[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 68 (Friday, May 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1047-E1048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE SIXTY-FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HEROIC BATTLE OF CRETE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 19, 2005

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise proudly today to celebrate the 
64th anniversary of the Battle of Crete, a World War II event of epic 
proportions that profoundly impacted on the

[[Page E1048]]

determination of many countries to resist the aggression of Nazi 
Germany. This is a story of the sacrifices made by a battered but brave 
group of individuals thrown together in a combined effort to halt the 
domination of a smaller, weaker nation by a larger, more powerful 
aggressor.
  Amidst the cataclysm that engulfed the countries of Europe at the 
time, it seems now preposterous that a small island dared to stand up 
to the aggressor to preserve its freedom and defend its honor. Today, 
more than half a century later, the heroic events that took place in 
the Battle of Crete remain etched in the memory of people around the 
world. In commemoration of this anniversary, and for the benefit of 
future generations, I will share a brief account of these events as 
they unfolded.
  In early April 1941, the German army rushed to the aid of their 
defeated ally, Italy, and invaded Greece. Following a valiant struggle, 
Greek forces had been pushed entirely off the continent and were forced 
to take refuge on the island of Crete.
  The German army then looked covetously across the sea to Crete 
because of the British airfields on the island, which could be used by 
the Allies for air strikes against the oil fields of Rumania, thereby 
denying this vital war commodity to Hitler's forces now preparing for 
their attack on Russia. If captured, it would also provide air and sea 
bases from which the Nazis could dominate the eastern Mediterranean and 
launch air attacks against Allied forces in northern Africa. In fact, 
the Nazi high command envisioned the capture of Crete to be the first 
of a series of assaults leading to the Suez Canal. Hitler intended a 
short, one month, campaign, starting in March. On successful 
completion, his troops would be re-assigned to Russia.
  Crete's defenses at the time had been badly neglected due to the 
deployment of Allied forces in North Africa. General Bernard Freyberg 
of the New Zealand Division was appointed by British Prime Minister 
Winston Churchill as commander of a small contingent of Allied troops 
which had been dispatched to the island a few months before and re-
enforced by additional troops who had retreated from the Greek 
mainland.
  Early on the morning of May 20, 1941, Crete became the theater of the 
first and largest German airborne operation of the war. The skies above 
Crete were filled with more than eight thousand Nazi paratroopers, 
landing in a massive invasion of the island, which was subjected to 
heavy bombing and attacks in what became known as ``Operation 
Mercury.''
  Waves of bombers pounded the Allied positions followed by a full-
scale airborne assault. Elite paratroopers and glider-borne infantry 
units fell upon the rag-tag Allied soldiers and were met with ferocious 
resistance from the Allied troops and the Cretan population.
  Although General Freyberg had decided not to arm the Cretans because 
they were believed to be apti-royalist, they fought bravely with 
whatever was at hand during the invasion. As soon as the battle broke 
out, the people of Crete volunteered to serve in the militia. Centuries 
of oppression and several revolts against Venetians and Turks had 
taught them that freedom is won and preserved by sacrifice, and there 
was hardly a family without a gun stashed somewhere in the house. For 
the first time, the Germans met stiff partisan resistance.
  War-seasoned men joined the regular troops in the effort to repel the 
invader. Old men, women and children participated and used whatever 
makeshift weapons they could find. They pointed their antiquated guns 
at the descending German paratroopers. They used sticks, sickles and 
even their bare hands, to fight those soldiers already on the ground. 
Most of them were illiterate villagers but their intuition, honed by 
the mortal risk they were facing, led them to fight with courage and 
bravery. ``Aim for the legs and you'll get them in the heart,'' was the 
popular motto that summarized their hastily acquired battle experience.
  Seven days later, the defenders of Crete--though clinging to their 
rocky defensive positions--knew that they would soon be overrun. The 
evacuation order was given, and nearly 18,000 men were rescued. These 
valiant survivors had bought the Allies a week's precious time free of 
Nazi air and sea attacks based from Crete. More importantly, they 
inflicted severe losses on the German airborne forces, the showpieces 
of the Nazi army. Although well-armed and thoroughly equipped, the 
Germans didn't break the Cretan's love of freedom.
  Although the Germans captured the island in ten days, they paid a 
heavy price. Of the 8,100 paratroopers involved in this operation, 
close to 4,000 were killed and 1,600 were wounded. So injured were the 
German units that they never again attempted an airborne assault of the 
magnitude launched at Crete. Hitler may have won the Battle of Crete, 
but he lost the war. The German victory proved a hollow one, as Crete 
became the graveyard of the German parachute troops. In fact, it is a 
lesson taught in almost every major military academy in the world on 
what not to do.
  In retaliation for the losses they incurred, the Nazis spread 
punishment, terror and death on the innocent civilians of the island. 
More than two thousand Cretans were executed during the first month 
alone and thousands more later. Despite these atrocities, for the four 
years following the Allied withdrawal from the island, the people of 
Crete put up a courageous guerilla resistance, aided by a few British 
and Allied officers and troops who remained. Those involved were known 
as the Andartes (the Rebels).
  Cretan people of all ages joined or aided the Andartes. Children 
would pile rocks in the roads to slow down the German convoys. They 
even carried messages in their schoolbooks because it was the only 
place that the German soldiers never looked. These messages contained 
information critical to the Andartes who were hiding in the mountains 
and would come down for midnight raids or daytime sabotages.
  The German terror campaign was meant to break the fighting spirit and 
morale of the Andartes. Besides the random and frequent executions, 
German soldiers used other means to achieve their goal. They leveled 
many buildings in the towns and villages, destroyed religious icons, 
and locked hundreds of Cretans in churches for days without food or 
water, but nothing worked. These actions only made the Cretans more 
ferocious in their quest for freedom.
  Even in the face of certain death while standing in line to be 
executed, Cretans did not beg for their lives. This shocked the German 
troops. Kurt Student, the German Paratrooper Commander who planned the 
invasion, said of the Cretans, ``I have never seen such a defiance of 
death.''
  Finally, the Cretan people participated in one of the most daring 
operations that brought shame and humiliation to the German occupation 
forces and exhilaration and hope to the enslaved peoples of Europe. 
Major-General Von Kreipe, Commander of all German forces in Crete, was 
abducted from his own headquarters in April 1944 and transferred to a 
POW camp in England.
  The German troops had never encountered such resistance. Hitler had 
initially sent 12,000 troops to Crete, thinking that the occupation 
would be swift. By the end of the three-and-a-half years of occupation, 
Hitler had sent a total of 100,000 troops, to confront a little more 
than 5,000 Cretan Andarte fighters. These German troops could have been 
deployed somewhere else. More German troops were lost during the 
occupation of Crete than in France, Yugoslavia and Poland combined.
  Most importantly, as a result of the battle in Crete, Hitler's master 
plan to invade Russia before the coming of winter, had to be postponed, 
which resulted in the deaths of many German troops who were not 
properly prepared to survive the harsh Russian winter.
  As we Americans know from our history, freedom does not come without 
a price. For their gallant resistance against the German invasion and 
occupation of their island, Cretans paid a stiff price. Within the 
first five months of the Battle of Crete, 3,500 Cretans were executed 
and many more were killed in the ensuing three-and-a-half years of 
occupation.
  Mr. Speaker, there are historical reasons why we Americans appreciate 
the sacrifices of the Cretan people in defending their island during 
the Battle of Crete. We have a history replete with similar heroic 
events starting with our popular revolt that led to the birth of our 
nation more than two centuries.
  We must always remember that as long as there are people willing to 
sacrifice their lives for the just cause of defending the integrity and 
freedom of their country, there is always hope for a better tomorrow. 
May we take inspiration from the shining example of the people of Crete 
in ensuring that this is indeed the case.

                          ____________________