User:GuillaumeTell/temp

Galatas church

Galatas (Greek: Γαλατάς), is a village (population around 2,000) in the municipal unit of Nea Kydonia, a section of the municipality of Chania, Crete. It is notable as one of the principal locations in the ten day Battle of Crete in May 1941.

The village ls located on a ridge about 6 km (3.7 mi) south-west of Chania, the second largest city and former capital of Crete.

stuff

• http://www.my-crete-site.co.uk/new_page_1.htm
• http://www.my-crete-site.co.uk/galatas_front.htm
• http://www.my-crete-site.co.uk/galatas_25_may.htm
• http://www.my-crete-site.co.uk/26th_may.htm

http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Medi-c5-30.html Battle for Galatas (medical stuff)

• http://www.giftedtravel.com/the-little-trains-of-crete/ Trackless train aka road train
• http://www.funtrain.gr/routes/index.html "fun train" inc 2 Galatas routes

• Cemetery hill - nothing to do with Gettysburg!
• Pink hill
• Commemorative building
• map of hills and villages (see above, my-crete)

• Charles Upham (links)
  • At GALATAS on 25th May his platoon was heavily engaged and came under severe mortar and machine-gun fire. While his platoon stopped under cover of a ridge Second-Lieutenant Upham went forward, observed the enemy and brought the platoon forward when the Germans advanced. They killed over 40 with fire and grenades and forced the remainder to fall back.
  • When his platoon was ordered to retire he sent it back under the platoon Sergeant and he went back to warn other troops that they were being cut off. When he came out himself he was fired on by two Germans. He fell and shammed dead, then crawled into a position and having the use of only one arm rested his rifle in the fork of a tree and as the Germans came forward he killed them both. The second to fall actually hit the muzzle of the rifle as he fell.

• Military history of New Zealand during World War II (links)
  • Operation Mercury opened on 20 May when the German Luftwaffe delivered Fallschirmjäger around the Maleme airfield and Chania area, at around 8:15 pm, by paradrop and gliders. Most of the New Zealand forces were deployed around this north-western part of the island and with British and Greek troops they inflicted heavy casualties upon the initial German attacks. Despite near complete defeat for their landing troops east of the airfield and in the Galatas region, German invaders were able to gain a foothold by mid-morning west of Maleme Airfield (5 Brigade's area) - along the Tavronitis riverbed and in the Ayia Valley to the east (10 Brigade's area - dubbed 'Prison Valley').
  • On the night of 23 May and the morning of 24 May, 5 Brigade withdrew again to the area near Daratsos, forming a new front line running from Galatas to the sea. The relatively fresh 18 Battalion replaced the worn troops from Maleme and Platanias, deploying 400 men on a two kilometre front.
  • Galatas had come under attack on the first day of the battle — Fallschirmjäger and gliders had landed around Chania and Galatas, to suffer extremely heavy casualties. They retreated to "Prison Valley" where they rallied around the Ayia Prison and repulsed a confused counterattack by two companies of 19 Battalion and three light tanks. Pink Hill (so named for the colour of its soil), a crucial point on the Galatas heights was attacked several times by the Germans that day, and was remarkably held by the Division Petrol Company with aid from Greek soldiers, though at a heavy cost to both sides. The Petrol Company comprised poorly-armed support troops, primarily drivers and technicians, and by the day's end all their officers had been wounded, with most of their NCOs. They withdrew around dusk. On the second day the New Zealanders attacked nearby Cemetery Hill to take pressure off their line, and although they had to withdraw for it was too exposed, the hill became a no man's land as Pink Hill was, relieving the New Zealand front. Day three, the 22nd, saw German soldiers take Pink Hill. The Petrol Company and some infantry reserve prepared a counterattack but a notable incident pre-empted them - as told by Driver A. Pope:
  • "Out of the trees came [Captain] Forrester of the Buffs, clad in shorts, a long yellow army jersey reaching down almost to the bottom of the shorts, brass polished and gleaming, web belt in place and waving his revolver in his right hand [...] It was a most inspiring sight. Forrester was at the head of a crowd of disorderly Greeks, including women; one Greek had a shot gun with a serrated-edge bread knife tied on like a bayonet, others had ancient weapons—all sorts. Without hesitation this uncouth group, with Forrester right out in front, went over the top of a parapet and headlong at the crest of the hill. The [Germans] fled."[3]
  • Days four and five featured only skirmishes between the two forces. Luftwaffe air raids targeted Galatas on the 25th at 8:00 am, 12:45 pm and 1:15 pm, and the German ground attack came at around 2:00 pm. 100 Mountain and 3 Parachute Regiment attacked Galatas and the high ground around it, while two battalions of 85 Mountain Regiment attacked eastwards, with the aim of cutting Chania off. The New Zealand defenders, though prepared, suffered from a disadvantage: 18 Battalion, 400 men, was the only fresh infantry formation on the line — the rest were non-infantry groups like the Petrol Company and the Composite Battalion, consisting of mechanical, supply and artillery troops. The fighting was fierce, especially along the north of the line, and platoons and companies were forced to make retreats. Brigadier Lindsay Inglis called for reinforcement and received 23 Battalion, who along with an improvised group of reinforcements scraped together at Brigade Headquarters (including the Brigade band and the Kiwi Concert Party) they stabilised the north of the line. South of Galatas, only 18 Battalion and the Petrol Company were defending - 18 Battalion was forced to withdraw, and the Petrol Company on Pink Hill followed suit after becoming aware of this eventually. 19 Battalion was the only formation still in combat on Pink Hill, and they too withdrew. These forces withdrew past Galatas, as no defenders were in the village to link up with.
  • By nightfall German troops had occupied Galatas, and Lieutenant-Colonel Howard Kippenberger prepared a counter attack. Two tanks led two companies of 23 Battalion into Galatas at a running pace - heavy fire was encountered and as the tanks went ahead towards the town square, the infantry cleared each house of German soldiers as they worked inward. When the infantry caught up with the tanks they found one out of action. With German fire coming primarily from one side of the square a charge was mounted and with bayonets the New Zealanders cleared the German opposition. Patrols quelled resistance elsewhere in Galatas - apart from one small strongpoint, Galatas was back in New Zealand hands.
  • A conference between Brigadier Inglis and his commanders reached the consensus that Allied forces needed to make a further counterattack urgently — and that without a counterattack Crete would fall to the Germans. Despite hard fighting so far in the battle, the 28 (Māori) Battalion was considered to be the only "fresh" battalion available and the only one capable of carrying out such an attack. Their commander was willing to mount the attack despite the difficulty, but a representative sent from Brigadier Edward Puttick at New Zealand 2nd Division headquarters recommended against such an attack for fear of being unable to hold the line subsequently. The counter-attack was scrapped, and so too was Galatas, its position being far too vulnerable to hold. However, without Galatas the whole line was untenable and so the New Zealanders again retreated, forming a line from the coast to Perivolia[disambiguation needed] and Mournies, near the Australian 19th Brigade.

• Nea Kydonia (links)
  • Nea Kydonia (Greek: Νέα Κυδωνία) is a former municipality in the Chania (peripheral unit), Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit.[2] It is situated on the western outskirts of Chania. It saw fierce fighting during the Battle of Crete during World War II and there the main prisoner of war camp for Allied soldiers in Western Crete was in Galatas.

• Battle of Crete order of battle (links)
  • Allied land forces
    • 2nd New Zealand Division [edit]
      • Headquarters New Zealand Division - Brigadier Edward Puttick - (Western Zone, west of Chania)
        • 4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Lindsay Inglis) between Chania & Galatas
          • 18th New Zealand Infantry Battalion
          • 19th New Zealand Infantry Battalion
          • 20th New Zealand Infantry Battalion
          • 1st Light Troop, Royal Artillery
        • 10th New Zealand Infantry Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger) (Galatas)
          • New Zealand Divisional Cavalry
          • New Zealand Composite Battalion
          • 6th Greek Regiment (1,380 Officers and men), (Lt.Col. M. Grigoriou)
          • 8th Greek Regiment (840 Officers and men), (Col. Pan. Karkoulas)

• Roy Farran (links)
  • After Operation Compass came to an end, the Hussars were transferred to the island of Crete, to reinforce the British and Commonwealth forces that were stationed there after their retreat from Greece.[1][2] Farran was attached to the regiment's 'C' Squadron, which was located several miles west of Canea when the Germans began their invasion of Crete on May 20, 1941. Farran was ordered to take a troop of tanks and block a road that led from the village of Galatas, and shortly afterwards sighted and killed a number of German troops escorting a group of forty captured hospital patients. The troop came under attack from Stukas and well hidden ground forces. Returning from this mission Farran's troop encountered several Germans who attempted to surrender; he ordered them shot,[3] later writing that the incident occurred in the heat of the moment. On May 21, the 10th Infantry Brigade launched a successful assault on Cemetery Hill, in which Farran participated. German forces were eventually able to break through the British and Commonwealth positions around Galatas, and Farran was part of a counter-attack in an attempt to retake the village. He protested about the unsuitability of his light tanks for the task but was told that no heavy tanks were left. Farran later wrote of his guilt at allowing the dangerous lead position to be taken by a subordinate -"I did not care for orders when it suited me, but this time I had chosen to obey them because I knew that I would be killed if I did not. I should have been in that leading tank. Instead, there was Skedgewell dead and his pretty young wife waiting at home. I felt as if I had murdered him." [3] During the action he was wounded in the right arm and both of his legs, and as a result he was captured by German forces.[2]

• 27th Machine-Gun Battalion (New Zealand) (links)
  • The 27th Machine-Gun Battalion was one of the first units of the 2nd New Zealand Division to go into action in the Greek Campaign in April 1941. It took part in all the battles during the 300 miles (480 km) withdrawal to the Peloponnese, including the rearguard actions in the battle of Vevi and the battle of Mount Olympus.[1]
  • The battalion together with the rest of the division was withdrawn to Crete and took part in the battle of Crete during the German invasion, fighting at Maleme and Galatas.[1]

Gallery

Galatas war memorial plaque

Battle of Galatas museum

Galatas war memorial

Maps

German assault on Crete

http://secondworldwarmaps.wordpress.com/