CRITICAL PHASE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24619, 29 May 1941, Page 7

CRITICAL PHASE

BATTLE FOR CRETE SITUATION PRECARIOUS GROWING WEIGHT OF ATTACK (United Press Association) (Bv Electbic Telegraph—Copyright) (Rec. 1.30 a,m.) ■ LONDON, May 28. As more and more airborne troops are landed in Crete, the situation there is described in London as being undoubtedly precarious. It is pointed out, however, that the position on the island is difficult to assess accurately at this stage. There has been some improvement in the position at Retimo, but at Heraklion there have been further landings of air-borne troops, and the position is described as being " not too good." It is emphasised that the strain on our troops as the result of continual air bombing, day and night, must lead to J3hysicil and mental exhaustion, the effect of which would be worse than casualties. The view is held in London that no troops could have stood up better to the fierce bombing than the Imperial forces and their Greek allies. Authoritative military circles in Cairo last night, stated: " Very severe fighting is going on around Malemi, Canea, and the intervening plain. The Germans continue to land troops at Malemi, and the situation is serious. They are suffering very heavy losses, but the Germans do not care about losses if they can achieve their object." ... ,;> ~ . ,

AIR VERSUS SEA

battleship, unloaded their bombs,, and zoomed off at hair-raising speed. A bomb crashed on the battleship's side, causing a slight fire, but only superficial damage. A couple of dozen planes attacked another battleship, which was struck twice aft, but the damage was small and the casualties were few; More and more bombers raced out from Milos and Kythera. A. direct hit on the Gloucester at 4. p.m. brought her to a standstill, and she was unable to manoeuvre. Therefore she was a simple •target for the bombers. She was ablaze, but the guns continued in full blast, until finally it was decided that she would inevitably be sunk.. Deliberate Attacks on Survivors The Fiji,.'which was standing by and flinging everything except her anchor against the attackers, threw out all her Carley rafts and floats, and most of the Gloucester's company is believed to-have got on them, The Germans again deliberately. . bombed and ma-chine-gunned them as they set off on an attempt to reach Crete. Stukas then swooped like vuhures on the Fiji and dropped several sticks smack on the bridge amidships and on the stern. The Fiji flopped over like a turtle and went down flaming after a terrific explosion. Destroyers picked up the survivors again to the accompaniment of direct attacks ,on the survivors in the water. Vicious Dive-Bombing Under cover of darkness that night the 'Kelly and the Kashmir went in close to Crete and bombarded the Germans at Malemi, but as they were returning to join the battle fleet they were viciously dive-bombed. The Kelly was directly hit when doing 30 knots, and overturned in a little over a minute. The Kashmir quickly followed. Mountbatten was picked up from the Kelly and Admiral Trywhitt is also safe.

THE BATTLE OFF CRETE GREATEST OF ALL TIME SKY TEEMS WITH PLANK (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, May 27. ' The greatest air versus sea battle of all time, staged northward of Crete, culminated on May 22, when the Germans flung in hundreds of bombers, subjecting jhq navy to an incessant 15-hour attack! The warships' guns-blazed.throughout the day until they; were red hot. The air was filled withrthe: scream-of bombs, the roar of; planes, the crashing «f shells, and the '■£ blasting "of pompoms. The by fighters, and-: German planes swooped at will, machine-gunning and' bombing the crews of sunken cruisers and destroyers while they were swimming for their lives. The attack followed the smashing of one German convoy and the dispersal of another when British naval forces entered the iSSgean Sea on May 20 to prevent seaborne landings in Western Crete.. That night eight Eboats attacked, but were repelled, at least three being sunk: The Juno was hit by a stick of bombs, and'plunged to the bottom within 70 minutes. Enemy Convoy Broken Up

Reconnaissance reports on the night of May 21 indicated that an attempt at seaborne invasion of Crete had been started, and it was this convoy which was broken up. Meanwhile other units which found the shores of Gandia all quiet during the night continued at dawn to search northward towards Milos. Throughout these days the Germans bombed the ships heavily, but hell was let loose at dawn on May 22. The battle fleet was then going eastward through the Straits of Kythera to assist the hardpressed squadron which had been dispersing the convoy. Some planes at 5.30 a.m. attacked cruisers and other vessels of the Battle Fleet. The bombing continued, with only a half-hour's respite, until 8.15 p.m. At least 500 planes participated, over 100 attacking simultaneously. The British squadron, comprising four cruisers, including the Perth, and three destroyers, was subjected to absolutely continuous bombing for two hours. The commander. of one cruiser said: " We changed course constantly, speeding at over 30 knots. This was probably the heaviest attack bombers have ever meted out to a single ship, but other planes were swooping on every ship in sight, and they just never ceased until nightfall. We and every other ship were firing everything we had, sending up thousands of pompom, six-inch and four-inch shells, and the storm, and furv reached indescribable heights soon after noon, when the Battle Fleet, including the Warspite, linked up with the cruisers and destroyers in Kythera Straits to provide greater anti-aircraft protection. Junkers had dogged the battle fleet throughout the morning, but.after a brief interval at noon.the sky teemed with bombers. Land was visible on both sides, and the bombers' bases were only a few minutes distant. At the height of the onslaught we sighted the vanguard of 30 caiques, with an Italian destroyer leading. Six six-inch shells straddled the convoy and probably hit; the destroyer, which made off at top speed. We sank four caiques, each carrying at least 100 soldiers, and our firing disorganised the whole convoy, which immediately made northward." Mass Attacks on Ships After picking up two damaged cruisers, the battle fleet started back through Kythera Straits. The windless weather.was particularly favourable to bombers, and clouds provided them with good cover. The attack reached a new intensity at 1.30 p.m. after the Greyhound had sunk a German caique. Over 100 bombers made « mass attack on her, scoring several direct hits. Then a heavy bomb struck her, causing a terrific explosion. She buckled amidships and .great clouds of smoke poured from ■ her hu11.,. Two destroyers went" to pick up the survivors. • , They were legitimate targets, but the Germans first concentrated on sailors struggling in the water, dropping scores of bombs among them and coming down low to machine-gun them. At this stage every ship in the battle fleet was being attacked by at least 10 planes. " : Diving at' 400 miles an hour, three Messerscbmitt fighter-bombers suddenly dropped out of the sky on a

The battle fleet, having accomplished the task of reinforcing the army in Crete and warding off a seaborne invasion, steamed out of Kythera Straits to its base. The Kimberley. which picked up 250 survivors, reached port safely in spite of incessant dive-bombing, high-level attacks, and machine-gunning throughout the voyage. The damaged ships also reached port.