Battle of Crete

After the Nazi occupation of Greece in April 1941, some 27,000 British and Commonwealth troops were evacuated to Crete to reinforce the garrison of three infantry battalions. Ill-equipped Greek forces were also brought in. After the Nazis blitzed the airfields May 19, the few remaining serviceable RAF aircraft were flown out, giving the Nazis almost total command of the air. On May 20, German parachutists and glider-borne troops, commanded by Generalleutnant Kurt Student, landed in large numbers, established a foothold against fierce resistance and captured Maleme airfield by May 21, the turning point of the battle.

German aircraft streamed in with reinforcements, while fighters pounded the defenders from the air. By May 28 the battle was lost. The Royal Navy took off 14,900 men, leaving behind another 18,000. Some 11,000 Germans were killed in the bitter fighting or when their convoys were sunk by the Navy. Although the first large-scale invasion by airborne forces in history was a stunning success for the Germans, they never attempted to repeat it in the course of the war.