Battle of Crete - Aftermath

Aftermath

Allied commanders at first worried the Germans might use Crete as a springboard for further operations in the Mediterranean's East Basin, possibly for an airborne attack on Cyprus or a seaborne invasion of Egypt in support of the German/Italian forces operating from Libya. However, these fears were soon put to rest when Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, made it apparent the occupation of Crete was likely a defensive measure intended to secure the Axis southern flank.

Hitler and the German commanders who fought at Crete were shocked by the very high casualties of the paratroopers sustained in the capture of the island and as a result, the Germans were forced to reconsider their airborne doctrine. Because of what Hitler considered to be heavy losses, he cancelled all future airborne operations from Operation Barbarossa and the Eastern Front, which eliminated this weapon from large-scale use against Soviet Airborne forces. The German casualty rate was hidden from Allied planners, who scrambled to create their own large airborne divisions after this battle. Crucially, however, Allied airborne planners such as Colonel James M. Gavin realised from the German experience on Crete that airborne troops should jump with their own heavy weapons. The lack of such equipment contributed greatly to the German losses during the invasion of the island. This realisation would later allow elements of the US 505th PIR to prevent the elite Hermann Göring Panzer Division from mounting a counterattack on US beachheads during the Allied invasion of Sicily

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The battle for Crete did not delay Operation Barbarossa. The start date for Barbarossa (22 June 1941) had been set several weeks before the Crete operation was considered and the directive by Hitler for Operation Merkur made it plain that preparations for Merkur must not interfere with Barbarossa. Units assigned to Merkur and earmarked for later use in Barbarossa were to be redeployed to Poland and Romania by the end of May and, in the event, the movement of units from Greece was not delayed by Merkur. Indeed, the transfer of VIII. Fliegerkorps during the battle in order to reach their assigned positions in time for Barbarossa was a key reason in allowing the Royal Navy to evacuate so many of the defenders. The reasons for the delay of Operation Barbarossa owed nothing to the battle of Crete, but was because of the need to allow swollen rivers to fall and for airfields to dry out in Poland.

The last battle of the battleship Bismarck distracted British public opinion at the time; but loss of Crete, particularly as a result of the failure of the British land forces to recognise the strategic importance of the airfields, served as a wake-up call for the British government. As a direct consequence, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was given responsibility for defending its own bases from ground and air attack. The RAF Regiment was formed on 1 February 1942 to meet this requirement.