Last Spring I did a presentation to my local Military History group about the Crete Campaign of 1941 and figured that since I now have the time I would put something up here about it as well because I find the whole campaign to be a comedy of errors by both sides in this misguided, ill-conceived, and poorly executed excuse for a battle. First, we should examine the strategic situation in May of 1941.
In May 1941 England had been run out of Greece with its tail between its legs and was using Crete as both a staging ground for evacuation and they were hoping like hell they could hold it and stop the Mediterranean, or at least the eastern part from turning into a German Lake. For their part, Germany did not know what to do. They were in the last stages of planning the attack on Stalin’s Russia set to commence in June but in the meantime they had all these troops hanging out in Greece with nothing to do. The possession of Crete would have conferred no strategic or even operational advantage to the Germans as the British still controlled Malta and the British navy still controlled the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Periodic World Craziness Update # 28
The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Ukraine crisis: Police storm main Kiev ‘Maidan’ protest camp: The question on everyone’s mind: Is this the start of the Ukrainian Civil War? I would guess no but still put the likelihood of Ukraine descending into civil war around 50%. It would appear that the president is hoping he can wait the protesters out. A hope that appears misplaced since the coldest part of the winter is about over and warmer weather is on the horizon. The return of warm weather will actually bring out more protesters and if eh fails to dislodge the protesters now he … More after the Jump…