The German airborne assault of Crete, although successful in terms of conquest, came at a terrific cost in lives.

The battle began on the morning of 20th May 1941. Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete where Greeks and Allied forces with Cretan civilians defending the island. After only one day of fighting, the Germans suffered appalling casualties and none of their military objectives had been achieved. The next day, through miscommunication and failure of the Allied commanders to grasp the situation, Maleme Airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans. This enabled the Germans to fly in reinforcements and overwhelm the Allied forces. The battle lasted about ten days before the allies surrendered.

The battle was unprecedented in three respects: it was the first mainly airborne invasion; it was the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from the deciphered German Enigma code; and it was the first time invading German troops encountered mass military resistance from a civilian population.

Source: Hulton Press, Clifford Makins and Frank Bellamy.