User:Gog the Mild/Retreat to Sfakion

Gog the Mild/Retreat to Sfakion
Part of the Battle of Crete
Date 2 May – 1 June 1941 Location Crete, Greece Result German victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Greece New Zealand Australia	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Bernard Freyberg	Kurt Student Walter Koch

Sfakion

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Location of Sfakion in Crete

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.

Prelude

... 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.

Retreat

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 ..,.