While a number of German units had worn cuff titles as part of their regimental or corps insignia, this was the first World War II operation where a cuff title was awarded as a campaign award.

[3] After two weeks of fierce fighting, the defending Greek and British Commonwealth troops had either surrendered or been evacuated.

The cuff title was instituted separately by each of Germany's armed services: While the conditions of eligibility differed between the three services, the broad qualifying criteria were that, between 20 – 27 May 1941, a member of the German armed forces would have to: The cuff title was distributed for wear from mid-1943.

[2] The cuff title is 32mm wide and consists of a yellow-edged white cloth band, embroidered in yellow silk or cotton thread with the word KRETA flanked on both sides by a spray of acanthus leaves.

[5] While many awards were re-designed to remove the swastika, the original cuff title could be worn unaltered as it did not bear this symbol.