User:Gog the Mild/Retreat to Sfakion
| Gog the Mild/Retreat to Sfakion | |||||||
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| Part of the Battle of Crete | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom Greece New Zealand Australia |
 Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Bernard Freyberg |
Kurt Student Walter Koch | ||||||
The Retreat to Sfakion was part of the Battle of Crete, fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete between 23 May and 1 June. An allied force, commanded by Major-General Bernard Freyberg, having been defeated in the Battle of Maleme, attempted to withdraw from positions in north-west Crete around Chania and Souda to Sfakion on the south coast and evacuate from there. A pursuing German force under the overall command of Lieutenant General Kurt Student attempted to prevent them.
Background[edit]
Prelude[edit]
... as often occurs in an exhausting withdrawal, alarm increased in proportion to the distance from the front line . Commanders are older and less resilient than the men in the battalions ; they and their staffs see much of the wounded and non-combatant troops and are apt to judge the condition of the front-line troops, perhaps still holding firmly, by the condition of the shaken men seen in the rear areas.[1]
Retreat[edit]
I knew that I was taking part in a retreat ; in fact I wondered if it should not be called more correctly a rout as, on all sides, men were hurrying along in disorder . Most of them had thrown away their rifles ..,.