Battle of Crete commemorated

Original source: CNN

SOUDA BAY, Greece -- The Battle of Crete, one of World War II's bloodiest battles, has been commemorated by ageing veterans. The 60th anniversary was marked by hundreds of veterans at the graves of their comrades at Souda Bay war cemetery. They attended a solemn service of remembrance and listened to bagpipes, a Maori hymn and a lone bugler playing the Last Post in the fading sun.

Sixty years ago on Sunday, thousands of German paratroopers launched themselves onto Crete in an unprecedented airborne invasion. Fighting raged for 11 days before the Allied troops retreated across Crete's harsh mountains and were evacuated to Egypt. About 6,000 Germans were killed and 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives during the fighting. Cretan civilians, many armed only with stones, knives and sticks, attacked the German paratroops as they landed, hacking many of them to death.

They faced brutal reprisals during the four years of Nazi occupation that followed. "The last time I saw this harbour it had about eight ships burning in it," said Ian Wailes, an Australian Navy veteran from Melbourne. "If...the world has learnt anything, (it) should have bloody well learnt that it should never happen again," he said.

The weekend's events were billed as the last to bring together the old soldiers who fought on Crete in 1941. Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos, Britain's Duke of Kent, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, and Australian Veterans' Affairs Minister Bruce Scott laid wreaths with the veterans after prayers and hymns. Guns from the Royal Navy's HMS Richmond fired a salute across the bay. The ceremony was part of a series of events that will culminate on Sunday night in a re-enactment of the German airborne invasion of Maleme airfield and the attempt to repulse it. Australia's Scott earlier on Saturday unveiled a monument to the Battle of Crete in Rethymnon, where Australian troops held off the Germans before retreating with other Allies. A Greek Orthodox bishop sprinkled holy water and blessed the monument with a traditional olive branch.

On Friday, New Zealand's Clark, followed by Maori warriors in traditional dress, paid tribute to her country's soldiers at the small village of Galatas, where 671 New Zealanders were killed in a series of attacks and counter-attacks with the Germans.