| |
| | Operation Mercury: The German Invasion of Crete, 20 May-1 June 1941 |
 | | The operation was the brainchild of Generalmajor Kurt Student, the commander, and fanatical proponent of the airborne arm (the Fallschirmjäger) who believed that the paratroopers could operate in their own right and not merely be used to support the Wehrmacht. |
 | | Operation Felix (the attack on Gibraltar) was put on hold, possibly until late 1942, due to Franco’s bland non-commitment to the Axis cause, but Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece) had become more important than ever to due the need to secure the right flank of the advance into the Soviet Union. |
 | | British operations on Crete were hampered by the poor shape many units found themselves in after the campaign in Greece, indecision, misunderstanding, a lack of information (at least when the fighting started) and poor communications in the chain of command, both on Crete itself from Crete to Egypt. |
| www.rickard.karoo.net /articles/battles_crete.html (6809 words) |
|