TheCretan resistance (Greek:Κρητική Αντίσταση,Kritiki Antistasi) was a resistance movement against the occupying forces ofNazi Germany andFascist Italy by the residents of the Greek island ofCrete duringWorld War II.[1] Part of the largerGreek resistance, it lasted from 20 May 1941, when the GermanWehrmacht invaded the island in theBattle of Crete, until the spring of 1945 when they surrendered to the British. For the first time during World War II, attacking German forces faced in Crete a substantial resistance from the local population. In the Battle of Crete, Cretan civilians picked offparatroopers or attacked them with knives, axes, scythes, or even bare hands. As a result, many casualties were inflicted upon the invading German paratroopers during the battle.For their resistance to the Germans, the Cretan people paid a heavy toll in the form of reprisals.
The Cretan resistance movement was formed very soon after theBattle of Crete, with an initial planning meeting on 31 May 1941. It brought together a number of different groups and leaders and was initially termed the PMK (Πατριωτικó Μέτωπο Κρήτης – Patriotic Front of Crete), but later changed the name to EAM (Εθνικó Απελευθερωτικó Μέτωπο –National Liberation Front) like the principal communist-led resistance movement on the mainland. The primary objective of the movement, on the one hand, was to support the Cretan people under occupation by boosting morale, providing information, and distributing food at a time of great deprivation (due to confiscations by the Germans and Italians), and on the other hand to undertake certain operations against the Germans, including a number of sabotage operations.
Resistance in Crete involved figures such asPatrick Leigh Fermor,George Psychoundakis,Georgios Petrakis (Petrakogiorgis), Manolis Bandouvas, Antonis Grigorakis,Kostis Petrakis, John Lewis,Tom Dunbabin, Dudley Perkins,Sandy Rendel, John Houseman,Xan Fielding,Dennis Ciclitira, Ralph Stockbridge andBill Stanley Moss. Some of the movement's most famous moments included the abduction ofGeneral Heinrich Kreipe led by Leigh Fermor and Moss, the battle of Trahili, thesabotage of Damasta led by Moss and theairfield sabotages of Heraklion and Kastelli.[2]
Communication by boat with Egypt was established as a means of evacuating British andDominion soldiers who were trapped on Crete and for bringing in supplies and men to liaise with Cretan resistance fighters. The local British intelligence officer and resistance co-ordinatorJohn Pendlebury, who had been instrumental in mobilizing and preparing the local clan chiefs, prior to the invasion,[3] was executed by the Germans during theBattle of Crete. After this,"Monty" Woodhouse, who had been appointed director of theSOE inHeraklion, made contact with civilians. He approached a young high school student namedGeorge Doundoulakis after observing his keen knowledge as a Greek interpreter inArchanes during theBattle of Crete. He asked him to support SOE in hiding and assisting British andDominion soldiers who were unable to be evacuated. Doundoulakis formed an underground organisation under the auspices of the SOE, along with his brother,Helias Doundoulakis.[4]Doundoulakis' organisation led to two major accomplishments: the destruction of theKastelli Airfield, orchestrated by the SOE along with his friendKimon Zografakis,[5][6] and the destruction by theRAF of a German convoy destined to resupplyField MarshalErwin Rommel in September 1942. After the war, George Doundoulakis was awarded theKing's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom from Great Britain for his services and assisting in the evacuation and safety of British and Dominion stragglers from Crete.[7][8]
The non-communist wing was formed under the nameNational Organization of Crete (EOK) (with Andreas Papadakis as leader). Other resistance figures includedPetrakogiorgis, whose SOE's code name was "Selfridge," and Manolis Bandouvas, codenamed "Bo-peep".[9]
Both had their contacts inEOK, andSOE. When Dunbabin was replaced byPatrick Leigh Fermor, known to the Cretans as "Michalis",George Doundoulakis continued his intelligence gathering. George Doundoulakis, John Androulakis, andLeigh Fermor, along with guerrilla leader Manolis Bandouvas, would take refuge within the mountainous SOE hideouts ofMount Ida.[10] Leigh Fermor became renowned after the war in the British book and film,Ill Met by Moonlight, for hisabduction of German General Kreipe from Crete. Following Doundoulakis' exit from Crete to join the AmericanOffice of Strategic Services (OSS), he handed off leadership of the organisation he initiated to Mikis Akoumianakis, son of the caretaker atKnossos. Akoumianakis, known by his SOE code name "Minoan Mike," would later partake in thekidnapping of General Kreipe from Crete.[11]
Leigh Fermor has said of the Cretan resistance that if it had not been for their resolve, theBattle of Crete would have ended sooner and the SOE's operations would have been greatly curtailed. It was solely due to their cohesiveness, not found anywhere else in Europe, that the SOE was able to move about the island essentially at will:
... When the Germans invaded Crete, their armies had just defeated the whole of Europe, except – thanks, perhaps, to the fluke of the Channel's existence – England. Logically the civilian population could have been expected to remain inactive while the professionals – the British Commonwealth and a small number of Greek troops – fought it out with the invaders. But to the great astonishment of both sides, all over the island bodies of Cretans – villagers, shepherds, old men, boys, monks and priests and even women, without any collusion between them or master plan or arms or guidance from the official combatants – rose up at once and threw themselves on the invaders with as little hesitation as if the German war machine were a Pasha's primitive expedition of Janissaries armed with long guns and scimitars. They had not a second doubt about what they should do ...[12]
After detailing how he heard German occupiers systematically blowing up every house in four villages, a British observer offered this interpretation of German motivation:
... "The German reasons for this onslaught were that these villages were all hotbeds of bandits, the haunts of the British, hiding places of terrorists, refuges for commandos attacking aerodromes and supply dumps, the hiding places for unnumbered weapons, and the supply point for hundreds of bad men." ...[13]
Cretans and the Cretan resistance worked closely with the British, firstly when they aided the British andDominion forces in escaping from Crete, and secondly, when they worked together on acts of sabotage when Crete became a launching pad for German operations in Africa. This involved the British agents who either remained on Crete or escaped and re-entered Crete, such asPatrick Leigh Fermor,W. Stanley Moss,Tom Dunbabin,Sandy Rendel, and Stephen Verney,[14] John Houseman,Xan Fielding,Dennis Ciclitira and Ralph Stockbridge. The New ZealanderDudley "Kiwi" Perkins, also known as "Kapetan Vasili" by locals became a legend for his courage, and after he was killed, the Cretans kept his grave covered with flowers.[15]
The British formed a large number of isolated cells scattered throughout the mountains, with good communications, using runners, between them. One such runner wasGeorge Psychoundakis. Leigh Fermor's description of Psychoundakis epitomized Cretan resistance:
... Dick Barne's messenger, when he arrived, turned out to be George Psychoundakis, who had first been Xan Fielding's guide and runner for a long time, then mine when I had taken over Xan's area in the west for several months. This youthful, Kim-like figure was a great favourite of everyone's, for his humour, high spirits, pluck and imagination and above all the tireless zest with which he threw himself into the task. If anybody could put a girdle round Crete in forty minutes, he could. George, who was a shepherd boy fromAsi Gonia, later wrote of the occupation and the resistance movement. I translated it from his manuscript and it was published, under the titleThe Cretan Runner ...[16]
Attached to these cells were Greeks who otherwise tended to have no involvement with the main Cretan resistance movement, but worked very closely with the British agents, such as Leigh Fermor's runner George Psychoundakis,Kimonas Zografakis,George Doundoulakis, and John Androulakis.[17] Zografakis, also known by his nom-de-guerre "Black Man," was a member of Force 133, the code name for SOE in Greece.[18][19] Zografakis helped Leigh Fermor when he returned to Crete prior to the abduction of Kreipe[20] in addition to the bombing of theKastelli Airfield withGeorge Doundoulakis.[21]
Most cells had a radio for communicating with Egypt through which information could be passed and requests made for parachute drops of food, clothing, supplies, and weapons. German troops constantly tried to locate the sites of radio transmissions, thus necessitating regular changes of location.[22]
The British agents, working with local resistance, were responsible for some famous operations including theabduction of General Heinrich Kreipe led by Leigh Fermor and Moss, thesabotage of Damasta led by Moss and theairfield sabotages of Heraklion and Kastelli.[23][24][25]
Communication between EOK and EAM was poor, with open hostility breaking out between EOK andELASGreek:Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), the military wing of EAM, in January 1945 at the siege of Retimo.[26]As Cretan fighters became better armed and more aggressive in 1944, the German troops pulled out of rural areas, havingdestroyed a number of villages in the Kedros area and executing many inhabitants, aiming to cow the Cretans.[27][28]Grouping their forces around Canea, the Germans remained trapped until the end of the war, refusing to surrender to the Greek army, for fear of retaliation. They eventually surrendered to the British on 23 May 1945.[29]
Nonetheless, Cretan bravery and courage instilled the island with a sense of triumph and willingness to overcome all odds. Leigh Fermor recounts an old villager ofAnogeia, after hearing of threats ofGerman reprisals:
... "They'll burn them down one day. And what then? My house was burnt down four times by the Turks; let them burn it down for a fifth! And they killed scores of my families. Yet, here I am! Fill up your glasses! ...[30]
Leigh Fermor, while discussing the Cretans with General Kreipe during Kreipe's abduction, summarised the Cretan's attitude to the German occupation as :
Leigh Fermor: "The Cretans are all on our side, you know."...General Kreipe: "Yes, I see they are. There, Major, you have me."
In 2005, a documentary was released titledThe 11th Day: Crete 1941, which describes personal details during the course of theAxis occupation of Crete and the role that theCretan Resistance played. The film includes accounts byPatrick Leigh Fermor,George Doundoulakis, George Tzitzikas, and other eyewitnesses.[31]
Authority control databases: National |
|---|
