Platanias

By late morning on May 23rd, the Fallschirmjägers of Oberst Ramcke had set up a defensive position on the Platanias River bridge near the coast. Inland, Oberst Utz moved to take the village of Modi. Defended by New Zealanders, the …

1941-05-23

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By late morning on May 23rd, the Fallschirmjägers of Oberst Ramcke had set up a defensive position on the Platanias River bridge near the coast. Inland, Oberst Utz moved to take the village of Modi. Defended by New Zealanders, the village fell after a fierce fight. The Allied artillery, which had been shelling the Germans at Maleme airfield for days, was now outflanked and forced to fall back. In the early afternoon, Captain Baker and his men attempted to retake the bridge, but the Germans held and counterattacked. As for the Cretan Partisans and the 8th Greek Regiment that had moved forward from Agia Marine, they only proved to be a minor hindrance to the Germans and did not stop their advance.

Modi, Crete

The Battle of Crete was fought during the Second World War on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany began an airborne invasion of Crete. Greek and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. After one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered heavy casualties and the Allied troops were confident that they would defeat the invasion. The next day, through communication failures, Allied tactical hesitation and German offensive operations, Maleme Airfield in western Crete fell, enabling the Germans to land reinforcements and overwhelm the defensive positions on the north of the island. Allied forces withdrew to the south coast. More than half were evacuated by the British Royal Navy and the remainder surrendered or joined the Cretan Resistance. The defence of Crete evolved into a costly naval engagement; by the end of the campaign the Royal Navy's eastern Mediterranean strength had been reduced to only two battleships and three cruisers.

Wikipedia: Battle of Crete

German

New Zealand / Greek

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Countryside

Website Access: Available