Crete: The Battle and the Resistance (History and Warfare) Book

This is a good book by the Beevs. It almost reads like two books: The first is part is the invasion itself and the 2nd part is the guerrilla campaign against the Germans. Both parts of the book are important to understand but I found the actual battle for Crete much more interesting than the guerrilla campaign. The latter was sort of an anticlimax.

The invasion for the German airborne was nearly a disaster. I’m still trying to understand how the British didn’t happen to win. They referred to shooting the Luftwaffe airborne troops as “Turkey hunting.” It is amazing how the British have a tendency to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Hitler was hesitant to approve the invasion plan and this time his instincts were correct. The Germans would never try an all airborne campaign again. I’ll give the first part of the book, the invasion of Crete by the Luftwaffe a 5 and the second part of the book, the guerrilla campaign a 3 and a 4 overall.

Happy reading!