| Suda Bay War Cemetery | |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission | |
 | |
| Used for those deceased | |
| Location | 35°30′0″N 24°3′40″E Chania Municipality, Greece |
| Total burials | 1,564 |
| Statistics source: Cemetery details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. | |
| Suda Bay War Cemetery | |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission | |
| | |
| Used for those deceased | |
| Location | 35°30′0″N 24°3′40″E Chania Municipality, Greece |
| Total burials | 1,564 |
| Statistics source: Cemetery details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. | |
The Souda Bay War Cemetery is a military cemetery administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at Souda Bay, Crete, Greece. It contains 19 burials from World War I and 731 World War II burials where the body was identified along with another 776 burials of bodies which are unable to be identified (Battle of Crete). It was designed by architect Louis de Soissons.
In the South East corner of the cemetery is a pillar memorial to the Seaforth Highlanders and their part in the international occupation of Crete, in the period March to November 1897.
Souda Bay is a Collection Cemetery in the North of Crete. It was one of the original sites used by the occupying forces between 1941 and 1945.
In May 1941, the Commonwealth force in Crete was organised in five widely separated defence areas along the north coast - around the three airfields at Heraklion, Rethymnon and Maleme, and at Souda Bay and the port of Chania. The Germans launched their attack on 20 May with airborne troops. The airfield at Maleme was quickly captured and used for landing German reinforcements.
On 23 May, the remainder of the Maleme position had to be given up and its defenders fell back to Chania. On 26 May, the Allied line west of Chania was broken. Souda Bay became indefensible and the troops from these two positions, with the remainder of the Maleme garrison, withdrew across the island to Sfakion, where many of them were evacuated by sea on the nights of the 28 - 31 May. The airborne attacks on the Heraklion and Rethymnon positions on 20 May were repulsed. Heraklion was successfully defended until the night of 29/29 May when the garrison was evacuated by sea.
Orders for the Rethymnon garrison to fight its way southward for evacuation did not arrive, and it was overwhelmed on 31 May. Of the total Commonwealth land force of 32,000 men, 18,000 were evacuated, 12,000 were taken prisoner and 2,000 were killed. The site of Souda Bay War Cemetery was chosen after the war and graves were moved there by 21st and 22nd Australian War Graves Units from the four burial grounds that had been established by the German occupying forces at Chania, Heraklion, Rethymnon and Galatas, and from isolated sites and civilian cemeteries.
Among those buried there are: Capt Charles Maurice Clynes Military Cross (1919 - 1945) The Royal Irish Fusiliers att. Special Air Service Regt. Army Air Corps. Buried at Plot 16 Row A Grave 20.
Military Cross : The above officer was commanding the West Force in Operation "TENEMENT" on SYMI on 13 - 14 July 44. The fact that this force was in position by zero hour despite difficulties of terrain was due in no small measure to the drive and initiative displayed by Capt. Clynes.
The dispositions of his force for the capture of the strong enemy position at SAN FANCURIA were excellent. On the order to attack being received he exposed himself fearlessly to accurate enemy MG fire the better to direct his forces. He himself led the final assault under heavy fire. His use of ground left our casualties ridiculously low. After the fall of the position he moved part of his force to bring fire on the CASTELLO and ordered the destruction of all enemy installations.
He displayed gallantry and leadership of the highest order in the rapidly taking of a heavily wired and mined position, the capture of which was essential to the general plan of the operation.
Capt Charles Maurice Clynes Wounded in Action by an ELAS sniper 29 January 1945 near Heraklion - Died of his Wounds as a POW, 6 February 1945 Athens, his body was returned to Crete for burial.
Captain John Pendlebury (archaeologist) Special Operations Executive (1904–1941), Executed by Fallschirmjäger in Heraklion. Buried in Plot 10 Row E Grave 13. The invasion of Crete began on 20 May 1941, Pendlebury was in the Heraklion area when the invasion started with heavy bombing followed by troops dropped by parachute. The enemy forced an entry into Heraklion but were driven out by regular Greek and British troops and by islanders armed with assorted weapons.
On 21 May 1941, when German troops took over Heraklion, Pendlebury slipped away with his Cretan friends heading for Krousonas, the village of Kapetanios Satanas, which was some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the southwest. They had the intention of launching a counterattack, but on the way there Pendlebury left the vehicle to open fire on some German troops, who fired back. Some Stukas came over and Pendlebury was wounded in the chest. Aristea Drossoulakis took him into her nearby cottage and he was laid on a bed. The cottage was overrun and a German doctor treated him chivalrously, dressing his wounds; he was later given an injection. [1]
Lieutenant Kenneth Butler Lamonby, (Special Forces Officer), (1920 - 1943), formerly of the Suffolk Regiment, Royal Artillery and at the time of death; of Special Boat Squadron (S Detachment). (1920 - 1943) Buried at Plot 13, Row E, Grave 12.
Staff Sergeant Dudley Perkins 1915 – 25 February 1944), also known as Kiwi Perkins, was a New Zealand soldier who fought in Greece during World War II and participated in the Cretan resistance. [2] Buried in Plot 15, Row C, Grave 12.
In a shared Grave Plot 16, Row B, Grave 2 - Private Thomas Morris (RASC) (1929 - 1944), also of Special Boat Squadron (L Detachment), SAS and Gunner Albert Knaggs 4th Regiment (RA) (1922 - 1944) also of Special Raiding Squadron. Both died in the same Air Crash whilst transiting to Crete for Operations.
Albert Edward CummingsThe youngest known burial. Mercantile Marine S.S. "Corinthia". Died 10 June 17, Age 16 years old. Buried at Plot 11, Row C, Grave 17.
Captain Thomas Victor Sommerville DSO OBE MC & BAR Royal Army Medical Corps Oldest Serviceman Died 23 November 1941 age 56 years old, after a short illness.
Along with his batman Corporal Fred Marlow, they stayed on the Island after the battle. They were befriended by local partisans, and lived in the hills and mountains during the summer of 1941. During this period Somerville was taken ill; he died on 23 November 1941 and was buried in a local cemetery lying between a local soldier and a local woman. At the end of the war, he was reburied at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Souda Bay, Crete. Buried at Plot 13, Row E, Grave 1.
Donkeyman Frances Connor Merchant Navy S.S. Logician (Liverpool). Oldest Burial Died 16 May 1941, Age 65 years old. Buried at Plot 8, Row C, Grave 17.
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete rests about 160 km (99 mi) south of the Greek mainland, and about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Anatolia. Crete has an area of 8,450 km2 (3,260 sq mi) and a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi). It bounds the southern border of the Aegean Sea, with the Sea of Crete to the north and the Libyan Sea to the south. Crete covers 260 km from west to east but is narrow from north to south, spanning three longitudes but only half a latitude.
The Battle of Crete, codenamed Operation Mercury, was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, with multiple German airborne landings on Crete. Greek and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. After only one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered heavy casualties and the Allied troops were confident that they would defeat the invasion. The next day, through communication failures, Allied tactical hesitation, and German offensive operations, Maleme Airfield in western Crete fell, enabling the Germans to land reinforcements and overwhelm the defensive positions on the north of the island. Allied forces withdrew to the south coast. More than half were evacuated by the British Royal Navy and the remainder surrendered or joined the Cretan resistance. The defence of Crete evolved into a costly naval engagement; by the end of the campaign the Royal Navy's eastern Mediterranean strength had been reduced to only two battleships and three cruisers.
Maleme is a small village and military airport 16 km (9.9 mi) to the west of Chania, in north western Crete, Greece. It is located in Platanias municipality, in Chania regional unit.
The military history of Greece during World War II began on 28 October 1940, when the Italian Army invaded Greece from Albania, beginning the Greco-Italian War. The Greek Army temporarily halted the invasion and pushed the Italians back into Albania. The Greek successes forced Nazi Germany to intervene. The Germans invaded Greece and Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941, and overran both countries within a month, despite British aid to Greece in the form of an expeditionary corps. The conquest of Greece was completed in May with the capture of Crete from the air, although the Fallschirmjäger suffered such extensive casualties in this operation that the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht abandoned large-scale airborne operations for the remainder of the war. The German diversion of resources in the Balkans is also considered by some historians to have delayed the launch of the invasion of the Soviet Union by a critical month, which proved disastrous when the German Army failed to take Moscow.
Souda is a town and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 22.007 km2 (8.497 sq mi). It is an important ferry and naval port at the head of Souda Bay.
This is the complete order of battle for the Battle of Crete and related operations in 1941.
John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury was a British archaeologist who worked for British intelligence during World War II. He was captured and summarily executed by German troops during the Battle of Crete.
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east. The bay is overlooked on both sides by hills, with a relatively low and narrow isthmus in the west near Chania.
Chania International Airport "Daskalogiannis" is an international airport located near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri peninsula of the Greek island of Crete, serving the city of Chania, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) away. It is a gateway to western Crete for an increasing number of tourists. The airport is named after Daskalogiannis, a Cretan rebel against Ottoman rule in the 18th century and is a joint civil–military airport. It is the sixth busiest airport in Greece.
The 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment was an infantry battalion of the British Army created in 1881 by the redesignation of the 84th Regiment of Foot in 1881. The battalion was in existence from 1881 until 1948, when it amalgamated with the 1st Battalion.
Maleme Airport is an airport situated at Maleme, Crete. It has two runways with no lights. The airport has closed for commercial aviation, but the Chania Aeroclub continues to use it.
The Battle of Rethymno was part of the Battle of Crete, fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete between 20 and 29 May 1941. Australian and Greek forces commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Ian Campbell defended the town of Rethymno and the nearby airstrip against a German paratrooper attack by the 2nd Parachute Regiment of the 7th Air Division commanded by Colonel Alfred Sturm.
The 5th Airmobile Brigade "5th Cretan Division", formerly the 5th Infantry Division and commonly referred to simply as the Cretan Division, is an air assault brigade of the Hellenic Army responsible for the defense of the southern Aegean sea.
Rethymno is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 34,000 inhabitants.
Quéant Road Cemetery is a World War I cemetery located between the villages of Buissy and Quéant in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France. Situated on the north side of the D14 road, about three kilometres from Buissy, it contains 2,377 burials and commemorations of Commonwealth soldiers who died in the era of 1917 and 1918. The first burials were of soldiers who died in the period from September to November 1918. Following the Armistice the cemetery was enlarged to accommodate over 2,200 burials moved from surrounding battlefields and cemeteries.
Georgios Petrakis, better known as Petrakogiorgis, was a Greek businessman, partisan, and politician. He was a leading figure in the Cretan resistance of the years 1941 – 1944 against the Axis occupation forces, well respected for his patriotism, courage, honesty, perspicacity and selflessness.
The Battle of 42nd Street was fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. On 20 May, Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete. A week later, after the British and Commonwealth forces defending the island had been forced to withdraw towards Chania, a force of several understrength Australian and New Zealand infantry battalions established a defensive line along the Hania to Tsikalaria road (Tsikalarion) south-east of Chania, forming a rearguard for the withdrawing troops. On 27 May, as a German battalion advanced towards the road, the Anzac defenders carried out a bayonet charge that inflicted heavy casualties on the German attackers, which forced them to withdraw and briefly halted the German advance.
The Battle of Heraklion was part of the Battle of Crete, fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete between 20 and 30 May 1941. British, Australian and Greek forces of 14th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Brian Chappel, defended Heraklion port and airfield against a German paratrooper attack by the 1st Parachute Regiment of the 7th Air Division, commanded by Colonel Bruno Bräuer.
The Slamat disaster is a succession of three related shipwrecks during the Battle of Greece on 27 April 1941. The Dutch troopship Slamat and the Royal Navy destroyers HMS Diamond and HMS Wryneck sank as a result of air attacks by Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers. The three ships sank off the east coast of the Peloponnese during Operation Demon, which was the evacuation of British, Australian and New Zealand troops from Greece after their defeat by invading German and Italian forces.
The Battle of Maleme was one of three main battles that occurred in the Battle of Crete against the Fallschirmjäger, in the Nazi German Mediterranean campaign in 1941. The overall plan was to conquer Crete as part of Operation Merkur, with German Paratroopers landing in three main areas, Heraklion, Maleme and Rethymno. The operation relied on German airborne troops, both paratroopers and in military gliders. Due to a mistake, and despite being in a superior position, New Zealand troops abandoned a strategic hill, leaving it to the Germans, and then lost the airport. The airport was then used by the Germans to transport in more troops which saw the whole island lost to the Germans.
