts of the Royal Navy, overwhelming Luftwaffe air superiority in the absence of the Royal Air Force isolated Crete and the relentless drive of the attacking German forces captured it. Poor tactical leadership by Freyberg’s subordinate commanders and their failure to prosecute his operational plan led to defeat by the barest margin. While a tactical loss, Freyberg’s destruction of the 7th Flieger Division resulted in Hitler never considering an operational airborne assault again. Freyberg, although accepting responsibility for the defeat, should not be held entirely culpable for the loss of Crete.
