Battle of Crete
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The Battle of Crete, codenamed Operation Mercury, was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete.
German Fallschirmjäger landing on Crete, May 1941
Major-general Freyberg (right), Allied commander at the Battle of Crete
A Fallschirmjäger and a DFS 230 glider in Crete
German mountain troops board a Junkers Ju 52 for Crete, 20 May 1941.
Fallschirmjäger
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The Fallschirmjäger were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were comm
Battle of Crete
…Navy's eastern Mediterranean strength had been reduced to only two battleships and three cruisers. The Battle of Crete was the first occasion where Fallschirmjäger (German paratroops) were used en masse, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history and the first time the Allies made significant use of…
A paratroop crew firing a mortar
Burning German Junkers Ju 52s at Ypenburg, Netherlands, in 1940
German paratroopers prepare to be flown to the Greek island of Leros in 1943.