FightingSteel1
Jul-21-2016, 21:19
Finally another edition this year, this being about the first airborne invasion in history. I think I've squashed all the bugs and typos, but let me know if I've gotten anything wrong.
Fallschirmjäger landings at Crete
Operation Mercury, the invasion of the island of Crete by Nazi Germany, started on the 20th of May, 1941. This invasion was notable for a few reasons, but by far the most important was the fact Operation Mercury was the first primarily airborne operation in history. On this day, thousands of Fallschirmjäger (Paratrooper) forces would drop out of the sky onto an island not ready to be relinquished by it's inhabitants.
Beginning
Use of airborne units was a new innovation in warfare at the start of WWII. Germany specifically started the Fallschirmjäger units after Hermann Goring observed the first airborne troops in the world in the Soviet Union (the VDV). The paratrooper unit was folded into the Luftwaffe, and new recruits were required to complete six jumps before earning their parachutists badge. Heading into WWII, the Fallschirmjäger comprised one division, with three regiments and supporting air assets. Their commander throughout the war was General Kurt Student.
Crete
The island of Crete is a small landmass 160 miles in length, located to the South of Greece. It is the largest of the Greek islands, and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean. With the invasion of England postponed (Operation Seelowe), the Germans opted for a different strategy to isolate England. By strengthing their own (and the Italians) hold over the Mediterranean, England would be cut off from Asia and may be further forced to negotiate. Crete provided a terrific port for the Royal Navy to operate from, and for the RAF to strike at Romanian oil fields supplying Nazi Germany.
A British garrison was located on Crete, and after the fall of Greece to Italy, British soldiers were evacuated to Crete to defend the island. After the chaos of men shifting to Crete from Greece, General Bernard Freyberg, a WWI veteran, was given command of these defenders.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/strip.jpg
--Photo credit Bundesarchiv
First Major Operation
Kurt Student and Alexander Lohr (Luftwaffe General) would come up with the winning plan for the operation. While Lohr wished to drop in one massive paratrooper concentration, Student wished to drop in at least seven targeted areas. A compromise was decided on, in which two drops, focusing on the city of Canea and a vital airfield at Maleme would be attempted. The initial German force would number nearly 8,000 men, with supporting units and machinery. Most of the force was airborne paratroopers, but there was also a glider unit that would help secure the airfield. In addition to the airborne/glider groups, thousands of mountain troops were attached to the operation. They would also be ferried in by air assets, but some would arrive by sea.
Unexpected by the Germans, Crete by the time of the operation (it had been postponed by several factors, chiefly assembling the required resources to conduct the invasion) had become a much more formidable target. German commanders (chiefly Wilhelm Canaris) badly underestimated troop strength on the island, not accounting for any Greek soldiers being evacuated there after the recent fall of Greece. It was the opinion of German military intelligence that the citizens would be welcoming to the Axis invaders, with Lohr being convinced of a fairly easy victory requiring only two divisions of strength.
On the 20th of May, 1941, Fallschirmjäger soldiers dropped out of Ju 52s over the island. Defending the area around the Maleme airfield were actually New Zealanders, three battalions strong. An ominous sign for the Germans, initial losses were heavy. Over 400 (out of around 600) men in one battalion were lost on the first day. The glider troops fared no better, getting hit immediately upon landing by Greek troops defending a nearby town. Some groups landed in the wrong area, and were contained by defending forces. In fact, Cretan military cadets and local police assisted the defense against the invasion. The airfield would not fall easily as the Germans had hoped.
A second wave was landed with support by Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica aircraft in the Rethymno area. The attack was hardly a surprise through, and local defenders pushed back against the landed troops. The Germans were able to secure a nearby army barracks, only to be sent back out again. The Luftwaffe went as far as to drop leaflets over Crete, warning of “dire” consequences if the defenders of the island did not surrender. By that night, none of the Germans objectives outlined in Operation Mercury had been taken.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/landing.jpg
--Opening day landings, photo credit Bundesarchiv
21 May
During the night, the allied defenders made a critical mistake. The New Zealanders withdrew from the airfield at Maleme in the mistaken belief that elements on the western side (the forces were divided between and Eastern and Western defense lines) had been overrun. Meanwhile, the Western forces were forced to withdraw in the morning since the Eastern group had disappeared. This blunder handed the airfield to the German forces unopposed. A later counterattack was mounted against the airstrip, but due to delays it went off during the later part of the day. The attack was repulsed due to daylight operations by the Luftwaffe.
The day wasn't without success however for the Allies. The night of the 21st, a force of landing craft escorted by Italian Navy units approached the island with 2,000 German mountain soldiers. In what seemed to be an incredible stroke of bad luck/coincidence (it wasn't, more on that later), the reinforcements came upon a large Royal Navy Cruiser/Destroyer group. Despite the overwhelmed Italian escorts best efforts, the troopships were decimated. Some 2/3rds of the ships were sunk and several hundred men lost. It actually could have been worse, but the defenders were able to protect the convoy just enough to allow some of the vessels to turn back. But virtually no one ended up making it to Crete to reinforce the attack.
See Part 2....
Fallschirmjäger landings at Crete
Operation Mercury, the invasion of the island of Crete by Nazi Germany, started on the 20th of May, 1941. This invasion was notable for a few reasons, but by far the most important was the fact Operation Mercury was the first primarily airborne operation in history. On this day, thousands of Fallschirmjäger (Paratrooper) forces would drop out of the sky onto an island not ready to be relinquished by it's inhabitants.
Beginning
Use of airborne units was a new innovation in warfare at the start of WWII. Germany specifically started the Fallschirmjäger units after Hermann Goring observed the first airborne troops in the world in the Soviet Union (the VDV). The paratrooper unit was folded into the Luftwaffe, and new recruits were required to complete six jumps before earning their parachutists badge. Heading into WWII, the Fallschirmjäger comprised one division, with three regiments and supporting air assets. Their commander throughout the war was General Kurt Student.
Crete
The island of Crete is a small landmass 160 miles in length, located to the South of Greece. It is the largest of the Greek islands, and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean. With the invasion of England postponed (Operation Seelowe), the Germans opted for a different strategy to isolate England. By strengthing their own (and the Italians) hold over the Mediterranean, England would be cut off from Asia and may be further forced to negotiate. Crete provided a terrific port for the Royal Navy to operate from, and for the RAF to strike at Romanian oil fields supplying Nazi Germany.
A British garrison was located on Crete, and after the fall of Greece to Italy, British soldiers were evacuated to Crete to defend the island. After the chaos of men shifting to Crete from Greece, General Bernard Freyberg, a WWI veteran, was given command of these defenders.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/strip.jpg
--Photo credit Bundesarchiv
First Major Operation
Kurt Student and Alexander Lohr (Luftwaffe General) would come up with the winning plan for the operation. While Lohr wished to drop in one massive paratrooper concentration, Student wished to drop in at least seven targeted areas. A compromise was decided on, in which two drops, focusing on the city of Canea and a vital airfield at Maleme would be attempted. The initial German force would number nearly 8,000 men, with supporting units and machinery. Most of the force was airborne paratroopers, but there was also a glider unit that would help secure the airfield. In addition to the airborne/glider groups, thousands of mountain troops were attached to the operation. They would also be ferried in by air assets, but some would arrive by sea.
Unexpected by the Germans, Crete by the time of the operation (it had been postponed by several factors, chiefly assembling the required resources to conduct the invasion) had become a much more formidable target. German commanders (chiefly Wilhelm Canaris) badly underestimated troop strength on the island, not accounting for any Greek soldiers being evacuated there after the recent fall of Greece. It was the opinion of German military intelligence that the citizens would be welcoming to the Axis invaders, with Lohr being convinced of a fairly easy victory requiring only two divisions of strength.
On the 20th of May, 1941, Fallschirmjäger soldiers dropped out of Ju 52s over the island. Defending the area around the Maleme airfield were actually New Zealanders, three battalions strong. An ominous sign for the Germans, initial losses were heavy. Over 400 (out of around 600) men in one battalion were lost on the first day. The glider troops fared no better, getting hit immediately upon landing by Greek troops defending a nearby town. Some groups landed in the wrong area, and were contained by defending forces. In fact, Cretan military cadets and local police assisted the defense against the invasion. The airfield would not fall easily as the Germans had hoped.
A second wave was landed with support by Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica aircraft in the Rethymno area. The attack was hardly a surprise through, and local defenders pushed back against the landed troops. The Germans were able to secure a nearby army barracks, only to be sent back out again. The Luftwaffe went as far as to drop leaflets over Crete, warning of “dire” consequences if the defenders of the island did not surrender. By that night, none of the Germans objectives outlined in Operation Mercury had been taken.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/vipe155/CondensedHistory/landing.jpg
--Opening day landings, photo credit Bundesarchiv
21 May
During the night, the allied defenders made a critical mistake. The New Zealanders withdrew from the airfield at Maleme in the mistaken belief that elements on the western side (the forces were divided between and Eastern and Western defense lines) had been overrun. Meanwhile, the Western forces were forced to withdraw in the morning since the Eastern group had disappeared. This blunder handed the airfield to the German forces unopposed. A later counterattack was mounted against the airstrip, but due to delays it went off during the later part of the day. The attack was repulsed due to daylight operations by the Luftwaffe.
The day wasn't without success however for the Allies. The night of the 21st, a force of landing craft escorted by Italian Navy units approached the island with 2,000 German mountain soldiers. In what seemed to be an incredible stroke of bad luck/coincidence (it wasn't, more on that later), the reinforcements came upon a large Royal Navy Cruiser/Destroyer group. Despite the overwhelmed Italian escorts best efforts, the troopships were decimated. Some 2/3rds of the ships were sunk and several hundred men lost. It actually could have been worse, but the defenders were able to protect the convoy just enough to allow some of the vessels to turn back. But virtually no one ended up making it to Crete to reinforce the attack.
See Part 2....