52 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was another unit in this area ( WO 169/1640). MNBDO records can be found in series ADM 202. Suda Bay was defended by a mixed Allied force including the Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation (MNBDO), a Royal Marine outfit. Heraklion was defended by a British-Australian-Greek force under 14 Infantry Brigade (the original Creforce), and events at the airfield there were recorded in the 2 Battalion Black Watch war diary. Catalogue ref: AIR 23/6125Įlsewhere the Allies initially held the towns, harbours and airfields. Allied and civilian resistance was much stronger than expected, and by the first night of the battle the Germans had gained little except a precarious foothold at Maleme. The invasion began on 20 May, with airborne landings along the coast between Maleme and Heraklion, backed by heavy air attacks. AIR 23/6110 includes translations of captured documents from Operation Mercury. Two errors in the German plan were a significant under-estimate of the number of Allied troops on the island and the expectation that the Cretan civilians would not resist, and these mistakes contributed to their heavy losses during the invasion. Some Italian forces were included in the operation as well. The Germans planned to lead the invasion with their airborne troops, with men from a mountain infantry division following up, though the plan depended entirely on gaining control of at least one of the airfields. The first part of this blog outlined the British preparations for the occupation and defence of Crete, as well as the many relevant sources available at The National Archives.
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