Battle of Crete ITALIANS DEFEAT ANZACS

REGINA DIVISION LANDS BEHIND ENEMY LINES!!! 27 May 1941- With the German advance stalled, a brigade of the ’Regina’ Division, protected by the RM destroyer ’Crispi’ and the Spica-class destroyer-escorts ’Lira’, ’Lince’, and ’Libra’, land behind British lines at Sitia despite ENIGMA Code and the presence of HMS Ajax, HMS Dido, HMS Kimberley and HMS Hotspur, forcing the British 14th Infantry Brigade to abandon Herakleion. ( Italy At War Day By Day: 1940-1945) “When the German attack around Galatas stalled and the attackers suffered high losses, on 26 May the Wehrmacht operation staff requested Mussolini to send army units to Crete and thus take some of the pressure off the German forces there. Mussolini immediately agreed, and two days later an Italian regiment, reinforced with armour and artillery, landed near Sitia in the eastern part of the island. By the end of the month these formations reached Ierapetra on the south coast without encountering significant resitance.“ (Germany and the Second World War, Volume 3, Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, p. 549, Oxford University Press, 1995) “Also during the night of 24th-25th, in view of indications of a possible attempted landing at Sitia in the east by Italian forces from the Dodecanese, Ajax, Dido, Kimberley and Hotspur swept Kaso Strait, but sighted nothing.“ (Australia in the war of 1939-1945, George Odgers, John Herington, Douglas Gillison, p. 350, Australian War Memorial, 1957) “This decision came as a surprise to the garrison holding Herakleion, where Greek and British troops helped by the Cretan men and women formed into a militia had beaten off every attack and felt confident of holding out indefinitely. What the garrison of Herakleion did not know was that Italian troops from the Dodecanese were landing from boats in Sitia Bay on the east of the island and that it was only a matter of time before Herakleion would be completely surrounded and cut off.“ (Wind of Freedom: The History of the Invasion of Greece by the Axis Powers, 1940-1941, Sir Compton Mackenzie. p. 236, Chatto & Windus, 1943) “At Rethymnon, FJR had lost 550 men dead, not including the 2nd Battalion, which was employed at Heraklion. In all, some 500 men were taken prisoner, but all of them were later released.“ (Jump Into Hell: German Paratroopers in World War II, Franz Kurowsk, p. 162, Stackpole Books, 2010) “To support the German attack on Crete, Italian submarine Nereide was positioned north of Crete, while submarines Tricheco, Uarsciek, Fisalia, Topazio, Adua, Dessie, Malachite, Squalo, Smeraldo and Sirena patrolled between Crete, Alexandria, Egypt and Sollum, Egypt.“ (World War II Sea War, Volume 3: The Royal Navy is Bloodied in the Mediterranean, Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, p. 505, Lulu Press, 2012) “Together with Italian aircraft, Richthofen’s formations thus attacked targets in the middle and eastern sectors (primarily near Rethimnon and Heraklion), but, contrary to plan, the transport aircraft did not follow them immediately. As a result, the paratroops of the second wave were often dropped unprotected and, because of the large dust-clouds at the Greek airfields, with considerable delays.“ (Germany and the Second World War, Volume 3, Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, p. 546, Oxford University Press, 1995) “A single Italian Kingfisher scored precision hits on the lead enemy destroyer, HMS Juno, which exploded and sank southeast of the Aegean island, allowing German naval forces to make their landngs unopposed at sea.“ (The Axis Air Forces: Flying in Support of the German Luftwaffe: Flying in Support of the German Luftwaffe, Frank Joseph, p. 33, ABC-CLIO, 2011) “Italian bombers damaged the destroyer HMS Imperial (later scuttled) and damaged the cruiser HMS Ajax on 28 May.“ (Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini’s Wars, 1935-1943, Patrick Cloutier, p. 71, Lulu Press, 2013 ) “On 29 May German aircraft badly damaged the cruisers Dido and Orion (causing 540 casualties among the thousand soldiers crowded aboard Orion) and crippled Hereward, which was likewise loaded with troops. She was later scuttled in the face of an attack by Italian MAS boats.“ (Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940-1945, Vincent O’Hara, pp. 122-123, Naval Institute Press, 2009)