This summer I went to Crete with my wife and daughter. We went to visit several towns and cities, and a few museums and archaeological sites. We also did a trip to western Crete, where the area of the FH2 map “Crete” is. On that day, we visited Suda Bay, Maleme and Chania, to see places where the Battle of Crete raged in May 1941.
First we visited Suda Bay. Apart from the bay itself, there is only the war cemetery to remember the Battle of Crete. It is a very beautiful war cemetery, lying at the side of the bay, giving the Commonwelath soldiers who died on Crete their final resting place. There are about 1500 graves there, not only from the Battle of Crete in 1941, but also some World War I graves and some graves of soldiers who died on Crete later in the war (mostly airmen).
Click on pictures to enlarge
After Suda Bay we continued to Maleme. The German war cemetery is there, situated on Hill 107. At the foot of the hill, there is a small cafe (fittingly called Cafe 107) and the guy running it also has an exhibition in his garden of his own private war collection.
From the hill you can see the present day airfield of Maleme, which isn’t accessible to the public.
In the private war collection there is a Bofors AA gun, bought by the guy running the 107 cafe. All other stuff he found himself in the surrounding area and other parts of Crete. In summertime he runs the cafe and the exhibition, in wintertime he drives around everyday to find more stuff.
The Bofors
German Kraftstoff
Some barrels. I think they are PAK40 and Bofors, anyone able to confirm?
Parts of Junkers52
No1 SMLE barrels
German ammoboxes
Parts of Pz38(t)
Parachute dropboxes for weapons and ammo
MG15 and MG34
Parts of a BF109
Italian medipack (just like the FH2 one
)
German medipack (this one doesn’t look like the FH2 one)
British gear, like helmets, rangefinder, bags, shoes, etc.
German gear, like canteens, gasmasks, medals
German helmets (Wehrmacht and Fallschirmjäger), Eihandgranate and piece of parachute
Me and my daughter in front of the private war collection
After Maleme we went to Chania. This is quite a large town and the best example of the scaling of the FH2 map
In Chania there are almost no traces left of the war, only these few bombed out buildings:
We didn’t go to Sfakia (Chora Sphakion), but I read about British soldiers who were at Chania and Rhetimnon (another town on the norhtern coast which was defenbded by the Commonwealth troops in May 1941). Those at Chania went south to Chora Sphakion to be evacuated to Egypt. Those at Rhetimnon didn’t get the order, so they kept on fighting against the Germans until they were eventually captured. The ones who did cross over to the south, had to wait on the beches for the ships to come. First the officers and the older soldiers were being evacuated, and when the ships were full, the soldiers who were still on the beaches were told they had to wait tob e captured by the Germans. When the Germans eventually came, they ordered the British to march back across the mountains to stay in captivity at Chania for the time being. Knowing the infratsructure of Crete being almost non-existent in the 40s, it must have been one hell of a walk, first from Chania to Chorfa Sphakion across the White Mountains, and then back in captivity.
It was a nice trip and I learned yet even more about the Battle of Crete and it was also nice to see the actual places wqhere the battle was fought.
