Just come back from holiday in Crete and whilst I was there went over to have a look at Maleme airfield where the invasion of Crete was arguably won and lost. Even after reading Antony Beevors book on the nvasion I was surprised at how close Hill 107 was to the airstrip and how easily the airfield could have been defended. Hill 107 is now the resting place of most German personnel from the period 1941 to 1945 although the vast majority are dated 20/21st May 1941. The graves are situated on two terraces in long rows with each grave marked by a plaque giving two names and dates of birth and death (most 20/21st May 1941). The rows are covered by some type of Mediterranean plant which flowers in red and yellow. In the first photo you can see the airstrip running between the trees just to the left of the cross. As the guns and tanks were situated further down the hill they were almost point blank range. As a small additional point of interest there is still a bridge built by the Germans in situ crossing the ravine of the Tavronitis river bed at yeh west end of the runway.
The beauty of the view and the place itself makes one wonder why us humans so often take it as a personal matter to wreck God's creation as thoroughly as possible... It is hard to believe this place was one day a hellish cauldron, full of pain and death.
Can anyone let me know if my pics are OK. On my computer, if I click on the photo it enlarges, but I don't know if this works on remote computers. If they cannot enlarge please let me know how I put a decent size pic on the site. Thanks
My Father was a Bofors gunner at Maleme Airfield with 156Bty 52LAA RA. With the 22nd NZ Battalion they were short of everything tools, ammunition, even spades to dig trenches. Even guns were taken out of damaged aircraft and tied to trees. I am not a fan of Anthony Beevors book, the war diaries of the 22nd give you a better feel for the Battle of Crete. See Link 22Battalion 2NZEF
Jonathan, just re-reading a letter my Great-Great Uncle Len Diamond wrote after Crete, he describes taking out a landing "Condor" with a German 3 inch mortar at Maleme. "The first day our platoon got hold of a Jerry 3in mortar besides a large number of shells which we used to good affect[sic] on the drome. Once we scored a direct hit on a Condor that was just landing,. Needless to say it went up in flames. The German three inch mortar is a deadly weapon having a range of 2700 yards compared to ours of 1700 yards. Used by a specialised mortar crew it can cause serious trouble." I suspect Len's use of "Condor" is in a similar vein to every German tank being a "Tiger".
