Maleme Crete Greece

Greetings,

Harry is determined to visit and revisit certain sights here on the island before we leave.  And of course his preference is... War / battle grounds / Forts etc..

So here we find ourselves in Maleme.  World War II.  Battle of Crete.

Maleme is best known as the place where German paratroopers invaded Crete in 1941. More than half of them lost their life in the attack and are buried in the German war cemetery located on the hills above Maleme.

At 8:00 am on 20 May, German paratroopers landed near Maleme airfield and the town of Chania. The 21st, 22nd, and 23rd New Zealand Battalions defended Maleme airfield and its direct surrounding area. The Germans suffered heavy casualties within the first hours of the invasion.

On invasion day the Assault Regiment, the élite of the invasion force, descended on Maleme. First came the gliders, probably forty of them, carrying about 400 men altogether (excluding the pilots). The glider troops, about to suffer 75 per cent casualties, were superbly equipped—whereas 15 Platoon, awaiting assault on the most westerly tip of the highly prized airfield, had grenades of jam tins filled with concrete and plugs of gelignite with fuses.

Soon after the gliders descended, in came the regiment's paratroops, about a dozen men spewing out of each fat Junkers 52 at heights of 300 to 600 feet, some firing as they descended.

Heavy casualties. 

Over 4,000 German soldiers are buried here on the hill overlooking Maleme airstrip. 

So we spent the day meandering around the hill, cemetery, and airstrip. 

Blessings,