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The Greek island of Crete was seized by the [[Axis powers|Axis]] after a fierce [[Battle of Crete|battle]] at the end of May 1941. The Germans occupied the western three prefectures of the island (the prefectures of [[Chania Prefecture|Chania]], [[Heraklion Prefecture|Heraklion]] and [[Rethymno Prefecture|Rethymno]]) with their headquarters in [[Chania]], whilst the Italians occupied the easternmost prefecture of [[Lasithi]] until the Italian capitulation in September 1943.
The first German garrison unit was the [[5th Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|5th Mountain Division]], which had seen combat during the capture of Crete. In late autumn 1941, the 5th Mountain Division was replaced by the [[713th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|713th]] and [[164th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|164th]] Infantry Divisions, which in early 1942 were reorganised as Fortress Division Crete ({{lang-de|Festungs-Division Kreta - FDK}}).<ref name="Mitcham">{{cite book|last=Mitcham|first=Samuel W.|title=German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry divisions, named infantry divisions, and special divisions in World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W12nzCN9DK4C&pg=PT126|year=2007|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-3437-0|page=126}}</ref><ref name="Thomas">{{cite book|title=The German Army 1939-45 (2): North Africa & Balkans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hT3DCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT50|last=Thomas|first=Nigel|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2012|isbn=9781782004400|page=50}}</ref> In the summer of 1942, FDK was split to form the smaller Fortress Brigade Kreta ({{lang-de|Festungs-Brigade Kreta - FBK}}) and the 164th Light Afrika Division ({{lang-de|164. Leichte Afrika Division}}) which was sent to [[North African Campaign|North Africa]]. The 164th was succeeded in 1943-1944 by the [[22nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|22nd Infantry Division]]. In autumn 1944, after the 22nd Division withdrew from Crete, the remaining German units on the island were consolidated under the
The garrison's strength rose and fell considerably, depending on the progress of the [[North African Campaign|North African]] and [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Russian]] campaigns, and the perceived threat for invasion. Its peak was 75,000 men in 1943 and its nadir 10,000 at its surrender of 12 May 1945.
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