[8] The German Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres, OKH) was preoccupied with the forthcoming invasion of the Soviet Union and was largely opposed to an attack on Crete.

[12] On 30 April 1941, Major-general Bernard Freyberg, who had been evacuated from mainland Greece with the 2nd New Zealand Division, was appointed commander-in-chief on Crete.

No Royal Air Force (RAF) units were based permanently on Crete until April 1941, but airfield construction took place, radar sites were built and stores delivered.

[15] In the space of a week 27,000 Commonwealth troops arrived from mainland Greece,[16] many lacking any equipment other than their personal weapons, and some not even those; 9,000 of them had been further evacuated when the battle commenced and 18,000 remained.

[17] With the pre-existing garrison of 14,000, this gave the Allies a total of 32,000 Commonwealth troops to face the German attack, supplemented by 10,000 Greeks.

Two Matilda II heavy tanks were in a gully immediately west of the landing strip and Campbell's headquarters was established on Hill D.[31] All of the Allied units were well dug in and well camouflaged.

[32] The entire assault on Crete was code-named "Operation Mercury" (Unternehmen Merkur) and was controlled by the 12th Army commanded by Field Marshal Wilhelm List.

[33] Before the invasion, the Germans conducted a bombing campaign against Crete and the surrounding waters to establish air superiority.

Sturm's plan was for the regiment's 3rd Battalion (2/III), reinforced by two artillery units, to drop approximately 2 mi (3 km) east of Rethymno and capture the town.

The static lines, which automatically opened the parachutes as the men jumped from the aircraft, were easily fouled and so each man wore a coverall over his webbing and equipment.

[39] The danger of fouling the static lines also required that German paratroopers leapt headfirst from their aircraft, and so were trained to land on all fours – rather than the usually recommended feet together, knees-bent posture – which resulted in a high incidence of wrist injuries.

Given the importance of landing close to one of the weapons containers, doctrine required jumps to take place from no higher than 400 feet (120 m) and in winds no stronger than 14 miles per hour (23 km/h).

[41] On the morning of 20 May two reinforced German regiments landed by parachute and assault glider at Maleme airfield and near the main port of Chania in the west of Crete.

Several Ju 52s which had been damaged by Allied ground fire in the morning crashed on landing and had to be towed clear of the runways.

instead a succession of easy targets for Allied ground fire flew low, straight and level past the Allied-held coastal ridge.

[51] They were steadily reinforced by fellow paratroopers who had been dropped as far away as Stavromenos, 2 mi (3 km) from their target,[38] and after fierce fighting the hill was captured.

A Greek reservist training battalion holding this area collapsed and the Germans were able to reach their weapons containers, regroup and march on Rethymno.

At around 18:00 they attempted to enter the town, but were beaten off by the Greek gendarmerie, supported by armed civilians,[31][54] who included several priests and a monk.

[55] The 2nd Parachute Regiment's headquarters section and attached company, almost 200 men, dropped into the middle of the Allied position and took heavy losses.

The subsequent Allied attack was successful after fierce close quarters fighting and the surviving Germans withdrew to a solidly constructed olive oil factory near the village of Stavromenos.

[57] The German 2/III Battalion renewed its attack on Rethymno on 21 May, but was beaten back and pinned down around Perivolia by the Greek gendarmerie from the town and armed civilians.

When Ju 52s flew over, the Allies ceased fire and displayed captured panels requesting resupply; they received weapons, ammunition and equipment.

[59] The Greek official history of the campaign states that in total on the 21st the Germans suffered 70 killed, 300 wounded and 200 taken prisoner.

The remnants of the 2/III Battalion hung on in an increasingly battered Perivolia,[60] where the Australians used captured signal panels to direct German bombing onto the paratroopers.

[68] The state of the bodies resulted in claims of the mutilation and torture of wounded paratroopers, which were picked up and broadcast by Nazi radio.

[69][70] Meanwhile, the Germans had won the battle for Maleme airfield,[71] captured the port town of Chania[72] and pushed the Allies there east and south.

[73] On 26 May, Freyberg informed General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief Middle East, that the Battle of Crete was lost.

[26] Several attempts were made to drop a message from aircraft on 27 and 28 May, but all failed[75] and Campbell remained ignorant of the overall situation.

[85][86] The German occupation of Crete was brutal: 3,474 Cretan civilians were executed by firing squad and many more were killed in reprisals and atrocities.

The commander of the German troops on Crete, Major-general Hans-Georg Benthack, unconditionally surrendered in Heraklion on 9 May 1945 at the end of the war.