THE NORTH ATLANTIC On the 26th a Catalina flying boat locates the "BISMARCK" about seven hundred miles from Brest.Aircraft from the "ARK ROYAL" mistake the British Cruiser "SHEFFIELD" for the German ship in fowl weather, but luckily the magnetic detinators of their torpedos fail. A secound strike finds the target this time, and fifteen Swordfish torpedo bombers make the attack with "contact" type detinators. Two of the missles find their mark and the steering of the mighty ship is damnaged, and she slows to a crawl. During the night she is attacked again by British destroyers with gun fire and torpedoes. CRETE Allied forces withdraw from Galatas. The Carrier "FORMIDABLE" launches an attack on the Stuka base at Scarpanto. The Carrier is hit twice by attacks from the air.
Crete : The German mountain troops re-entered the village after the New Zealanders had withdrawn. The streets were littered with corpses of Paratroopers, mountain troops, New Zealanders, but this was a decisive victory for the Germans and the road to Canea was open. Kampfgruppe Krakau had assembled near Alikianou and started moving east through very difficult mountainous terrain. Air/ground co-oridination failed in these conditions and at 1.10 p.m., a flight of Dornier bombers attacked I abteilung by mistake even though flags were laid out and white flares being fired off. The attack lasted for the best part of an hour and although no casualties were suffered, this of course did nothing to enhance the morale of the troops, besides the gruelling march. E
