Battle of Crete

E27730
World War II battle battle

The Battle of Crete was a major World War II airborne invasion in May 1941, in which German paratroopers attacked and ultimately captured the Greek island of Crete from Allied forces after fierce resistance.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Evacuation of Crete 1

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf World War II battle ⓘ
battle ⓘ
AlliedCasualtiesApprox over 15,000 captured ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Operation Mercury ⓘ
AxisCasualtiesApprox several thousand killed and wounded ⓘ
belligerent Allied forces ⓘ
Australia ⓘ
Germany ⓘ
Greece ⓘ
Italy ⓘ
New Zealand ⓘ
United Kingdom ⓘ
campaign Balkan Campaign ⓘ
surface form: Balkans Campaign
casualties heavy on both sides ⓘ
commander Alexander Papagos ⓘ
Lord Wavell ⓘ
surface form: Archibald Wavell

Bernard Freyberg ⓘ
Bernhard Kühn ⓘ
Kurt Student ⓘ
Wilhelm List ⓘ
conflictIn World War II ⓘ
countryInvolved Australia ⓘ
Greece ⓘ
Italy ⓘ
Nazi Germany ⓘ
New Zealand ⓘ
United Kingdom ⓘ
endDate 1941-06-01 ⓘ
followedBy Axis occupation of Greece ⓘ
surface form: Axis occupation of Crete
GermanCodename Unternehmen Merkur ⓘ
hasMainPhase German airborne landings on 20 May 1941 ⓘ
involvedUnit Cretan civilians ⓘ
Fallschirmjäger ⓘ
Luftwaffe ⓘ
Royal Air Force ⓘ
Royal Navy ⓘ
involves airborne assault ⓘ
ground combat ⓘ
naval operations ⓘ
location Crete ⓘ
Kingdom of Greece ⓘ
notableFor first mainly airborne invasion in military history ⓘ
large-scale German airborne invasion ⓘ
significant civilian resistance ⓘ
partOf Battle of the Mediterranean ⓘ
surface form: Mediterranean theatre of World War II
precededBy Balkan Campaign ⓘ
surface form: Battle of Greece
result Axis victory ⓘ
startDate 1941-05-20 ⓘ
strategicConsequence German decision to limit future large-scale airborne operations ⓘ
theatre Aegean Sea ⓘ

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bernard Freyberg → conflict → Battle of Crete ⓘ
New Zealand forces → engagedInBattle → Battle of Crete ⓘ
2nd New Zealand Division → engagement → Battle of Crete ⓘ
World War II battles → hasNotableBattle → Battle of Crete ⓘ
Balkan theatre of World War II → hasPart → Battle of Crete ⓘ
Balkan Campaign → includesEvent → Battle of Crete ⓘ
Mediterranean Fleet → notableEngagement → Battle of Crete ⓘ
Andrew Cunningham → notableEvent → Battle of Crete ⓘ
this entity surface form: Evacuation of Crete
HMS Kimberley → participatedIn → Battle of Crete ⓘ
Kurt Student → participatedIn → Battle of Crete ⓘ
2nd New Zealand Division → theatre → Battle of Crete ⓘ