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1941
RETROSPECT
South
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In June the Germans captured the island of Crete by the use
of airborne troops. Gliders were used in large numbers. This
photograph shows Junkers Ju S 2 S mostly wrecked on
Maleme airfield.
British retreating in Libya, t h e Italian Fleet plucked u p
h e a r t to sally forth. A Sunderland spotted their ships and
sent in an urgent report. T h e result was the battle of
M a t a p a n , in which T.S.R. machines from H . M . S . Formidable
planted torpedoes into the Italian battleship
Vittorio Veneto, Blenheims bombed other Italian ships,
and Admiral C u n n i n g h a m ' s battleships sank two or mort'
Italian cruisers. This was some consolation for the British
setbacks in L i b y a .
T h e Failure in Greece
B u t in April t h e Germans fell upon Yugoslavia and
Greece in strength.
Their aircraft o u t n u m b e r e d those
which the E m p i r e a n d Greece could muster there, a n d
German air superiority, accompanied b y overwhelming
numbers of P a n z e r divisions, speedily overcame all opposition. After hard and gallant fighting, the British troops
and squadrons, as well as some of t h e Greek troops, were
evacuated, some t o E g y p t , some to Crete. During t h e
m o n t h of April, 250-odd Axis aircraft were destroyed by
the Middle E a s t C o m m a n d , b u t too m a n y were left over.
There p r o m p t l y followed Rashid Ali's revolt in Iraq,
which had been p r e t t y well denuded of British troops and
aircraft.
F o r a short while t h e R . A . F . station at
H a b b a n i y a h seemed t o be in danger, b u t p r o m p t and
daring air action averted t h e danger. I n d i a n troops were
flown u p in bomber-transport machines, and R . A . F .
squadrons were found somehow and sent t o t h e scene of
action. The revolt speedily collapsed.
T h e Germans, a t the time, were busy invading
Crete b y air. W e had left n o aircraft on t h e island,
and t h e N a v y undertook t o see t h a t no enemy troops
should reach it b y sea. I t was decided to t r y whether
our ground troops could hold t h e place without air
support. The experiment m a y well h a v e been worth
making, b u t it failed. A t great loss t o themselves,
t h e Germans poured in men b y troop-carriers and
gliders, some of t h e m landing b y p a r a c h u t e , while
Stukas battered our gun posts and infantry. As a
result, an air a t t a c k , unsupported b y Panzers, overH.M.S. Victorious, the aircraft carrier which played a
prominent part in the sinking of the Bismarck. H.M.S.
Formidable has also been completed and taken part in
operations.