Freyberg at Maleme

Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg, the New Zealand hero of the Great War, commanded the defence of Crete: a disparate ensemble of British, New Zealand, Australian and Greek troops, exhausted by the evacuation of Greece, short of artillery, tanks and above all aircraft. Thanks to Ultra, he knew that a German airborne assault was aimed at the airfields of the north.

But the intelligence was ambiguous, and Freyberg also feared a seaborne landing. On 20 May, the German parachutists suffered terrible losses; by evening, the situation was critical for the attackers. Maleme airfield, at the western end, was held by a New Zealand battalion on the key height, Hill 107, which dominated the runway.

On the night of 20-21 May, the local commander, poorly informed about the overall situation and fearing being outflanked, considered withdrawing his battalion from Hill 107. This was the tipping point: hold the height at all costs to deny the Germans use of the runway to land reinforcements; fall back to preserve the unit and reorganise a line to the rear; or launch an immediate counterattack to throw back the paratroopers before they could reinforce.