Crete
There
was nothing else before it in the history of war.
Much worse was to
follow.
Ferocious battles
that changed history forever.
Warship versus
warplane.
It started at an
island.
A Greek island called
Crete.
And it was no myth.
The cost was immense
but They wouldn't have it any other
way, would they?
Where did it start?
Events of cataclysmic
proportions engulfed those involved.
In the end, after
this battle, it was confirmed that the Royal Navy was the senior service.
They never let the
British Army down.
Nazi forces invaded
mainland Greece after the Italians failed.
A valiant British
Army and Allied defence bought time.
The navy evacuated
thousands of troops from Greece to Crete.
Soon another
evacuation would follow the first.
Before that, the
first airborne invasion in military would take place.
Thousands on both
sides would die in a seesaw battle on sunny Crete.
With no air cover the
Allies fought for survival.
They almost won.
Royal Navy ships
saved the day, at enormous cost, slugging it out with Nazi diver bombers.
Cunningham said to
Churchill:
It takes three years to build a
ship, three centuries to build a tradition.
Warship losses were 3
cruisers:
HMS Fiji, Gloucester
and Calcutta;
6 destroyers:
HMS Greyhound, Kelly,
Kashmir, Hereward, Imperial and Juno.
It didn’t stop there;
a carrier and two battleships were crippled, along with other damaged
destroyers and cruisers.
The Royal Navy didn’t
let the British Army down...
No comments:
Post a Comment