AIR-BORNE TROOPS AND PARACHUTISTS

Southland Times, Issue 24440, 21 May 1941, Page 5

AIR-BORNE TROOPS AND PARACHUTISTS

NUMBER ACCOUNTED FOR NEW ZEALAND, BRITISH AND GREEK TROOPS DEFEND ISLAND (United Press Association—Telegraph Copyright) (Rec. 1 a.m.) LONDON, May 20. German parachute troops and air-borne troops launched an attack on Crete early this morning, according to a communique issued in Cairo. The Germans tried to secure a footing, but a number has already been accounted for. Crete is held by New Zealand, British and Greek troops under the command of Major-General B. C. Freyberg, V.C., general officer commanding the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The communique does not reveal the extent of the operations. It is not known how many troops are on the island, but it was stated earlier in the month that two Greek divisions had landed. This is the first time that British soldiers have faced a straight onslaught by air-borne

troops. The Greek troops on the island include men evacuated from the mainland and units of the forces previously

stationed in Crete. There are also guards for the Royal Air Force aerodromes and the garrisons for the protection of the naval bases. (VlajorGeneral Freyberg, was given command of all forces in Crete a fortnight ago, and Brigadier E. Puttick, D. 5.0., was appointed temporarily to the command of the New Zealand forces in Crete. Although Major-General Frey-

berg is responsible primarily to the British txovernmeni for Crete, he has still upon him the responsibility to the New Zealand Government for the whole of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force wherever its various units may be stationed.

Crete is a mountainous island 2950 square miles in area and 160 miles long from east to west, the width varying from 7-i to 35 miles. The loftiest point is the ancient Mount Ida; 8193 ft. high. The southern coast is entirely without harbours and the only modern port is at Candia, the old capital. Canea, which is near the western end of the island, can accommodate only small craft, and before the war Suda Bay was without port equipment. . The western extremity is only some 60 miles from the Greek mainland,

with the islands of Cerigo and Cerigotto intervening. Ninety miles of sea separate the eastern end from the Italian island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese. Crete thus is the strategic key, to the Aegean, the entrances of which it commands. It is 190 miles from the nearest point on the African coast in Cyrenaica. The population of Crete, mainly of Greek origin, numbers about 336,000, and is engaged almost entirely in growing olives, oranges, lemons, sultanas and a certain amount of grain for local consumption.