Summary of Antony Beevor's Crete 1941

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The archaeologist John Pendlebury was one of the members of MI(R) sent to Greece and Albania in 1940. He was a romantic who had been interested in Greece since his time as curator at Knossos in the mid-1930s.

#2 During the summer of 1940, Britain prepared for invasion, as the first skirmishes took place in the Western Desert. The Greek dictator, General Ioannis Metaxas, acutely aware of the threat from the Italian army, made every effort to avoid confrontation.

#3 The Italian invasion of Greece was a case of disaster waiting to happen. The country had already united instinctively against the Italians, and Metaxas’s No! to Grazzi is still commemorated each year on 28 October with the national holiday known as Ohi Day.

#4 The Italian invasion of Greece was a failure, and the British guarantee of Greek independence in 1939 was due to the Italian invasion of Albania. The arrival of British bombers in the region of Mussolini’s main fuel supply, the oilfields of Ploesti, increased his fear that the Russians would attack him from behind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822527195

IRB Media

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Insights on Antony Beevor's Crete 1941

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The archaeologist John Pendlebury was one of the members of MI(R) sent to Greece and Albania in 1940. He was a romantic who had been interested in Greece since his time as curator at Knossos in the mid-1930s.

#2

During the summer of 1940, Britain prepared for invasion, as the first skirmishes took place in the Western Desert. The Greek dictator, General Ioannis Metaxas, acutely aware of the threat from the Italian army, made every effort to avoid confrontation.

#3

The Italian invasion of Greece was a case of disaster waiting to happen. The country had already united instinctively against the Italians, and Metaxas’s No! to Grazzi is still commemorated each year on 28 October with the national holiday known as Ohi Day.

#4

The Italian invasion of Greece was a failure, and the British guarantee of Greek independence in 1939 was due to the Italian invasion of Albania. The arrival of British bombers in the region of Mussolini’s main fuel supply, the oilfields of Ploesti, increased his fear that the Russians would attack him from behind.

#5

The British pilots who flew in the first mission in Greece were the first British forces to openly return to European soil since the fall of France. They soon settled into their new life in Athens. By day, they carried out bombing raids on the Albanian ports of Durazzo and Valona. By night, they enjoyed themselves in Athens.

#6

The British Military Mission to the Greek army was led by Major General T. G. Heywood. He was a fastidious man who increased the size of the British Mission from little more than half a dozen officers to over seventy at one point.

#7

The British Military Mission in Greece was not made clearer by the unreal environment in which it lived and worked. The Greek government had requisitioned the Hotel Grande Bretagne on Constitution Square as its General Headquarters, and General Metaxas took over the manager’s office.

#8

The British decided to send the Cretan 5th Division to guard Suda Bay, which allowed the Greek government to bring the Cretan Division across to the mainland. The Cretans formed part of the reserve to the Greek army’s ten divisions on a front stretching south-west across the Pindus mountains to the coast of Epirus opposite Corfu.

#9

The Cretan Division, which was made up of Greek soldiers, was the only unit that was able to survive the harsh conditions of the mountain war. They were able to fight on the central part of the front.

#10

In January 1941, the Greeks had only four under-strength divisions left for the Bulgarian border of Thrace and Eastern Macedonia. The Commander-in-Chief, General Papagos, hoped that an alliance with Yugoslavia would enable them to crush the Italians in a pincer.

#11

Churchill, inspired by British history, created a Balkan pact between Greece, Yugoslavia, and Turkey. He knew that the Greek army had suffered greatly from the Italians, but he still believed that they could stand against German armored and motorized divisions with overwhelming air support.

#12

The Albanian front was still positive, as the Greeks were able to push the Italians back. The air war did not slacken in the face of often terrible flying conditions. The Italians began to feel insignificant, as the British and Greeks prepared for the German invasion.

#13

The first skirmish between British and German troops in North Africa took place near Sirte on 16 February. Churchill acknowledged the dangers of dispersing forces, but still wanted clear advice from senior officers on the spot. Eden, Dill, and Wavell in Cairo decided to support the line decided by the Foreign Secretary.

#14

The British military believed that the situation in Greece was not that different from Egypt, and they compared the defensive properties of the Greek mountain