The first time i had ever seen a FG 42 was in an illustration of Nazi Paratroopers landing in Crete against the British. I would like to know more about this whole operation!
For some quick overviews of the campaign. HyperWar: "The German Campaigns in the Balkans (Spring 1941)" BBC - WW2 People's War - Battle of Crete 1941 by Leonard Charles Eades Category Crete 1941
Hi! It would be a bit hard to precis this in a paragraph! Is your main language English? If so, your best bet is one of the following general histories of the campaign - Crete: The Battle And The Resistance by Anthony Beevor, The Lost Battle: Crete 1941 by Callum McDonald, and the good old The Fall Of Crete by Alan Clark. Beevor is detailed but very opinionated (as usual!) , Clark is very readable but dated (didn't know of the role of ULTRA in the events) and thus the best of all is perhaps McDonald. Also - for easy access there's always Wiki! Battle of Crete - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It would also be a good idea to read through this thread on this site: http://www.ww2f.com/naval-war-mediterrean-malta-crete/18255-battle-crete-1941-a.html
Correct, 42 means the year of the model and the Invasion of Crete was 41. Here is an intersting pic of near Suda. The MG appears to be an MP40
Checkout www.nzetc.org it has the New Zealand Official History of the battle for Crete written by Dan Davin who fought in the battle. I have read loads of books on the topic and Dan Davins book is the best i have found and on the website you will also find all the official battalion histories as well as the petrol company history who fought in prision valley as infantry holding that positions against the para for days and they had no infantry training so it was a good effort. The battalions who fought in the battle are 18th,19th,20th,21st,22nd,23rd,27 machine gun and 28th Maori. The Engineers,Divisional cavalry and some artillary units also fought as infantry. It is all a really good read and will give you all the info you need.
For a little more light-hearted fare, check out this propaganda combat footage from the German Wartime newsreel (Die Deutsche Wochenschau). Pay close attention ~ 2:50 into the clip and see if this reminds you of any other movie sequence you may have watched at some point. I'm guessing Francis Ford Coppola saw this same footage. [video=youtube;gM3ozuWYETE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM3ozuWYETE[/video]
WW2: O.S.S. Film Report - Crete (1942) (30 Minutes) Office of Strategic Services Film Report on "Unternehmen Merkur" Operation Mercury the German invasion of Crete during World War II and its eventual fall in ten days. Emphasizes the German victory over British, New Zealander and Australian forces rested in superior air power. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3nm-UcMERo
