military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (05/19/91)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 20 May, 1941. German airborne forces invade the island of Crete. About 6000 men of the 7th Parachute Division and the glider-borne 5th Mountain Division, commanded by General Student, are landed at several key airfields, while the forces defending the bases are subjected to repeated air attacks. Four hundred bombers and two hundred fighters dominate the skies over the island. The Commonwealth forces defending Crete number about 32,000, and are aided by 10,000 Greeks. They possess little heavy equipment, complicating General Freyberg's problem. Germany has committed only 23,000 troops to the fight, but they are elite forces and well armed. Initial resistance is sturdy despite the Luftwaffe's attacks, and German casualties are high. Richard Sorg, a Soviet spy operating from Tokyo, warns Moscow that Germany plans to invade the USSR with 180 divisions on June 20th. In fact, 120 divisions are taking their places in Poland. Germany announces that the passengers of the liner Zamzam are safe in Occupied France, and that the ship was carrying contraband ambulances to Britain. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "This was an exemplary case of carrying out contraband regulations... Obviously, if it had been a submarine that sank the Zamzam, it could not have taken the entire crew and passengers aboard." - unidentified German spokesman