April and May of this year marked the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Crete.
When German forces invaded Greece in April 1941, they faced poorly equipped Greek, British, Australian and New Zealand troops. The troops conducted a fighting withdrawal towards beaches near Athens where they were evacuated. Many were taken to Crete where they faced a German airborne invasion and on May 20 were defeated after 10 days of fighting.
Of the 6,500 Australian that served in Crete, 274 were killed in action, 507 were wounded, and 3102 were held as prisoners of war. Only 16, 500 of the 33, 000 Allied troops in Crete were successfully evacuated.
The Australia’s Federal Guard (AFG) contingent was deployed to Greece on May 15 in order to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Greece and Crete. Between May 18 and 22 the AFG contingent conducted numerous memorial services in Greece.
On May 20 Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Warren Snowdon, led the commemorative ceremony at the Hellenic-Australian Memorial in Rthymno, Crete. He was joined by Deputy Chief of the Australian Army Major General Paul Symon, along with six Australian veterans and a contingent of the AFG.
Mr Snowdon said that sacrifice made by Commonwealth forces was extraordinary and commemorating the event important as the airborne invasion of Crete was unlike any other in history.
“We are here to pay homage to the sacrifices that our soldiers made as part of our national story,” Mr Snowdon said.
While in Rethymno, Mr Snowdon will also officially open an exhibition featuring memorabilia and photographs from the Battle of Crete collected by the Australian War Memorial, the Greek War Museum and from the private collection of avid local collector.