More to Explore
People and Groups
Events
Related Topics
This Day in History
May 22
World War II
Nazis kill "unfit" people in East Prussia, 1940
On this day in 1940, a "special unit" carries out its mission-and murders more than 1,500 hospital patients in East Prussia. Mentally ill patients from…
Recommended Articles
-
Battle of Arnhem
In September 1944, after the victorious end of the Normandy campaign, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery devised a daring operation to open the way to the Ruhr by seizing a bridgehead north of the Rhine, at Arnhem.
-
Battle of Britain
In July 1940 Germany launched a series of intense air raids directed against Great Britain during World War II.
-
Battle of Coral Sea
The first air-sea battle in history, this battle resulted from Japanese efforts to make an amphibious landing at Port Moresby in southeast New Guinea.
-
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were black servicemen of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and constituted the first African-American flying unit in U.S. history.
In April 1941, Germany began a lightning campaign that conquered Yugoslavia and mainland Greece. But a great threat remained: Crete, an island from which the British could unsettle the Balkans and launch air attacks on the critical Romanian oil fields. Worried by that threat, Adolf Hitler accepted the plans of General Kurt Student for an airborne assault on the island. After German paratroopers captured the main airfields, Ju 52s would fly in reinforcements.
Despite decryptions of German radio traffic that a massive assault was coming against Crete's airfields, the local Allied commander deployed his troops to meet a seaborne invasion because he refused to believe that a major military operation would depend almost exclusively on airborne forces.
Nevertheless, the German attack almost failed. German paratrooper drops on May 20 were slaughtered; yet despite the enemy's desperate situation, the New Zealand battalion commander overlooking M[aacute]leme airfield withdrew his troops during the night. Able to airlift reinforcements to M[aacute]leme, the Germans pushed back the defenders until they withdrew.
By seizing Crete, the Germans protected their Balkan flank and Romanian oil fields. But paratrooper losses were so heavy that Hitler never authorized another major drop; on the other hand, the Anglo-Americans, impressed by Crete, established the great airborne armies of 1943 and 1944.
WILLIAMSON MURRAY
The Reader's Companion to Military History. Edited by Robert Cowley and Geoffrey Parker. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!
Shop HISTORY
-
WWII in HD DVD Set
The only people to see the war like this were the ones who lived it. Until now…
-
WWII in HD DVD Set
The only people to see the war like this were the ones who lived it. Until now… Own this best-selling series today!
$14.99
Buy Now -
Swamp People Troy Mask
Want the ultimate Big Head? The Swamp People Troy Mask is for Cajuns and Cajuns at heart.
$44.99
Buy Now
Email Updates
Keep up with the latest History shows, online features, special offers and more.
Sign upClassroom Study Guides
-
Vietnam in HD Teacher's Guide (PDF)
Classroom companion for the new HISTORY series Vietnam in HD.
