[ProtectOurFreedom]

It never really occurred to me that Germany didn't use airborne invasions in WW II and that this was their first and last big one. It's obvious now that it's pointed out here.

German paratroopers land during the Battle of Crete

Crashed German glider with two of its occupants lying dead (photo from Imperial War Museum)

[Red6]

Nice article and write up.

[Fiji Hill]

The Germans also used airborne troops in their attack on the Low Countries in 1940.

[Burma Jones]

The Crete diversion also delayed Barbarossa, which may have contributed to the German failure to take Moscow.

[SAMWolf]

The Germans would have been better served to have invaded Malta rather than Crete

[SJSAMPLE]

Having spend a fair amount of time on Crete, launching missiles into the Meditteranean, I’m convinced that 90% of the casualties were suffered landing on the ROCKS. There is no soil on Crete.

This is where the Germans were first found to be experimenting with amphetamines on their combat troops.

[RitchieAprile]

Not their first AB op. Read about the assault on the Low Countries a year earlier.

[AppyPappy]

Britain tried to support Greece because Greece was whooping the Italians. When the Germans jumped in, it was a lost cause but GB kept vacillating on what to do. In the end, it may have saved the war because Germany postponed Directive 21 and didn’t reach Moscow.

[T-Bird45]

In my US Army service in West Germany, I became acquainted with the older German civilian who ran the US military rifle range that was just up the road from our kaserne. He told stories of his time as a fallschirmjaeger and the invasion of Crete. He told how surprised they were by the fierceness of the resistance by the Cretan citizens. His survival there effectively saved him from other, more hazardous, war duties because they were kept on the island to hold it from being re-taken by the Allies.

He was also a great shot with just about everything and especially enjoyed when we brought our M1911A1's to the range for qualification. He would challenge all on who was the better shot with the old John Browning design.