Battle of Crete | Greece, May 1941
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- čas přidán 7. 05. 2020
- With the Greek mainland captured, Crete becomes Germany's next target. We show you the tactics of the German operation during the battle of Crete as well as the difficulties the defenders faced and the mistakes that led to their defeat.
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Archive: National Archives and Records Administration - ARC 40112, LI 226-B-6034
#BattleOfCrete #Paratroopers #AirborneOperation
Brought to you on VE Day. Please let us know what you think about the 3D animations. Are they good or awful? If you'd like to support our work you can find some cool merchandise in our teespring shop: teespring.com/stores/world-war-ii-epic-battles
Τhe αnimations are awesome keep it up!!!
It's great! keep it up! you are doing an excellent job!
Love Them!
Pretty good!
Excellent work!
I was stationed in Germany from 87-90. I met a German WW2 Paratrooper named Carlos. He rana tile business in Ortenberg. He spoke fluent English. I asked him how he came to speak such good English. He said,"2 years in a English POW camp." He participated in Crete. His Platoon machine gunner, Max Scheming, the heavyweight champion.
In Lahr?
First of all, excellent videos of the battles you are covering. I've been to Souda/Chiana and to the allied cemetary in the area. Really enjoyed the time there as well as our time in Crete.
You really have raised the bar!
Thanks man.
100% correct.
Thank you for this post!
Thanks for this great video on Unternehmen Merkur. The animations are good, keep up your good work.
Awesome video! You deserve more views!!!
Amazing video! Your videos are really good, keep up the good work and you will be rewarded for sure!
Thank you although I doubt it. The WW2 channel has pretty much all the audience now.
Please keep making videos. Your videos are by far THE BEST battle breakdown videos on youtube, as far as I can tell. Keep with it and the views will come. Post these to reddit -- your videos are legitimately the best format and I'd honestly pay 5 dollars for each video, that's how good they are. Make a patreon, I'll sign up.
Thank you for your kind words. It's the reason I decided to make videos. I was tired of what was in the market. There is already a patreon which you can find on the banner of the channel (bottom right) however I must be honest and tell you that currently I don't post on it as often as I did and with the pandemic going many content creators have seen their support decreasing. That said, I have set the patreon to not charge my supporters for months in which I don't upload a new video (out of respect of the present situation) but you'll be asked to pay your first pledge in order to become a subscriber. Every cent is saved in order to finance the next video (every video costs me an average $50, software excluded). I also plan to make a feature length documentary which will be for free only to patreon supporters of a certain level.
Maybe I should set up a subscriber star for people who prefer to make a one-time donation?
Lmao you uploaded a video on my birthday, nice. Finally something to watch while in quarantine, good job by the way
Happy birthday then :D
Great content! Keep it comming!
Quality of this video is really good ! I hope your sub count will rise significantly !
Great video!
Lived outside Chania. Cretans pronounced it as Hania no “c”. Absolutely great people and food.
Totally agree! I’ve operated out of Souda Bay with the USN several times and loved Chania.
My name is from hania. Why it spelled canea i will never know.
But i do know this. My gr8 gr8 gr8 grandfather fought in the war, and brought home the name for me and my dad. And the SS lost the war... we are proud New Zealanders.
You should have mentioned the heroic battle of 42nd Street, the successful counterattacks at Rethynmio by the Australians and Iraklion by the British and Australians, and the heroic stand by the Greek 8th Regiment made of military cadets, in Prison Valley, that enabled the Allies to retreat to Sfakia. The Cretan resistance was one of the one successful and brutal of the war with the support of the British SOE and led to the kidnapping of General Kreipe.
It deserves its own video. I'm aware of it.
And New Zealand regiments fought hard too.
@@brendamelton7847 The Kiwi soldiers did fight bravely. Pity their leaders stuffed it up.
@@ww2-epicbattles I'm sending this abduction to the guys at Sabaton.
Wait my mom's surname is sfakianakis...... sfakia .... intresting
Great!Hope your channel can be better and better!
I think this is one of the most underrated/underappreciated history channels on CZcams
It is.
Im writing an essay on this at the moment. Thank you so much for this video
If you need sources check the online New Zealand history archive which is very good. And you can also find a an article on warfare history network.
@@ww2-epicbattles I live in Welligton New Zealand😁 I can go to the Archive in person. Thanks for the help
if i remember correctly the evacuation of hrakleio was like second mini Dunkirk British forces managed to evacuate while some Greek unit defended them , just like the France forces in Dunkirk . Anyways this video possible the best one in youtube about the battle of Crete , this includes some greek documentaries about the battle
Got a source for your bullshit story?
love your vids
Amazing videos keep this up! Hoping you focus on Canadian engagements someday
Good work
We have some reports of Greek Farmers trying to stab the German Paratroooers as they decent with Pitchforks XD
They stab them and killed many Germans , where’s the funny part on that ?
My great grandpa did that
@@emololasdf5492 you are right...
But where does it say that its fine for the germs to kill jews, greeks, and all nations to rebuild a empire that was torn down for a reason? Sure, war cannot be avoided, but when it comes to life, ppl wont stand there and let killings take place... an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth... the SS were stopped.
@@caneanukunuku9158
It's true... like Dresden.
Hundred of Thousands died in a firestorm. Only civilians.
@@Stcddot
Great hero. Probably from the back.
Well done.
also i have to thank you for making these ideos about the greek campaign
Great video with excellent graphics depicting the progress of the battle. I’d like to have seen more reference to how the Commonwealth defenders were provided detailed Ultra intelligence before the battle and also the mauling inflicted by the Luftwaffe on the Royal Navy.
I so much wanted to include both of those factors to the video but it was becoming too long. I could make a separate video about the naval battles around Crete though. Or a video dedicated to Ultra in general.
@@ww2-epicbattles both of those ideas would be fantastic! 👍🏻👍🏻 Keep up the great content!
Since you are using modern maps maybe try to exclude borders since they make everything more difficult
Ein wahnsinnig guter Kanal !
Can you make a playlist of these videos with historical time line?
The British have always been masters of sea evacuation, from Corunna 1809, Dunkirk and now crete. and many more.
Might have something to do with their navy and controlling both entrances to the Mediterranean🤔
@@benh5366 thay are also master of coming back and wining.
@@benh5366 dunkirk and corunna are not in the mediterranean
Dean Williams I was talkin bout Crete
@@deanwilliams4365 Only when they cry for help and others do the hard lifting.
suggestion for the future greek and yugoslav resistance operation , the attack on gothic line and the invasion of the Manchuria in 1945 ( that is pretty much how north korea was born )
This was the best layout of the battle, and the British led fuck up was well explained - it led to the loss the island while the Brits had overwhelming superior forces
British on Crete had no fighter planes, half a dozen tanks, and the battered remains of two infantry divisions minus most of their equipment.
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but unlike Allied paratroopers the Germans dropped w/o their rifles/sub-machine guns. They had pods they had to get to, to arm up then form up.
Meanwhile, the Allies couldn’t seem to get everything right with their airborne invasion in 1944 and ‘45...
Napoleon I Bonaparte
I note that your comment has been commended by the author of this video. I’m puzzled, because the Germans never dropped paratroops on anything other than a negligible scale ever again. Why ? The answer is simple. They were decimated. The success of the invasion was heavily influenced by the German air forces, as the balance of forces clearly shown at the beginning of this video.
Huge opportunity missed by the Allies!
25K subscribers wil be sooner than you think.
Narrator voice seems familiar...is it that guy from Simple History?
yes
Do operation grapeshot spring offensive in Italy 1945 ww2
You earned a sub from me
hey there Tom Bombadil. Thank you. Cast some spells if you can to attract more new subscribers ;)
Even though my grandfather was Greek he fought in the German side as a volunteer in the battle of Crete he did it beacuse he was anti British that's what he told me but he doesn't talk much about it
This is very interesting. The number of Greeks in German fighting units was almost non-existent. Very rare indeed.
Sounds like bullshit.
It is one of amazing Battles and this battle teached in military schools as a plan to avoid.....Greeks tought the art of War again.
Greeks? Where are the greeks in this video?
@@BudMasta en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crete#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Crete%20%28German%3A%20Luftlandeschlacht%20um%20Kreta%2C,Nazi%20Germany%20began%20an%20airborne%20invasion%20of%20Crete.
don't be ignorant
@@BudMasta these small boxes whith white cross and blue hind-ground are Greek units Einstein...
you can find the number of these soldiers on my first link.
“The word heroism I am afraid does not render the least of those acts of self-sacrifice of the Greeks, which were the defining factor in the victorious outcome of the common struggle of the nations, during WWII, for the human freedom and dignity. If it were not for the bravery of the Greeks and their courage, the outcome of WWII would be undetermined.”
Winston Churchill's statement at the House of Commons
Are u the same dude who runs that animated history channel?
no. we hire the same voice actor.
make more videos
Imagine if there was game that was so realistic like this that you have to watch your logistics and u can naval invade and u have to send air support and u can zoom in to see like the divisions and such like ur edit
Heart of Iron 4 ?
Nebo8 hoi 4 isn’t realistic tho
Hell let loose is good but it's infantry squad based.
I mean like with like these nato symbols and such
A strategy game
Crete indeed proved to be crucial as a defensible position. The Balkans were far more favorable for the possible invasion by the allies in the future. Instead, the allies got stuck in the narrow front in Italy, without a major breakthrough toward the Reich until the end of war.
A Victory throw away, by Freyburg.
Why were modern maps used?
Because high quality 40's maps aren't available.
Why not Battle of Berlin today? But good work☺️
The Battle of Crete it may be argued that it was a very shallow, pyrrhic victory. Over 6,000 Germans were killed or wounded and the overall casualties they suffered were over 25% of the forces they committed. This was the highest percentage casualties suffered by the German Army in a single action up to that point in the war.
The Allied troops had little heavy equipment and the Germans had complete air superiority.
“In some ways, the fate of Crete was decided before the battle began.The air assets available to the Luftwaffe *gave the Germans a thirty-to-one numerical superiority in aircraft over the Allies…*
*….Instead of a quick, decisive battle, the Germans were locked into a ferocious fight for the island. Allied units performed heroically given their strength in numbers but inferiority in equipment. The Allies succeeded in inflicting heavy casualties on the Luftwaffe despite the fact that the Germans had the initiative, used elite troops, and possessed air superiority.“*
Battle of Crete: Hitler’s Airborne Gamble. Biank, A. Maria Major
The Germans were on the verge of pulling out. The paratroopers were literally being shot up. Freyberg and a New Zealand unit were supposed to be protecting an airfield but took a wrong turn as they were more worried about Germans coming from the sea not the air. This allowed the Germans to capture the airfield and land more troops.
Psychologically it was a Nazi defeat: The Germans who fought in Crete or were engaged in its planning were totally demoralized. They were instructed by their superiors not to discuss the battle with other units in the future.
Significantly, the Battle of Crete totally altered the course of future battle plans in the Eastern Mediterranean. Hitler was so stunned by the losses that he chose not to use the Herman Goering Division as a parachute unit again. Not having this division available as a parachute weapon would turn out to be devastating for Germany’s war efforts in the Middle East.
General Kurt Student would dub Crete "the graveyard of the German paratroopers" and a "disastrous victory."
Hitler, believing airborne forces to be a weapon of surprise which had now lost that advantage, concluded that the days of the airborne corps were over and directed that paratroopers should be employed as ground-based troops in subsequent operations in the Soviet Union.
The Germans didn’t take 6,000 casualties in the invasion of Crete, that’s the number of men lost in the entire Balkan campaign. It’s also estimated that Germany took around 6,000 casualties in the invasion of Norway, Norwegians being the ones that lasted longer than France despite not being mobilised.
Also, Hitler didn’t plan the invasion of Crete
Make videos about Battle for Hungary 1945
that's a very nice topic. Siege of Budapest.
Great video but I think that you could say something about the significant participation of the local population in the battles...
We dont include war crimes in our videos.
@@ww2-epicbattles war crimes?
Patrick Cossack he probably means the resistance of the local people shooting down or stabbing the nazi parachuters. But it was a war. People were bravely resisting with everything they had instead of fleeing in horror or giving their country without a fight like the Scandinavians did. Calling a brave resistance by everyone soldier or not a “war crime” is a hasty description and it’s unfortunate.
It is amazing how many battles the Englanders lost in WW2 and seems that they could never take on the Germans until the American arrived
Only if you ignore the 8th Armies victories ìn North Africa an entire year before the yanks stepped foot in the place
One issue. Why do you use modern maps in WW2 video?
because it's difficult to find good quality 40's maps.
@@ww2-epicbattles Yeah it is hard, especially for specific areas or time periods
Like Norway, HOW did the Germans win this one?
: )
British forces had zero fighter planes, half a dozen tanks and the two battered infantry divisions minus most of their equipment. Kasserine Pass 1942. American troops were fully equipped, had plenty of tanks, and air cover. They had better intel than Freyberg. But the Yanks had their arses handed to them on s plate by German and ITALIAN forces. Freyberg was Napoleon compared to the American commanders.
Nothing about the cretan civilians who asked for weapons from the english, got nothing and fought with knifes and stones. Those ppl where the heroes
17000 prisoners... Taken by the Germans?
O
your chart at 2:55 n is incorrect. the germans landed by sea tanks as well as the italians landed tanks by sea. also you show 42000 allies, while that number is on the 1st of may. british troops were still being evacuated . so on the 20th there was only 28000 troops. and only 18000 of them in organised and armed units. sort of paints a different picture!
Lol talk about revisionist history 😂😂😂
The initial analysis of the topography favoring the attack is such obvious nonsense that you probably shouldn’t bother with the rest of it.
Also terrible voice over.
The topography analysis was made by officers of the US Army. But I guess you know better.