Cretan civilians VS German paratroopers in Crete

On a couple of other discussion sites there were an interesting and heated discussion about the German paratroops killed by Cretan civilians. Someone had brought up that the paras were armed pretty much with just pistols were alone and misplaced. Not exactly in "open" battle. What the Cretans did did not fall under the Geneva Conventions. Especially the alleged torture and mutilations. But since the civilians were not covered should they have been tried? And were the Germans justified in thier reprisals?



One of the statements,
"Axabrax: the Germans were killed by Cretan civillians wielding farm implements in open battle.

The commander of the German Mountain troops could not believe that 'élite' troops could have been overcome by civillians in combat, so assumed that they were taken prisoner by the British Empire troops then handed over to the Cretans, who murdered them.

He then perpetrated massacres of Cretan civillians in reprisal, because as we all know, two wrongs do make a right, especially when the first 'wrong' never really happened.

Check Anthony Beevor's excellent account for the facts.

If any Paratroopers were ill-treated by the Cretans, they had it coming. No-one invited them after all. Similar things happened to downed Luftwaffe air-crew in London during the Blitz – and the English are meant to be so much more civilized than Mediterranean types, after all!"

 

In the book , "Battles Lost and Won, Great Campaigns of World War II " by Hanson W. Baldwin, on page 414,note # 96:

"The Germans later alleged that the defenders had committed atrocities upon their troops near Kastelli at other points in Crete. After the fighting was over the reports were thoroughly investigated by a German military commission, which found them to be exaggerated. There is no doubt,however, that some atrocities were committed-none, so far as it is known,by the British troops, but by the Cretans. The bodies of some German dead were mutilated."

 

HMMMMMMM...Do you think that the civilians had a right or were justified in defending thier land? Should they have just stood back and let the Germans invade and take over?

 

Of course they had the right! How would you feel if a guy with a strange mustache tried to take over what is rightfully yours! If the Germans where murderd by the Cretans, then it was their own fault for coming!

 

That's my belief also. But some others think totally the opposite. I don't condone the alleged mutilation or the torture but I feel that citizens have the right to defend thier land against invaders during war.

 

"Farther west a detachment had dropped around Kastelli, and
the Greeks, disdaining the use of cover and forgetting anything they might have learned about tactics, killed about fifty and took prisoner twenty-eight others, fifteen of them wounded. Major Bedding, for the prisoners' own safety, had them locked up in the local jail for they were in a fair way to joining the other fifty. The locals did not appear to like the invaders very much and were very weak in their understanding of the provisions of the Geneva Convention.

Alikianou was another enemy objective in the plan to capture Canea and Suda, and two battalions of paratroopers were dropped near 8 Greek Regiment, with whom Sergeants Solon and MacNab were working. The Engineer Battalion of 7 Air Division was attacked by the Greek recruits, many of them little more than boys who, for the most part, had never even fired a rifle. MacNab has placed his impressions on record:

‘On the morning of 20 May enemy gliders and paratroops landed all round the area. Some paratroops landed in swampy ground north of the battalion's position and were unable to free themselves of their heavy equipment and were drowned. The Greeks immediately undertook mopping up. They attacked with great dash and reckless gallantry with little or no prudence or tactical skill. It was guerrilla warfare in its most primitive form…. They were joined by villagers with shot guns from the little village to the north (Kirtomadhes) and even an old house wife came dashing down the road brandishing the family meat axe with which she did considerable execution on the wounded before the Germans shot her.'

This is from "The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945"

 

Heres a response to my question awhile ago on another board.

"I feel the paratroopers were not illegal troops, therefore should have been accorded the rights of the Geneva Convention. I believe the behavior of the Cretan civilians in their use of meat axes, pitchforks, and house knives on helpless wounded men, regardless of politics, as a crime. I cheer for every deranged civilian shot, and if I were a sergeant in the Fallshirmjaegers, and some of my boys, or friends were butchered in this way, I might just hose any and all civilians approaching me. Clear every farmhouse with unannounced grenades. Hell, bayonet their dogs and use their churches for outhouses."

And I do want to state again once again I do not approve of the torture and mutilations. Nor the murder of wounded or prisoners. And the people responsible should be dealt with. Not the people as a whole. And I do believe that the citizens of any country have the right to defend and protect their lands. And that means everybody.

 

If you are interested in Crete in WWII I can advise you to read I"ll met by Moonlight, the Abdiction of General Kneipe" by Stanley Moss. This is the true story of an Anglo Cretan commando which kidnapped the Gemran commander of Crete and took him to Egypt after a huge man hunt through Crete. In fact the British had to stay with the German all the time, for had they left him with the Cretan, they would have killed him. It shows how deeply the Cretans hated the Germans. This even surprised the British Commandos.

 

Has anyone seen this move yet?

The 11th Day

 

Thanks Ill have to see if I can find a copy .

 

I bought my 2007 copy while in Crete, they have some English books in the tourist areas but the original printing was done in England by Harrap in 1950, so it should be easy to find.

 

Well we have a bookstore by the name of "Powell's" here that sells new and used books. It is 3 stories tall and covers a whole city block . Ill have to check there LOL.

 

Or maybe you'd prefer the filmed version? Both should be easy to get in the U.S. I found plenty of links while googling for it.

Ill Met by Moonlight (1957)

 

This is a dubious statement considering the quality of English cuisine.

Thank goodness I don't live where you live, with a bookstore like that !

 

Za your new avatar is great, I thought it didn't work but after having a closer look at the setting I saw it was you and the Red Rabbi trying to get rid of a the avatar that would not download correctly.

 

[Thank goodness I don't live where you live, with a bookstore like that ![/quote]

Its freaking awesome!!!! Millions of books!!! I could spend the whole day there just looking . And all my money too LOL.

 

Since a new member brought up Crete. I thought he may have missed this LOL.

 

Bump for some who haven't seen this.

 

No the murder of the Fallschirmjaeger was "not cricket" uner the Geneva conventions. But war is war, really there are no rules when it comes to deadly combat anything goes. If i'd been a crete islander i might have been out there fighting the Germans (Crete had a couple army divisions of their own, but they were sent to Greece and captured there by the Germans earlier in the year). If i'd been a German paratrooper, especially an officer or NCO, let's just say i wouldn't have done anything to stop my troops from getting appropriate revenge even on civilians.

 

sadly enough the stupid German Photographers were on hand to view round up civilians and then the machine-gunning down of these poor folks, children and old men and women, all civilians. there is a sequence of film held and can be viewed on the BA site, in fact because of this incident and others the CO in the Fallschirmtruppen that was CO'd over the island after it fell was tried and condemned to hanging I believe