Captured in Crete WW2

[louisa maud]

This is a long shot but I am wondering if anyone is alive or who has a relative who was captured in Crete,  "The Battle of Crete" possibly British soldies. It is well know that New Zealand forces were there and not a lot of British soldiers, my father in law missed his boat to be taken wherever the boat was going to, that boat was thought to have been blown up as it drew away from Crete I am led to believe, he was taken along with other soldiers who eventually got to Germany to serve as being prisoners of war, at one stage I think the whole lot were missing presumed dead.

taken from a diary
"On Crete Private ***** was assigned, with other unit less soldiers classed as “Odds and Sods”, to the garrison dug in around Malame airfield. He thus took part in the defence against what was the first ever air born invasion. This was a very bloody battle . The result is history and for the second time in a short while Private *****  was told there would be no more ships, but on this occasion there was no last minute rescue by the Royal Navy. Private ***** was taken prisoner"

Any help much appreciated

Louisa Maud

[t mo]

hi l m
if you google battle for crete ww2 it brings up numerous sites including  bbc at war there are some harrowing tales in these regarding the punishment and treatment by the germans to our pow,s .
regards
trevor

[JenB]

It is also well documented in several books.
Try 'Crete: the Battle and the Resistance' by Anthony Beevor.
'The Battle of Crete' by George Forty.
Or the classic 'Cretan Runner' by George Psychoundakis.

[louisa maud]

Thank you for your replies, I had hoped perhaps someone reading this might have a relative who I could share this with

regards

LM

[t mo]

yes i do appreciate that,s what you asked more specificaly for but after reading up on it it may well be one of those events that a lot of the old boys didn,t want to talk about as it was so bloody .
like i said if you google it maybe you can find another outlet to put the question to them it,s always worth a try or any ww2 site may generate some answers ,it looks like it,s the best you can hope for .

best wishes

trevor

[louisa maud]

Thank you all for your replies

Louisa Maud

[marcus25]

Hi i am marcus and i recently had the pleasure of looking through my wife's grandfathers old suitcase he was captured in Crete and he escaped and was recaptured many times and was eventually sent to germany to stalk 8b where he escaped and joined the polish resistance his name was William Richards a lcpl with the royal engineers i dint know if this is what your after if i can help further please let me know

[dickiebo]

Hi!
My old R.S.M. served in Crete and was on the ship that was blown-up. He had to swim 4 miles back to shore. His son, who now lives in the U.S.A. tells me that they were trying to shoot the enemy paratroopers and it was like trying to hit a balloon on a piece of string. The R.S.M. was Ernie Geary, R.M.P. His son is Graham.
http://dickiebo.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/r-s-m-geary/

[Lou79]

My grandad was captured in crete the boat they were meant to get on but missed was blown up and the engine on his boat cut out and they were captured they were marched miles and miles and then sent to a prisoner of war camp in Germany where he remained till the end of the war for four years