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Cretan Resistance
The Cretan resistance ( el, Κρητική Αντίσταση) was a resistance movement against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy by the residents of the Greek island of Crete during World War II. Part of the larger Greek resistance, it lasted from 20 May 1941, when the German ''Wehrmacht'' invaded the island in the Battle of Crete, until the spring of 1945 when they surrendered to the British. For the first time during World War II, attacking German forces faced in Crete a substantial resistance from the local population. In the Battle of Crete, Cretan civilians picked off paratroopers or attacked them with knives, axes, scythes or even bare hands. As a result, many casualties were inflicted upon the invading German paratroopers during the battle. Development The Cretan resistance movement was formed very soon after the Battle of Crete, with an initial planning meeting on 31 May 1941. It brought together a number of different groups and leaders and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-779-0003-22, Griechenland, Schild über Zerstörung Von Kandanos
The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (german: Bundesarchiv) are the National Archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media ( Claudia Roth since 2021) under the German Chancellery, and before 1998, to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. On 6 December 2008, the Archives donated 100,000 photos to the public, by making them accessible via Wikimedia Commons. History The federal archive for institutions and authorities in Germany, the first precursor to the present-day Federal Archives, was established in Potsdam, Brandenburg in 1919, a later date than in other European countries. This national archive documented German government dating from the founding of the North German Confederation in 1867. It also included material from the older German Confederation and the Imperial Chamber Court. The oldest documents in this collection dated back to the year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archanes
Archanes ( el, Αρχάνες, Godart & Olivier abbreviation: ARKH) is a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of . Population 5,042 (2011). It is also the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan settlement in central Crete. The discovery of ancient roads leading from Archanes to Juktas, Anemospilia, Xeri Kara and Vathypetro indicate that Archanes was an important hub in the region during Minoan times. Archaeological evidence indicates that ancient Archanes spread out over the same area as the modern town of Archanes. Archaeology In 1912, Xanthoudides noted the importance of Archanes, but Sir Arthur Evans was the first to characterize the site as palatial, declaring that Archanes was likely a Summer Palace for the Knossos kings. Spyridon Marinatos and N. Platon excavated minor areas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kidnap Of Heinrich Kreipe
The kidnapping of Heinrich Kreipe was an operation executed jointly by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and local resistance members in Crete in German-occupied Greece during the Second World War. The operation was launched on 4 February 1944, when SOE officer Patrick Leigh Fermor landed in Crete with the intention of abducting notorious war criminal and commander of 22nd Air Landing Division, Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller. By the time of the arrival of the rest of the abduction team, led by William Stanley Moss, two months later, Müller had been succeeded by Heinrich Kreipe, who was chosen as the new target. On the night of 26 April, Kreipe's car was ambushed while en route from his residence to his divisional headquarters. Kreipe was tied and forced into the back seat while Leigh Fermor and Moss impersonated him and his driver respectively. Kreipe's notorious impatience at roadblocks enabled the car to pass numerous checkpoints before being abandoned at the hamle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ill Met By Moonlight
''Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe'' is a non-fiction partly-autobiographical book written by W. Stanley Moss, a British soldier, writer and traveller. It describes an operation in Crete during the Second World War to capture German general Heinrich Kreipe. Moss kept a diary during the war years and based his book on it. The 2014 edition includes an introduction by one of Moss's children and an afterword by Patrick Leigh Fermor. The story was made into a 1957 film with the same title starring Dirk Bogarde by the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Development & publication The book recounts Moss's service, alongside Patrick Leigh Fermor, as an agent of Special Operations Executive (SOE), including their kidnapping of Heinrich Kreipe, commander of ''22. Luftlande-Division'' (22nd Air Landing Division) on German-occupied Crete, and Kreipe's removal to Cairo for intelligence and propaganda purposes. While the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida (Crete), Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida (Turkey), Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the ''Mount Ida (Turkey), Phrygian Ida'' in classical antiquity and is mentioned in the ''Iliad'' of Homer and the ''Aeneid'' of Virgil. Both are associated with the mother goddess in the deepest layers of pre-Greek myth, in that Mount Ida in Anatolia was sacred to Cybele, who is sometimes called ''Mater Idaea'' ("Idaean Mother"), while Rhea (mythology), Rhea, often identified with Cybele, put the infant Zeus to nurse with Amalthea (mythology), Amaltheia at Mount Ida in Crete. Thereafter, his birthplace was sacred to Zeus, the king and father of Greek gods and goddesses. Etymology The term ''Ida'' (Ἴδη) is of unknown origin. Instances of ''i-da'' in Linear A probably refer to the mountain in Crete. Three inscriptions b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Leigh Fermor
Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greatest living travel writer, on the basis of books such as '' A Time of Gifts'' (1977).Smith, Helen"Literary legend learning to type at 92" ''The Guardian'' (2 March 2007). A BBC journalist once termed him "a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene". Early life and education Leigh Fermor was born in London, the son of Sir Lewis Leigh Fermor, a distinguished geologist, and Muriel Aeyleen (Eileen), daughter of Charles Taafe Ambler. Shortly after his birth, his mother and sister left to join his father in India, leaving the infant Patrick in England with a family in Northamptonshire: first in the village of Weedon, and later in nearby Dodford. He did not meet his parents or his sister again until he was four years old. As a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgios Petrakis
Georgios Petrakis ( el, Γεώργιος Πετράκης; 1890 – 1972), better known as Petrakogiorgis (also transliterated as Petrakoyiorgis, Petrakoyeorgis, el, Πετρακογιώργης), 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. Before World War II Petrakogiorgis was born in the village of Magarikari, Mesara Plain, Crete, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. His parents were Emmanuel Petrakis and Antiope Papastefanaki. Petrakogiorgis fought as an officer in the Asia Minor Campaign, after the end of which he worked as a merchant of agricultural products and owned an olive oil mill and a soap factory. Resistance service Aged around 50 when the war broke out, Petrakogiorgis was too old to be called up. Nevertheless, he was one of the regional leaders recrui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Organization Of Crete
The National Organization of Crete ( el, Εθνική Οργάνωση Κρήτης, ''Ethnikí Orgánosi Krítis'' (EOK)) was a resistance organization established in the island of Crete with the cooperation and encouragement of British Intelligence during the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II. Establishment and ideology EOK was established in June 1943 with the aid of Tom Dunbabin, then SOE Field Commander on Crete. Predominantly Venizelist in sympathy and with members ranging from centre-left to right-wing, EOK was meant to act as a counterweight to the pro-communist EAM resistance organization. EOK evolved from the secret organization AEAK ( el, Ανώτατη Επιτροπή Αγώνα Κρήτης, "Supreme Committee of Cretan Struggle"), that was established in Chania on June 15, 1941. AEAK was founded a mere two weeks after the end of the Battle of Crete by patriots Andreas Papadakis, Ioannis Paizis, Andreas Polentas, Titos Georgiadis and Ioannis Ioannidis. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King's Medal For Courage In The Cause Of Freedom
The King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom is a British medal for award to foreign nationals who aided the Allied effort during the Second World War. Eligibility Instituted on 23 August 1945, the medal was a reward to foreign nationals for acts of courage in furtherance of the interests of the British and Allied cause during the Second World War. Many were awarded to members of resistance groups in German-occupied Europe, including for helping British servicemen evade the enemy or escape from occupied areas, and for supplying key intelligence.Awardees who supplied intelligence included: Torstein Raaby and Haakon Sørbye. The award was open not only to civilians, but also to military personnel for services outside the scope of normal military duties. Distribution of the medal began in 1947. Around 3,200 medals were awarded. People who had made a deserving effort to further the British and Allied cause during World War II in less dangerous ways were eligible for the awa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as serving in the ''Reichswehr'' of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany. Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the ''Pour le Mérite'' for his actions on the Italian Front. In 1937, he published his classic book on military tactics, '' Infantry Attacks'', drawing on his experiences in that war. In World War II, he commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established his reputation as one of the ablest tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname ''der Wüstenfuchs'', "the Desert Fox". Among his British adversaries he had a reputation for chivalry, and his phrase "war without hate" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Field Marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as a five-star rank (OF-10) in modern-day armed forces in many countries. Promotion to the rank of field marshal in many countries historically required extraordinary military achievement by a general (a wartime victory). However, the rank has also been used as a divisional command rank and also as a brigade command rank. Examples of the different uses of the rank include Austria-Hungary, Pakistan, Prussia/Germany, India and Sri Lanka for an extraordinary achievement; Spain and Mexico for a divisional command ( es, link=no, mariscal de campo); and France, Portugal and Brazil for a brigade command (french: link=no, maréchal de camp, pt, marechal de campo). Origins The origin of the term dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
