User:Gog the Mild/Retreat to Sfakion
| Gog the Mild/Retreat to Sfakion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Battle of Crete | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom Greece New Zealand Australia |
 Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Bernard Freyberg |
Walter Koch | ||||||
Location of Sfakion in Crete
The Retreat to Sfakion was part of the
Major-General Bernard Freyberg, having been defeated in the Battle of Maleme, attempted to withdraw from positions in north-west Crete around Chania and Souda to Sfakion on the south coast and evacuate from there. A pursuing German force under the overall command of Lieutenant General Kurt Student
attempted to prevent them.
Background
Prelude
... as often occurs in an exhausting withdrawal, alarm increased in proportion to the distance from the front line . Commanders are older and less resilient than the men in the battalions ; they and their staffs see much of the wounded and non-combatant troops and are apt to judge the condition of the front-line troops, perhaps still holding firmly, by the condition of the shaken men seen in the rear areas.[1]
Retreat
I knew that I was taking part in a retreat ; in fact I wondered if it should not be called more correctly a rout as, on all sides, men were hurrying along in disorder . Most of them had thrown away their rifles ..,.