Qualla: Battle of Rethymno https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:30 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/3/battle-of-rethymno-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Rethymno https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno Battle of Rethymno: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno/ Photo credit New Zealand Official, Public domain. On 20 May 1941, an Australian battalion commander named Ian Campbell stood on a low ridge above a stretch of Cretan coastline he had been digging into for less than three weeks. He had 1,270 Australian veterans, two thousand or so under-equipped Greek soldiers - some with three rifle rounds each - eight artillery pieces, and two Matilda tanks that had a tendency to break down. Above him, the sky began to fill with German transport planes flying parallel to the coast at four hundred feet, and out of them tumbled paratroopers, weapons containers, and three men whose chutes failed to open. The thing Campbell had to do, with the equipment he had, was to keep this stretch of beach out of German hands. He almost did it.

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Image: New Zealand Official | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/3/battle-of-rethymno-wp/sw33-battle-of-rethymno-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Rethymno: Why Crete Mattered https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno/ Photo credit Unknown artist, Public domain. Hitler had ordered the invasion of Crete to deny the British an air base in the eastern Mediterranean and protect the Romanian oil fields. The German plan, codenamed Operation Mercury, was the largest airborne operation the world had ever seen: four parachute drops along the nort...

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Image: Unknown artist | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/3/battle-of-rethymno-wp/sw33-battle-of-rethymno-why-crete-mattered.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Rethymno: The Drop That Went Wrong https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno/ Photo credit Jebulon, CC0. The German plan called for the paratroopers to land at 14:00 after a softening-up bombardment. Dust storms at the airfields in mainland Greece had wrecked the schedule. Aircraft were taking off late, taking off in the wrong order, taking off without fighter escort. The bombardmen...

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Image: Jebulon | CC0

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/3/battle-of-rethymno-wp/sw33-battle-of-rethymno-the-drop-that-went-wrong.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Rethymno: The Town Held by Priests https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno/ Photo credit Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY 3.0. The 2nd Battalion of the German 2nd Parachute Regiment landed near the village of Perivolia, west of Rethymno. They reached their weapons, regrouped, and marched on the town - which they had been told was undefended. They found instead the Cretan gendarmerie. Around them, armed c...

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Image: Jerzy Strzelecki | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/3/battle-of-rethymno-wp/sw33-battle-of-rethymno-the-town-held-by-priests.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Rethymno: Hill A and the Olive Oil Factory https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno/ Photo credit Weixler, Franz Peter, CC BY-SA 3.0 de. East of Rethymno, the German 1st Battalion had reached the dominant terrain feature - Hill A - and was dug in on top of it, having taken four hundred dead or wounded in doing so. Campbell counterattacked the next morning. After fierce close-quarters fighting, the Australians and ...

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Image: Weixler, Franz Peter | CC BY-SA 3.0 de

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/3/battle-of-rethymno-wp/sw33-battle-of-rethymno-hill-a-and-the-olive-oil-factory.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Rethymno: The Surrender and What Came After https://qualla.com/battle-of-rethymno/ Photo credit Lapplaender, CC BY-SA 3.0 de. Maleme had fallen. Freyberg knew the battle of Crete was lost and ordered evacuation on 27 May. He could not get the order to Campbell. Without a working code, encrypted radio messages could not be deciphered; clear messages would alert the Germans to the evacuation routes. A mes...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/3/battle-of-rethymno-wp/sw33-battle-of-rethymno-the-surrender-and-what-came-after.mp3 0:06 6 full