Battle of Crete

battle_name=Battle of Crete

Casualties

The Germans admitted losses of 6,200 men: 3,714 dead and 2,494 wounded. Today, however, there are around 4,500 German graves at Maleme alone. Allied soldiers claimed to have buried 900 German corpses in Rethimnon and 1,250 corpses at Heraklion by the fifth day of battle. German losses may have been considerably higher than admitted. Winston Churchill claimed the Germans must have suffered well over 15,000 casualties, and Admiral Cunningham felt that 22,000 had become casualties. Christopher Buckley in the book Greece and Crete 1941 gave a cautious estimate of 16,800 casualties.

Related Topics:
Winston Churchill - Admiral Cunningham

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A trio of German brothers from an old noble military family were killed on the island. The first to fall was Leberecht von Blüchen, who was attempting to resupply his brother, Lieutenant Count Wolfgang von Blüchen, with ammunition when the latter and his platoon were surrounded by members of the Black Watch. Leberecht had commandeered a horse which he attempted to gallop through British lines; he almost reached his brother's position, and in fact was shot before the count's very eyes. The next day, the count was killed, followed by the youngest brother, Hans-Joachim, who was reported killed in action a few days later but whose body was never recovered. To this day, Cretan villagers report seeing a ghostly rider galloping at night down a road near the spot where Leberecht was shot; yet until they were told the story of the von Blüchen brothers, they had assumed that he was British.

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The Allies lost 3,500 soldiers: 1,751 dead, with an equal number wounded, and an enormous number captured (12,254 Commonwealth and 5,255 Greek). There were also 1,828 dead and 183 wounded among the Navy. A total sum of 3,579 dead and 1,900 wounded.

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A large number of civilians were killed in the crossfire and died fighting as partisans. Many Cretans were murdered by the Germans in reprisals, both during the battle and in the occupation that followed. One Cretan source puts the number of Cretans killed by German action during the war at 6,593 men, 1,113 women and 869 children.

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