Content deleted Content added
PaulBommel (talk | contribs) mNo edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 4:
After the general retreat from Greece in 1944, the Germans, with some Italian battalion too, remained in Crete and in the Dodecanese Islands. They were cut off, possessed no air power or naval forces, with only some small patrol vessels and landing barges to maintain the links among the islands. The food problem was a serious one both for them and the inhabitants. Links were maintained (mainly mail) with some captured B 24 under Luftwaffe colours which made flights at night from Austria.
The eastern part of Crete was evacuated during the winter by the Axis forces and "occupied" by a very weak mixed British and Greek garrison. There was, then, an unofficial truce between the two parties until the final surrender order issued by the [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|OKW]] in May 1945 after the Reims signature of armistice. The same order of surrender was valid for Rhodes and the other minor islands still in Axis hands.
The list of commanders of the German forces on Crete include Generals [[Kurt Student]], [[Alexander Andrae]], [[Bruno Bräuer]], [[Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller]], [[Ernst Klepp]] and [[Hans-Georg Benthack]].<ref>[http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186877 Commanders list of "Festung Kreta", wehrmacht-awards.com 2006]</ref> Until the [[Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces|Italian armistice]] of 1943, the Italian occupation forces were commanded by General [[Angelico Carta]].
| |||