WWII – The Battle of Crete Combo Tour

On our first day, we will tour around Chania. The signs of the battle are remained, as you will see, many buildings are still ruins because of the German Luftwaffe attack those days. We will start from the beginning of WWII and how the war affected East-South Europe, Greece and Crete. We will analyze the operation “Marita”, the glorious Greek-Italian war of 1940 and under what circumstances the operation “Mercury” began.

After your breakfast, you will have the chance to see the key-location of the battle of Crete. A few kilometres from your hotel is Maleme, Tavronitis and Galatas. On the 20th and 21st of May 1941, the Nazis bombed hardly specific locations of Chania. One of them, and the most important, was the airfield of Maleme. You will discover the most crucial war theatre in the battle.

Today we will explore the other side of Chania. Another German target of the first days. We will explore more key-locations in Chania and learn everything about facts and the secrets of the battle. We will also explain what happened to the other two Crete regions, Rethimno and Heraklion, during the battle days.

The end of the battle is close, and general Fryberg orders all his troops to withdraw. He has an escape plan. That was a life bet for Fryberg and Wevel to save the allies during the retreat. The Cretan partisans helped and led the allied troops through the mountains to the South harbours, where the warships were waiting for them. The narrow mountain paths were extremely dangerous and unknown, but not for the locals. Today we will discover the area where the allies escaped.

The battle of Crete never ended. Cretan partisans, British commandos and soldiers who survived and escaped to the mountains are still fighting the Nazis. Many secret operations and sabotage made the Germans always to worry about their lives. After many brave actions against the Germans in Crete, no German or Italian officer around Europe felt safe again. We will explore many areas in Crete where important operations took place.

In the first days of the German occupation, terrible things happened in Crete. The Nazis took hard and painful revenge from the locals. Cretans paid a massive price for their resistance during the battle with a lot of blood and sacrifices. Some of the first mass executions of innocent people happened at Alikianos, Kontomari, Kandanos and many other villages around Crete. The Germans hit hard and quickly. Too many men, women and children died in organized mass executions by Nazi bullets. We will drive around the monuments dedicated to those heroes who gave their lives to protect their homeland and families for Freedom, Peace and Democracy. We will analyze Crete’s life during the German occupation, and in the evening, we will enjoy our farewell dinner.

Our trip is nearly ended! We will meet at your hotel for the last farewell and our driver will drop you off at the airport. It was a week full of history, memories and cultural heritage. We are sure that we will see you again in one of our common interest travels.