Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0525-39, Kreta, Kondomari, Erschießung von Zivilisten

Fortress Crete (german: Festung Kreta) was the term used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by the German occupation forces to refer to the garrison and fortification of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) 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 ...

. The Greek island of Crete was seized by the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

after a fierce

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

at the end of May 1941. The Germans occupied the western three prefectures of the island (the prefectures of

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

and

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') 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 30,000 inhabitants ...

) with their headquarters in

, whilst the Italians occupied the easternmost prefecture of

Lasithi Lasithi ( el, Λασίθι) is the easternmost regional unit on the island of Crete, to the east of Heraklion. Its capital is Agios Nikolaos, the other major towns being Ierapetra and Sitia. The mountains include the Dikti in the west and the Thr ...

until the Italian capitulation in September 1943. The first German garrison unit was the 5th Mountain Division, which had seen combat during the capture of Crete. In late autumn 1941, the 5th Mountain Division was replaced by the 713th and 164th Infantry Divisions, which in early 1942 were reorganised as Fortress Division Crete (german: Festungs-Division Kreta - FDK). In the summer of 1942, FDK was split to form the smaller Fortress Brigade Kreta (german: Festungs-Brigade Kreta - FBK) and the 164th Light Afrika Division (german: 164. Leichte Afrika Division) which was sent to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. The 164th was succeeded in 1943-1944 by the 22nd Infantry Division. In autumn 1944, after the 22nd Division withdrew from Crete, the remaining German units on the island were consolidated under the 133th Fortress Division (german: 133. Festungs-Division). The Italian garrison units were the 51st Infantry Division "Siena" and LI Special Brigade "Lecce", which surrendered to the Germans after the

Italian armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

of 1943. The garrison's strength rose and fell considerably, depending on the progress of the

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

campaigns, and the perceived threat for invasion. Its peak was 75,000 men in 1943 and its nadir 10,000 at its surrender of 12 May 1945. After the general retreat from Greece in October 1944, the Germans, along with some Italian battalions, remained in Crete and in the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

islands. They were cut off, possessed no air power or naval forces, with only some small patrol vessels and landing barges to maintain the links among the islands. The food problem was a serious one both for them and the inhabitants. Links were maintained (mainly mail) with some captured

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bombers under Luftwaffe colours which made flights at night from Austria. The eastern part of Crete was evacuated during the winter by the Axis forces and "occupied" by a very weak mixed British and Greek garrison. There was, then, an unofficial truce between the two parties until the final surrender order issued by the OKW in May 1945 after the

unconditional surrender An unconditional surrender is a surrender in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. It is often demanded with the threat of complete destruction, extermination or annihilation. In modern times, unconditional surrenders most ofte ...

on 8 May. The same order of surrender was valid for Rhodes and the other minor islands still in Axis hands.

Commanders of the German forces on Crete

*01.Jun.1941 to 08.Jun.1941 : General der Flieger

Kurt Student Kurt Arthur Benno Student (12 May 1890 – 1 July 1978) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the ''Fallschi ...

, *09.Jun.1941 to 28.Aug.1942 : General der Flieger

Alexander Andrae Alexander Andrae (27 April 1888 – 3 April 1979), whose first name is often mistakenly given as ''Waldemar'', was a German military officer from Kösling, Upper Silesia. Initially pursuing an Army career, he then joined the security police and ...

, *06 Sep.1942 to 01 Jul.1944 : Gen.Lt. (Lw)

Bruno Bräuer Bruno Bräuer (4 February 1893 – 20 May 1947) was a general in the paratroop forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. He served as a commander on Crete (called Fortress Crete by the Germans) and then commanded the 9th Paratroop Division. A ...

(briefly substituted in April 1944 by Carl-Erik Koehler), *01 Jul.1944 to 18 Sep.1944 : Gen.d.Inf.

Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller __NOTOC__ Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller (29 August 1897 – 20 May 1947) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He led an infantry regiment in the early stages of the war and by 1943 was commander of the 22nd Air Landing ...

, *18 Sep.1944 to 09 Oct.1944 : Gen.Lt.

Ernst Klepp Dr. jur. Ernst Klepp (24 December 1889 – 18 August 1958), was an Austrian infantry general and jurist from Preßburg, Austria-Hungary who served in the Austro-Hungarian army and in the army of Nazi Germany. Career Klepp attended the Theresia ...

, *09 Oct.1944 to 08 May 1945 : Oberst (later, as of 1.Dec.1944 Gen.Maj.)

Hans-Georg Benthack __NOTOC__ Hans-Georg Benthack (2 March 1894 – 17 August 1973) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron C ...

. Until the Italian armistice of 1943, the Italian occupation forces were commanded by General

Angelico Carta Angelico (Angelo) Carta (born 1886 in Riola Sardo) was an Italian military officer, best known for his actions during the Axis occupation of Crete in World War II. Biography Carta was an artillery officer and became commander of the 51st In ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortress Crete Crete in World War II German occupation of Greece during World War II Military units and formations of Germany in World War II Mediterranean theatre of World War II