Paul Humphreys rambles on....

Paul Humphreys rambles on....
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Wednesday January 28, 2009

Crete - The Battle and the resistance

I got this book by Antony Beevor for Christmas and have just finished it. This is the fifth book of his I have read. Stalingrad and Berlin are the best, this book and the one he wrote with his wife Paris after the liberation and the one on the Spanish Civil war are just not quite as good. Back to this book the battle for Crete should have been the first battle the allies would beat the Germans. We had great intel from breaking the German transmissions but it all went horribly wrong. The commander on the island had a steadfast belief he was beating the Germans right up to our surrender. There was no decisive counter attack which would have broken the German offensive. It had started well as the Germany paratroopers came out of the sky they were massacred.

The book then covers the resistance with several Greek organisations and soldiers from the British SOE doing their best too deny the Germans ultimate control of the island. The brilliance of Beevor's books are the details he digs up. One fact is supplies for the resistance were dropped on the island using yellow parachutes. These made of silk were prized by the female population and were turned into bright yellow under garments! He really brings the whole story to life and makes it so interesting so it appears like it happened yesterday.

The final act, surrender seems to have been a strange event. A long stalemate could have resulted but eventually sense prevailed and the Germans surrendered.

( Jan 28 2009, 12:21:49 AM PST ) Permalink

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